Nancy Whittaker, Tarrangower Times

The fifth Maldon Portrait Prize exhibition of finalists will be held at the Cascade Art Gallery from Thursday 5 to Sunday 29 June. It is open to all artists who have lived or are living or working in Australia.

The Maldon Portrait Prize 2025 has attracted an exciting range of entries, depicting both locals and people you may know. There are three selection judges, all of whom are established practising artists with impressive credentials. They have selected 45 portraits from a very large group of entries as finalists. Graeme Drendel, who is an artist renowned for his portraits, will award two prizes, a $10,000 prize to the winner and a $2,000 prize to an emerging artist at the Opening at Cascade Art Gallery on 7 June, 2pm – 5pm.

Maldon Artist Network and Cascade Art Gallery are thrilled to have Graeme Drendel as the final Judge. He is a winner of the Doug Moran National Prize 2022, and has been an Archibald finalist several times. He exhibits at several galleries including Australian Galleries, and his works are held at the National Portrait Gallery and other high profile arts institutions.

The quality and diversity of the portraits submitted to the Maldon Portrait Prize were impressive. All works will be shown in an online exhibition and are eligible for a People’s Choice Award.

The finalists are: Thomas Delohery, Tamara Perrett, Shelley Fremlin, Shane Jones, Sarah Wallace-Smith, Ruth O’Leary, Rodney Edelsten, Robyn Kinsela, Philip Jopson, Paula Sullivan, Paula Haka-Kivisto, Paul Ryan, Paul Kefalas, Norma Bailey-Ramsay, Neil Mcirvine, Naomi Matthews, Mark Fuller, Mark Dober, Liz Sullivan, Linda Schneider, Liadaan, Leigh Hewitt, Kat Richards, Justine Hutchison, Judy Perfect, Jennifer Barnett, James Anderson, Hannah Crawshaw, Graeme Galloway, Glenda Fell Jones, Gabrielle Martin, Esther Schouten, Ella Byass, Elizabeth Nelson, Elizabeth Hartland, Elizabeth Barden, Elise Judd, Claire Maud, Charlotte Conley, Brendan Nicholl, Anh Nguyen, Andrea Wilson, Amanda Aish/ Candusio, Alannah, Rosenbrock.

Online Exhibition opens on Monday 30 June and closes on Sunday 31 August. Please take a look, make your choice and spread the word. maldonartistnetwork.org.au.

The generous sponsor of the Maldon Portrait Prize 2025, and MANet’s previous two prizes is the Hillary Merkus Recordati Foundation, established in Italy by Andrea Bianchedi, an entrepreneur and philanthropist, to honour the legacy of his mother who cultivated a deep appreciation for the arts and supported significant philanthropic projects with a social focus. The Foundation’s motto is ‘Passion for art, creativity and social inclusion’.

The achievements of the Foundation are impressive. In the art space working with Palazzo Strozzi, a gallery in Florence, the Foundation has supported many projects – to mention just two, an exhibition dedicated to six female artists under 40, and a wonderful exhibition of Anselm Keifer’s, Fallen Angels, which Jenny Merkus had the profound experience of seeing.

Jenny Merkus, who is a co-convenor of MANet, is Andrea’s aunt and the loving sister of his late mother Hillary. Andrea also has deep connections to Australia, where his grandparents lived and where he visited regularly as a young boy learning English along the way. en.fhmr.it.

MANet is fortunate to be collaborating with Cascade Art Gallery in planning and presenting the Maldon Portrait Prize 2025, having previously worked with EDGE Galleries to present MANet’s last two prizes: Maldon Portrait Prize 2022 and the Landscape Prize 2023. MANet appreciates and is grateful for the generosity of these galleries.

Consistent with tradition, Maldon Artist Network and Cascade Gallery have worked with Maldon Primary School to produce and exhibit delightful portraits by children. Sponsored by Maldon Inc. there will be exhibits of ceramic portraits by children from grades 3 and 4 in shop windows from 5 June.

Cascade Art Gallery will run a portrait workshop with children from grades 5 and 6 to produce artworks which will be exhibited at the Maldon Artist Network (MANet) Gallery from 5 July for four weeks. More to come later.

Don’t miss the Maldon Portrait Prize 2025 finalist exhibition at the Cascade Art Gallery at the Church, Maldon’s Fine Art Treasure is open from Thursday – Sunday, from 10am – 5pm. facebook.com/maldonsfinearttreasure, instagram.com/cascadeartmaldon. For further information: 0408 844 152.

See all the pictures in the issue.
This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 6 June 2025.