This portrait of composer, musician and conductor Philip Glass was selected for the BP Portrait Award in 2013. The BP Portrait Awards are the Olympics of portrait painting, organised by the National Gallery in London.Philip Glass posed for this portrait during a music festival in Middelburg. The painting has been exhibited at the BP Portrait Awards in 2013, at the National Portrait Gallery in London and the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, among others. I opted for an ultra-realistic style, in thousands of brushstrokes of black and white oil paint. The style is inspired by the portrait that Chuck Close made of Glass. They have also become good friends. As you can read on the National Portrait Gallery website, seeing that portrait of Close made me decide to become a realistic painter. It was the second time that one of my portraits was selected for the Portrait Awards: in 2011 the jury chose my painting of jazz musician Courtney Pine.Being nominated was a huge honor both times!
