New series of Portrait Artist of the Year

Thanks for reminder will let DH know new series has started I don't watch but he enjoys it.

Thanks for the reminder LG. It’s repeated tonight so I’ll watch it then.

I thought Eva Langret made an excellent addition to the judging panel for the last series of Landscape so I shall look forward to hearing what Jonathan Yeo and Katy Hessel have to say too.

I did think Chloe Barnes portrait of Hannah Fry in last year’s PAOTY owed something to Yeo’s work with one colour dominating.

I can recommend. Hessel’s Story of Art without Men, similarly Kathleen Soriano’s Madam & Eve.

I shall miss the old judges but it’s probably time for a change after so many years.

An exciting line up of models and the prize to paint Damian Lewis for the National Portrait Gallery.

www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/portrait-artist-of-the-year-returns-to-sky-arts-with-an-all-new-judging-line-up-and-a-sensational-roster-of-celebrity-sitters-on-7-october

Thanks! I'm going to catch up with this asap.

So what did people think of the one that won this week? I thought the standard was very high.

I wouldn't have chosen the winning portrait, but that said, I rarely do.

A TV lesson in how to slide in a completely new group of judges without any fuss, outrage or condemnation. I doubt if Fb is full of people expressing their indignance and threatening to boycott the programme

There were some cracking submissions - the young boy did a brilliant one - but a lot failed to translate into the four hour portrait.

I didn’t like the winning artists submission either. Maybe we need to see the paintings in the flesh.

I would have been disappointed if Stephen wasn’t in it. I never really understand why some of these programmes have to have a so called funny person in them but it works well in this.

A TV lesson in how to slide in a completely new group of judges without any fuss.

Agreed! Seamless.

Without wishing to give too much away about the heat winner, I preferred the other of the two portraits of that person but we don’t get enough time to look at them, see them in real life or learn why the judges chose one over the other.

I notice they have changed the format slightly so we no longer see the judges picking their final three - not that it ever gave much away apart from back views of the canvases. I’d like to hear how they whittle down nine into a final three.

Interesting that the artists often seem to struggle to paint people who are classically beautiful. Is it because their faces are too “bland” and less interesting?

I still marvel at just how good the paintings are considering they are done under such time pressure, under the glare of the cameras and with all the people milling around behind.

Why did they change the judges do you think?

Stuart Prebble, whose ideas POATY and LAOTY were and produced the shows for his company Storyvault Films, died in August 2025.

After twelve seasons, someone felt a revamp (albeit only slightly) was due.

This from Katherine Tyrrell who blogs as Making a Mark:

makingamark.blogspot.com/2026/01/goodbye-all-three-artist-of-year-judges.html

Stuart Prebble:

rts.org.uk/article/remembering-stuart-prebble-iconic-producer-behind-portrait-artist-year-and-grumpy-old-men

In my trawl through old series I have reached Christian Hook's painting of Allan Cumming. I'd forgotten that one!

Hook is one of the PAOTY artists who stays in my memory. I think he did one of the lockdown masterclasses in 2020.

He overdoes the paint drips somewhat (imo) but it’s a trademark of sorts. I enjoy abstract art. His paintings of horses over the last few years are certainly conversation pieces!

www.christianhook.com/work

He is a brilliant painter - and doing very well I believe.

I watched the first episode this afternoon. The winner wouldn't have been my first choice but I'm not surprised, I often disagree with the judges choices. Maybe they look different close up? Lennie James also chose the winner so it must have had "something".

Graphite

Stuart Prebble, whose ideas POATY and LAOTY were and produced the shows for his company Storyvault Films, died in August 2025.

After twelve seasons, someone felt a revamp (albeit only slightly) was due.

This from Katherine Tyrrell who blogs as Making a Mark:

makingamark.blogspot.com/2026/01/goodbye-all-three-artist-of-year-judges.html

Stuart Prebble:

rts.org.uk/article/remembering-stuart-prebble-iconic-producer-behind-portrait-artist-year-and-grumpy-old-men

Thanks. That was really interesting.

And my question !

JamesandJon33

And my question !

Maybe it was to give this long running programme a bit of a refresh. I must admit that the old judges did tend to be predictable and perhaps they felt like a change of direction.

One never heard a whisper about what the old judges thought. No interviews or such. Unusual I would say, but courteous. I wish them well.

For anyone who, like me, missed it in the week it's on Sky Arts Freeview 36 at 4.30 this afternoon.

For some reason the subtitles didn’t appear this week. Nuisance as we miss some of the comments. The standard seems quite good so far.

I do not have Sky but access this programme via Now TV.

Just love it! And the new judges have a real warmth and are encouraging and communicative with the painters.

I like how the new judges interact with the artists. Two very talented young artists this week, I liked their work.

Sky Art programmes are the highlight of my day .

Last weeks I thought the standard was high. However, the standard and the judging seemed to go awry on last night’s episode. Couldn’t believe the winner was the artist who covered up his work with thin paint. It was supposed to show some kind of mystical image of the sitter. Of course the same device was used for his submission painting. So is every sitter to be treated in the same way. It reminded me of my youngest daughter coming home from play school many years ago. She was clutching a white painting. Asked her to tell me about it and she said “man in the snow”. Next time it was red and told it was “man in the sun”.