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During 2007, the Council program offering an Award for Outstanding Portraiture was
again undertaken with important financial support from Prudential Financial. The
initiative, part of a program to support arts and arts education in Ireland, has
been managed in conjunction with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and the Irish
Arts Review, the definitive journal of art and design in Ireland.
The Council's award is presented to a promising Irish artist in Portraiture at the
RHA's Spring Exhibition, which is the biggest exhibition of art in Ireland every
year. A special panel of judges reviews entries and chooses an artist for the €5,000
(Euro) bursary for the Award for Outstanding Portraiture.
This year's winner was Gary Coyle a Dublin artist, who was presented with his award
at the Council's Gala MidSummer Night's Dinner in Dublin this past June.
The Council's Award for Outstanding Portraiture was presented to the artist Gary
Coyle (center) by Henry McGarvey (left), Chief Executive of Pramerica, Prudential
Financial's operating subsidiary in Ireland. On hand was John D. Mulcahy, Publisher
of The Irish Arts Review who co-sponsored the award.
"This year, we are delighted to again support this worthwhile Council program which
has generated much excitement in the arts community in Ireland. We particularly
appreciate the great efforts of the distinguished panel of jurists who agreed to
serve in support of this program operated in conjunction with the Irish Arts Review
and the RHA" said Robert C. Golden, Executive Vice President, Prudential Financial
and a Council board member.
Mr. John Mulcahy, Editor of the Irish Arts Review, in presenting the Award to Gary
Coyle, said that there were many types of portraits but that most of them were painted
to flatter the subject. Obviously this was not the intention in this extreme close-up,
charcoal portrait of a young man's wolfish visage. Coyle's work has always been
infused with ominous undertones and this portrait has a similarly menacing appearance.
Partly thanks to its arresting, almost troubling impact, it gained the unanimous
approval of the RHA selectors for this year's Award.
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Donegal. The company's affiliates have over $522 billion in total assets under management,
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For more information, visit www.prudential.com.
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