Portrait Artist of the Year returns to Sky Arts for ird series

Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year returns to our screens this January - with the first episode being transmitted at 8pm on Tuesday, January 24th 2017 Sky Arts and on demand.

This series, we see over 20 celebrity sitters for the competing heats, with the first episode featuring Stanley Tucci, Indira Varma and Freddie Highmore. In the subsequent weeks, viewers will see Richard E Grant, Sue Perkins, Rick Wakeman, Nina Sosanya, Phil Davis, Trevor Eve, Lesley Manville, Sian Phillips, Adrian Chiles, Katie Kissoon, Dave Myers, Raleigh Ritchie, Parminder Nagra, Ben Okri and James Norton.

Imelda Staunton sat for the semi-final which will air in the seventh week of the show and the week after is the final with Tom Courtenay. The prize portrait commission for the winning artist was revealed on New Year's Eve as television presenter and comedian Graham Norton.

Each of the celebrity sitters got to choose one of the finished portraits to keep for themselves - regardless of whether that artist went through to the next stage. According to previous artists that's the beauty of the show - that the taking part' has been life changing for their business and profile.

This is the third series of the show, which is produced by London and Glasgow-based independent production company Storyvault Films and is presented by TV personality and comedian Frank Skinner, alongside presenter and journalist Joan Bakewell - a leading figure in the arts for nearly six decades. The returning judges are artist Tai Shan Schierenberg and independent curator Kathleen Soriano and art historian Kate Bryan.

Frank Skinner says: The relationship between a portrait artist and their subject is a very intimate one. I love being able to, along with the viewers, stick my nose in and watch the whole stress-filled process unfold.

His co-presenter Joan Bakewell also commented: Portrait Artist of the Year brings together some of the most talented painters with some of the most striking personalities. We see artists use brush, paint, pastels, charcoal to capture the elusive beauty of people whose faces we think we know. But art reveals more: and in each programme we watch it happen.

All six heats are filmed in the courtyard of The Wallace Collection in London's Manchester Square, home to one of Europe's finest art collections. The most recent winner was Christian Hook who was crowned Portrait Artist of the Year 2014' with his stunning portrait of Sir Ian McKellen.

Hundreds of entries were received for this series, giving the judges the difficult task of whittling them down to just 54 artists (9 per heat). The winner of Portrait Artist of the Year is awarded a £10,000 commission and £500 to spend on art materials at Cass Art.

Catch episode one of Portrait Artist of the Year on Tuesday 24th January at 8pm and on Sky Arts on demand Catch-up

For more information, please contact:

EyePR

Kerry Milliken

Kerry@eyepr.co.uk

07799 714006

Jemma Wisdom

Jemma@eyepr.co.uk

07400 849988

Lisa Moore

lisa@eyepr.co.uk

07540142354

About Sky

Sky is Europes leading entertainment company, serving 22 million customers across five countries: UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria and Italy. It offers the best and broadest range of content, delivers market-leading customer service and uses innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose. Sky has annual revenues of £12 billion and is Europes leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of £5.2 billion. The group employs 30,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY)

About Storyvault Films

Storyvault Films is a genuinely independent production company which brings together a group of highly experienced and award-winning TV producers, directors and production managers. Between us we have delivered the widest possible range of factual and entertainment programmes for all major broadcasters and the best of the digital channels. Members of the Storyvault team has been responsible for productions as diverse as "Grumpy Old Men" and "Three Men in a Boat" at one extreme, to the BAFTA award-winning "Twins of the Twin Towers" at the other. As well as producing Landscape Artists of the Year and Portrait Artist of the Year for Sky Arts, our current productions include major documentaries and features for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4

About The Wallace Collection

The Wallace Collection is one of the most significant collections of European fine and decorative arts in the world and the greatest bequest of art ever left to the British Nation. The Collection encompasses Old Master oil paintings from the fourteenth to the late nineteenth century, including works by Titian, Vel zquez, Rubens and Van Dyck, princely arms and armour, and one of the finest collections of French eighteenth-century art in all media. Situated in Manchester Square, Marylebone the Collection is free to enter and open to the public 10 - 5pm everyday.

LINK:	https://corporate.sky.com/media-centre/news-page/2017/“portrait-artist...
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