Martin Gayford: Jackson’s Portray Prize 2023 Knowledgeable Choose Interview
3 min read
Martin Gayford is an Artwork Critic for The Spectator and creator of books on David Hockney, Antony Gormley and extra. He joins the professional judges panel for Jackson’s Portray Prize 2023 and right here, he shares his exhibition highlights of the previous yr and recommendation to these desirous about getting into the competitors this yr.
Above picture: Pages from Love Lucian: The Letters of Lucian Freud 1939–1954, 2022 by Martin Gayford and David Dawson
Might you inform us a bit about your self and your work?
Martin: I’m a author, primarily about artwork. Through the years I’ve been an artwork critic for a number of publications together with the Every day Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Spectator. Amongst my books are biographic works about Van Gogh, Michelangelo and Constable. I’ve written ceaselessly on David Hockney (together with two works co-written with him) and Lucian Freud. Shaping the World: Sculpture from Prehistory to Now (2020) was a collaboration with Antony Gormley. Spring Can’t Be Cancelled, co-written with David Hockney, appeared in 2021. My most up-to-date e-book is Love Lucian (2022), a group of Lucian Freud’s early correspondence, co-edited with David Dawson. I’ve sat for portraits by each Hockney and Lucian Freud.
Love Lucian – The Letters of Lucian Freud 1939–1954 2022
David Dawson and Martin Gayford
What have been your exhibition highlights of 2022? Who’re the artists or artworks you had been most impressed by this previous yr?
Martin: Effectively, for me 2022 was a yr by which I spent a variety of time organising exhibitions of which I used to be a part of the curatorial group together with Hockney’s Eye on the Fitzwilliam Museum and Downing Faculty, Cambridge and Lucian Freud: The Painter and his Household on the Freud Museum, London. In any other case I used to be significantly struck by the Freud present on the Nationwide Gallery, Household Relations at Gagosian, and a variety of shows on the Venice Biennale.
Spring Can’t Be Cancelled: David Hockney in Normandy, 2022
David Hockney and Martin Gayford
How vital do you assume awards and competitions are for artists right now?
Martin: Effectively, they’re definitely a part of the sport, however artwork isn’t the identical as sport – and you will need to keep in mind that one of the best individual doesn’t essentially win.
The Pursuit of Artwork: Travels, Encounters and Revelations, 2019
Martin Gayford
What’s going to you be on the lookout for within the entries submitted to the competitors this yr?
Martin: Originality, visible sensitivity and pizazz.
Shaping the World: Sculpture from Prehistory to Now, 2020
Antony Gormley and Martin Gayford
Do you’ve gotten any recommendation for artists on the market desirous about getting into Jackson’s Portray Prize this yr?
Martin: Crucial recommendation for any artist (or author) is to maintain at it.
