Forty eight artists competed for a place in the final which was held at Stourhead. Competition heats took place at Waddesdon Manor, Trelissick and Lyme Park and the three finalists also took on artistic challenges at the Giant’s Causeway, Plas Newydd and Glencoe (National Trust for Scotland).
The artists’ interpretations of these stunning landscapes will light up our TV screens over nine episodes when the Landscape Artist of the Year 2015 series airs from 6 October. See the action unfold every Tuesday at 8pm and the winner’s commissioned painting unveiled in the final episode on 1 December.
Inspiration from the past
As well as being named Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015, the winner will receive a £10,000 commission to paint Flatford, which we care for. The quiet hamlet and surrounding countryside inspired the English Romantic painter John Constable and the winner will interpret the landscape in their own unique style.
We asked you to vote for the place you wanted to see the winner paint and you chose Flatford from a list that also included Aberdulais Tin Works and Waterfall, Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Water Garden and Petworth House and Park – all captured on canvas by JMW Turner – and Winston Churchill’s home Chartwell, where the statesman used to paint.
Experts lead the search
The series is presented by Joan Bakewell, who grew up near Lyme Park, and Frank Skinner. The duo previously presented the Sky Arts Portrait Artist of The Year series.
They are joined again by expert judges portrait artist Tai Shan Schierenberg, curator Kathleen Soriano and art dealer Kate Bryan as they search to find the nation’s next great landscape artist. The series is produced by Storyvault Films.
Win a Sky TV package and a Panasonic HD TV
As part of the Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2015 competition Sky offered the chance to win their full TV package for a whole year and a Panasonic HD TV. The competition has now closed for entries.
A history of landscape art
Places we look after have been inspiring artists for centuries with the wild beauty of the Lake District, 40 per cent of which we care for, proving a particular draw. There’s also a long history of amateur art at places we look after with the families of former occupants capturing everyday scenes of landscapes, houses, activities and animals.
‘I think it’s wonderful that the Sky series has been filmed at Trust sites as it shows that anyone can be inspired by the landscape, record it and gain pleasure and a sense of accomplishment,’ says our paintings conservation adviser Christine Sitwell. ‘It’s definitely becoming more popular to paint Trust sites too, as they’re so accessible.’
