Jaq Grantford (born 1967), also known as Jacqui Grantford, is an Australian artist and writer, known for her

portraiture A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better re ...

and illustrations of children's books.

Early life and education

Jaq Grantford, also known as Jacqui, was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, in 1967.

Career

Art

Grantford's portraits include

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter, and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series, and made for television films, as well also on stage and in feature films ...

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film, and television actress. Her accolades include five AACTA Awards (including the Longford Lyell Award) and a National Board of Review Award, in addition to nominations ...

Paul Mercurio Paul Joseph Mercurio (born 31 March 1963) is an Australian actor, choreographer, dancer, TV presenter and politician. Mercurio is best known for his lead role in the 1992 film ''Strictly Ballroom'' and his role as a judge on TV series ''Danci ...

Jonathon Welch Jonathon Charles Welch (born 5 October 1958) is an Australian choral conductor, opera singer and voice teacher. As a singer, Welch has been a tenor for the Victoria State Opera, Lyric Opera of Queensland and Opera Australia. During 2006 Welc ...

, physician Catherine Crock,

Lior Lior Attar, better known simply as Lior, is an independent Australian singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. He is best known for his 2005 debut studio album ''Autumn Flow'', which featured singles such as "Daniel", the title track and his signa ...

, Ed Le Brocq, and composers

Elena Kats-Chernin Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin (born 4 November 1957) is an Uzbek-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet ''Wild Swans''. Early life and education Elena Kats-Chernin was born in Tashkent (now the capital of independent Uz ...

, and

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake (born 6 September 1958) is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films ''Ali's Wedding'', ''Paper Planes'', ''Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the ...

. In 2023 Grantford won th
People's Choice in the Archibald Prize
Her portrait of

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

radio presenter and musician Ed Le Brocq, in which he is (at his request) portrayed as a

centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

, called ''I Am a Centaur'', was selected as a 2024 Archibald Prize finalist. She has also many painted many self-portraits, including a series in which she places herself in famous paintings by other artists, such as

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

, and

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Writing

In addition to working as a portrait artist and fine artist, Grantford has been publishing books since 2002. ''A True Person,'' written by Gabian Marin was one of the 250 outstanding new international books for children and young adults that have been selected for The White Ravens 2008. This book, along with ''Squeezy Cuddle Dangly Legs'' written by Peter Whitfield, and ''Molly's Memory Jar'' by Norma Spalding have been listed as recommended books in the Family Therapist Awards.

Recognition and awards

* 2013: People's Choice, Black Swan Prize for Portraiture, for a portrait of

* 2013: Portrait of Jacki Weaver in the

Archibald Prize Salon des Refusés Archibald may refer to: People and characters *Archibald (name), a masculine given name and a surname *Archibald (musician) (1916–1973), American R&B pianist * Archibald, a character from the animated TV show ''Archibald the Koala'' Other uses ...

* 2013: Surrealism Mortimore Art Prize * 2014: People's Choice, Black Swan Heritage Awards * 2014: Certificate of Excellence, American Society of Portrait Artists * 2015: Winner, Master of Art International exhibition, Architecture Award,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

* 2016: People's Choice, Shirley Hannan National Portrait Award * 2016: Honourable Mention, Park Art Fair International, Germany * 2016: Winner, Cliftons Art Prize, Melbourne * 2018: People's Choice, Black Swan Prize for Portraiture,

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

, for a portrait of drag artist Ken Atherton ("Tootsie") * 2018: Best in Show, Gateway International Painting Competition * 2019: Winner Kennedy Prize, for her portrait of Ken Atherton * 2022: Winner Darling Portrait Prize at the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, for a self-portrait called ''2020'' * 2023: Winner Archibald People's Choice for a portrait of

She has been a finalist in many other awards, sometimes several times, including the

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize The Doug Moran National Portrait Prize is an annual Australian portrait prize founded by Doug Moran in 1988, the year of Australian Bicentenary, Australia's Bicentenary. It is the richest portrait prize in the world with A$150,000 awarded to th ...

, and the Portia Geach Memorial Award. She is an Associate Living Master of the

Art Renewal Center The Art Renewal Center (ARC) is a non-profit, educational organization, which hosts an online museum dedicated to realist art. The ARC was founded by New Jersey businessman, author, and art collector Fred Ross. Particular emphasis is given to ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Personal life

Grantford has two children. She has been involved in the Melbourne-based charity Hush Foundation, which uses the arts to improve young patients' lives in hospitals, founded by physician Catherine Crock.

Exhibitions

Grantford held several solo exhibitions at the Dromkeen Museum of Children's Literature between 2004 and 2010. In 2007, some of her work was displayed in international exhibitions of children's book illustration in Portugal and Slovakia. Her work was selected for ''Women Painting Women'', an exhibition of portraits held at the Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey in Melbourne in 2016 and 2021, and in 2021 she was included in a women's art exhibition at the European Museum of Modern Art in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, Spain.

Collections

Her work is held in the , the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and many other collections.

Books

As writer and illustrator

* ''Shoes News'',

Lothian Lothian (; ; ) is a region of the Scottish Lowlands, lying between the southern shore of the Firth of Forth and the Lammermuir Hills and the Moorfoot Hills. The principal settlement is the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, while other signific ...

, 2003 * ''Various Faerious'',

, 2002 * ''The Hush Treasure Book'',

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, 2016 (Contributor)

As illustrator

* ''Nancy Bentleigh'', Tracey Hawkins, New Frontier, 2010 *''Molly's Memory Jar'', Norma Spalding, New Frontier, 2010 * ''Thank You Wishes'', Kate Wilson, JoJo Publishing, 2009 * ''A True Person'', Marrian Gabbin, New Frontier, 2007 * ''Squeezy Cuddle Dangly Legs'', Peter Whitfield, New Frontier, 2007 * ''Pemberthy Bear'', Sally Murphy, New Frontier, 2005 * ''Wishes For One more Day'', Melanie Joy Pastor, Flashlight Press, 2005

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grantford, Jaq 1967 births Living people Australian illustrators Australian women artists