The Oldie British Artists Award
to recognise the achievements of British Artists over the age of 60
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It's time for the 2013 OBAs
The competition is now open and accepting entries. The closing date is 10th May.
Please click here for Terms and Conditions and for more information on:
- The size of your submission
- Acceptable medium (oil, watercolour or acrylics but no formaldehyde and no prints.)
'We were delighted with the response to last year's OBA - the entries were of a very high standard and Donald Zec was a wonderful inaugural winner. This year's competition promises to be every bit as good, and should establish the OBA as an important component of the British arts calendar'. Richard Ingrams
Click here to download an application form or for more information or call Hannah Donovan on
020 7436 8801
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Former Daily Mirror journalist wins first OBA award
The first Oldie British Artists Award (OBA) has been won by 93-year-old Donald Zec – the oldest entrant. He took up painting less than five years ago, and his entry, a portrait of his grandfather, was selected from over 300 figurative paintings. Maggi Hambling, chair of the judges, said: ‘This is the one for me. Alive and full of feeling – real, rather than some arty technique.’
Zec, a former show business journalist, worked for the Daily Mirror for forty years, and as its show-business correspondent met all the great stars of the day, including Mae West, Jane Russell, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Humphrey Bogart. He has interviewed Brigitte Bardot, David Niven and the Beatles, to name a few, and written numerous biographies and a memoir, Put the Knife in Gently.
Zec received a £5,000 prize from the sponsor, Ecclesiastical Insurance, at a ceremony at the English Speaking Union on 16th October. In his speech he thanked his cardiologist, his opthalmologist, his urologist...
Above: Donald Zec and his winning artwork
THE OBA, which has a prize of £5,000, was launched earlier this year as a counterblast to the unmade beds of the YBAs (Young British Artists). The aim of the award is to celebrate figurative art: pictures which are recognisably derived from the real world.
Our judges were Maggi Hambling, Richard Ingrams, Huon Mallalieu, Philip Athill of the Abbott and Holder Gallery, and Clare Pardy of Ecclesiastical Insurance. They had the daunting task of going through 320 entries and narrowing them down to ten or eleven for a shortlist, before choosing the winner.
Reporting on the judging process, Richard Ingrams said: 'The standard was amazing. And there was no formaldehyde. An excellent response.'
The full shortlist (including Donald Zec's winning entry) for the 2012 OBA award is below.
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