Work Heatherley alumna and tutor, Sarah Jane Moon, has been selected from almost 2,500 entries to appear in an exhibition of some of Britain’s best portraiture. The Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition is usually held in central London each year but this year’s show is taking place online, a first for the Society.
Graced by portraits of royalty, celebrities, academics, mothers, daughters, fathers and sons, the exhibition is a feature of the art scene in the UK.
This year about half of the work will be by eminent members of the Society and half by artists selected through the open submission.
Sarah Jane Moon is an award winning professional painter based in London, who exhibits and teaches regularly in the UK and abroad. Her portraiture frequently explores identity, sexuality and gender presentation.
Moon’s painting of Nicole and Kai explores sexuality in presenting a couple relaxed and at ease with themselves and each other. Having been friends with the sitters for a number of years, Moon was able to bring a sense of their personalities as individuals and as a couple to the portrait.
The artist’s work has been gaining increasing attention in recent years and this success follows on from a solo show of portraits at the end of 2019 as well as inclusion in several high profile portrait exhibitions such as the BP Portrait Award Exhibition and the Society’s 2019 show.
With some 200 portraits on display this year, the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of recent portraits in the country.
This year’s exhibition is currently online at the Mall Galleries website, until 22 May 2020.
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters have many prizes and awards available to exhibitors, including the £10,000 Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture and the £3,000 de Laszlo Foundation Award.
