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London: All four portraits shortlisted for this year's BP Portrait Award are by male artists featuring female subjects, and several works selected for a special exhibition deal with ageing and faith.
The annual competition attracted over 1,700 entries, of which about one-third came from outside the United Kingdom. Among the nominees for the £25,000 (Dh180,338) prize is Robert O'Brien, who lives and works in London and Sweden. His portrait "Hannah O'Brien" features his grandmother whose deeply lined face looks like that of a woman who, in the artist's words, "overcame great hardships and difficulties in her life".
He is up against Simon Davis, whose portrait of friend Amanda Smith was influenced by a study by French artist Toulouse-Lautrec of his mother, and Peiyuan Jiang, a Chinese-born artist now studying in London.
Confrontational glare
The fourth nominee is Craig Wylie, whose "K" is a large depiction of his girlfriend Katherine Raw.
Another painting dealing with age is a self-portrait by Angela Reilly. "It is visible in the skin, the loss of tone, colour, and dryness, particularly around the lips," she said in a commentary explaining the piece. Her confrontational glare seeks to communicate the "fear of getting older".
The exhibition runs until Saturday. The winner of the prize will be announced on Monday.
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