Image above: Mary Tonkin Caress, Kalorama 2020 oil on linen 67 x 81 cm (photograph by Matthew Stanton)
Congratulations to Paul Miller and Mary Tonkin who have been announced as finalists in the 2022 Hadley’s Art Prize.
Presented by Hadley’s Orient Hotel, the Hadley’s Art Prize is an acquisitive Australian landscape prize, awarded for ‘the best portrayal of the Australian landscape’ which offers $100,000 to the winning entry.
Hadley’s Orient Hotel has a long history with art starting with art-loving landlords in the late 1800s. The Hadley’s Art Prize, Hobart is about contributing to the art community, promoting cultural tourism in Tasmania, bringing art back to the historic walls of Hadley’s Orient Hotel though a landscape prize like Howard Hadley won in 1895, and celebrating the work of contemporary Australian landscape artists.
The winner will be announced on Friday 22 July at Hadley’s Orient Hotel in Hobart, and the finalists’ exhibition will run from 23 July to 12 August.
‘Caress, Kalorama was made in April 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic when we were all adjusting to this strange new way of being. I found myself longing for physical contact, the for the hugs and kisses I normally shared with friends. Painting alone in the bush, everything was imbued with longing, especially these fern fronds which seemed like the caress of a lover. I make all my work en plein air, it is where I feel most open and responsive, where I can be most present, where forms can open in me as I open in them.’ – Mary Tonkin, 2022
Paul Miller Towards Odd Fellows Hill, Bowral 2021 egg tempera on panel 120 cm x 120 cm
“This painting depicts a hillside scene near Bowral, New South Wales, which I have fictitiously named Odd Fellows Hill. For me this painting encompasses a sense of time, of memory, and the passage of our lives. From where I stood observing the scene there was a kind of visual compression of fields, trees and the hill itself. The trees in the foreground seemed like sentinels guarding the landscape. The painting is part of a series of landscapes in a square format that I am currently working on. The whole series will consist of thirty paintings.”
“Working with egg tempera allows me to achieve a clarity in both colour and form. This medium speaks to me in a voice that slows me down and makes me consider deeply the subject of the work.”
– Paul Miller
Exhibition Dates
Saturday 23 July – Sunday 21 August 2022
Open daily from 10 am – 4 pm
Galleries at Hadley’s Orient Hotel,
Hobart, Tasmania
For more information about the Hadley’s Art Prize click here.