Art competition for kids aged 6-18.

The A. G. Leventis Gallery is celebrating ten years since opening its doors, and we invite our young friends to join us on a special creative journey.

Walking through the Collections of the A. G. Leventis Gallery we can find and observe many different portraits: the young Cypriot women painted by Loukia Nikolaides-Vasiliou and the priest and his wife by George Pol. Georghiou in the Cyprus Collection; the impressive Parisian ladies by Jean-Pierre Cassigneul and young Claude painted by his famous father, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, in the Paris Collection; and the imposing noblewoman by Francesco Pige and the girl wearing a white blouse by Giorgos Mavroides in the Greek Collection. All exceptional portraits which are proudly displayed on the walls of the Gallery!


The Competition

Would you like your artwork, your own unique portrait, to become part of an exhibition at the A. G. Leventis Gallery?

Which of the portraits in the Gallery would you like your portrait to look like? With the portrait of a young boy wearing a sailor’s suit by Symeon Savvidis, with the large emblematic figures by Georghiou or the beautiful girl in an elaborate hooped dress painted in watercolour by Jean-Frédéric Schall?

Visit the Gallery, walk amongst its Collections and get to know all of these and many more portraits. You can also go to our website and study all of them there. Choose the portrait or portraits that you like the most and get inspired by them to create your own unique portrait. Observe the materials and the technique, the feeling that each portrait provokes, the character of the depicted person, the images that surround the person and other details that each painting may hide.

What would you like your portrait to show? What emotion would you like it to convey? What would the depicted person wear? What era and country are they from? What social message does your portrait want to send? Can we imagine this person in the future? In what environment does your person live and what is their profession? It can be a self-portrait, a portrait of a friend, someone you admire a lot or even a fictional or non-existent person. Remember, though, you will not copy one of the paintings – you will use it to get inspired to create your own original portrait!

We look forward to receiving your artworks, which will become part of our Collections for a short time, along with all of the other wonderful portraits of the A. G. Leventis Gallery Collections.

Duration of the Competition
01.12.2023 – 02.04.2024

Eligibility
All children between the ages of 6 and 18 are eligible to participate.

The Award
The winners of the competition will be divided by age into four categories: Category A: 6-8,
Category B: 9-12, Category C: 13 -15, Category D: 16-18.

The winner in each category will receive a set of wireless headphones painted by George Kyrou (graphic designer, street artist) with designs inspired by the paintings in the A. G. Leventis Gallery.

Additionally, two participants will be selected from each category to receive an honorary prize from the AGLG Shop.

A selection of the artworks will be exhibited in a special way at the A. G. Leventis Gallery from 18 May to 2 June 2024.


The Judging Panel
∙ The A. G. Leventis Gallery team: Katerina Stephanides, Theodora Demetriou and Despina Christofidou
∙ Milenko Stevanovic (Artist)
∙ Eleni Odysseos (Artist)
∙ Ioanna Epaminondou (Artist and Art Teacher)
∙ Loukia Pierides (Actress)
∙ George Kyrou (Graphic Designer, Street Artist)
∙ Maria Giannoura (Art Consultant Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth)
∙ Marina Katsaris (Drama practitioner, storyteller)
∙ Rebecca Katsaris (Early years educator)

How to Participate in the Competition
∙ Take a sheet of A3 paper and choose the medium that you prefer (pencils, markers, tempera, etc.).
∙ Draw a portrait inspired by the A. G. Leventis Gallery Collections.
∙ Send us your artwork, along with the registration form, which you will find ➡ here. Your sealed envelope indicating that it is for the competition should be posted or delivered by hand to the A. G. Leventis Gallery by Tuesday 2 April 2024 addressed to:

COMPETITION:  A Unique Portrait at the A. G. Leventis Gallery!

A. G. Leventis Gallery
5 Anastasios G. Leventis Street
1097, Nicosia, Cyprus


For More Information
Theodora Demetriou
Head of Educational Programmes
Tel.: 22668838, ext. 109 (Monday-Friday, 09.00-13.00 & 14.00-16.30)
Email: education@leventisgallery.org


For anyone who wants to learn more about portraits: you can use the following information and questions during your visit to the Gallery, so you can learn more about portraits.

What is a portrait?

Portrait: a painting, drawing or photograph of a person that usually includes only the person’s head and shoulders.

However, portraits can show the full figure of the person, or just the head, or any combination in between. A portrait can even focus on a specific part or region of the sitter’s body, cropping out the rest. The pose is also important. The person can be facing straight ahead, depicted in a one-quarter turn, captured in profile or be turned three-quarters.

A portrait painting or drawing depicts the image of a particular person or animal or group thereof. The subject of a portrait is usually called a ‘sitter’, because traditionally people would sit in front of the artist to have their portrait painted. Nowadays, of course, artists can work from a photograph, so not everyone has to ‘sit’ for a portrait.

Portraits are effective and compelling when they tell us something about the person. A good portrait is not just a visual representation of the sitter; it will also reveal something about their essence. What the portrait reveals may not be completely obvious – sometimes it can be cleverly implied through a certain expression or pose, an included object or the artist’s use of colour. Sometimes the person in the portrait can be iconic, representing a wider group of people from a specific period in time who share something in common.

 strong portrait captivates viewers, draws them into the artwork and engages their attention. Such a portrait causes the viewer to wonder about the person depicted. In this way a portrait painting or drawing can function as a biography, telling the story of that person’s life. The artist will carefully craft visual clues to tell the story of the person in the artwork. Portraits can reveal the sitter’s place in society, their hobbies or occupation or aspects of their personality or beliefs.

When looking at a portrait, ask yourself:
What do the details in this artwork tell me about this person’s life?

Examine things like:
∙ Facial expression – Does the sitter look happy, sad, contemplative, sarcastic? Lively or tired? Peaceful or angry? Friendly or menacing?
∙ Gesture or pose – What is the sitter doing? Are they sitting still or standing? Are they riding a horse? Are they gazing out to sea? Holding a basket of flowers? ∙ Are they pointing at something?
∙ Clothing – How is the person dressed? Are they nude? If they are clothed, do they wear fancy clothes? Military uniform? A black evening gown? Or are they more modestly dressed? Are they wearing tattered clothes? Are the fashions contemporary or old?
∙ Setting – Where does the portrait take place? Is it indoors or outdoors? What do the surroundings look like? Shabby or elegant? Modern or dated? Is it in someone’s kitchen? Or on top of a mountain?
∙ Objects – What other objects are in the portrait besides the sitter? If they are sitting down, what kind of chair is it – a fancy ornate chair, a soft velvet sofa or a plain wooden chair? Are they holding anything? Are there objects in the portrait that grab your attention?