Craig Wylie Wins BP

I must say the judges of the BP Portrait Award 2008 know what they're doing. They've selected Coxsoft Art's choice as the winner (CLICK). For his portrait K - partner Katherine Raw - Craig Wylie wins £25,000 and a £4,000 commission from the National Portrait Gallery. Student Peiyuan Jianga took the BP Young Artist Award for Untitled, an unusual portrait framed as landscape. Simon Davis's Amanda Smith gained the £8,000 second prize, and Robert O'Brien came third with granny Hannah O'Brien and receives £6,000. My one quibble is that the BP Young Artist Award won by Peiyuan Jianga is only £5,000. Financially the BP Young Artist is in fourth place, despite painting the second best portrait! Last year's inaugural BP Young Artist winner, Hynek Martinec, was outstanding (CLICK). Judging by the quality shown in its two-year history, I think the BP Young Artist Award should be ranked as second place financially.