Artist of the Year
Contents |
Host
Joan Bakewell (and Frank Skinner from 2013-8 / Stephen Mangan from 2018-)
Co-hosts
Judges: Kate Bryan, Tai-Shan Schierenberg, Kathleen Soriano
Broadcast
Storyvault Films for Sky Arts, 5 November 2013 to present
Synopsis
In the latest union of high and low culture, art critic Joan Bakewell and football fan Frank Skinner combine forces to find the best portrait painter in the country. The prize is £10,000, and a commission to paint the author Hilary Mantel for permanent display in the British Library.
Heats took place in a travelling marquee, with competitors depicting various celebrities who could sit still for four hours. The best artist in each heat went to Paris for mentoring, before producing a piece for the final.
After two years in the portrait shape, Sky rotated the canvas to produce Landscape Artist of the Year. Competitions ran in both orientations from 2017. Channel 4 bought the series in 2019, as part of a wider content-sharing deal with Sky.
Champions
| 2013 (Portrait) | Nick Lord |
| 2014 (Portrait) | Christian Hook |
| 2015 (Landscape) | Nerine Tassie |
| 2016 (Landscape) | Richard Allen |
| 2017 (Portrait) | Gareth Reid |
| 2017 (Landscape) | Tom Voyce |
| 2018 (Portrait) | Samira Addo |
| 2018 (Landscape) | Jen Gash |
| 2019 (Portrait) | Duncan Shoosmith |
| 2019 (Landscape) | Fujiko Rose |
| 2020 (Portrait, March) | Christabel Blackburn |
| 2020 (Portrait, December) | Curtis Holder |
Theme music
Nick Harvey
