Established by the well known philanthropist Sir John Moores in 1957, and described by the Guardian as ‘the prize at the forefront of modern art’, the John Moores Painting Prize is awarded every two years to the best contemporary painting by a UK-based artist, with the short-listed artworks exhibited at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Walker Art Gallery has been closed for most of the past year, opening briefly once more in December, before being forced to close again on the 30th of that month when the latest national lockdown was put in place. The Walker Art Gallery is now set to reopen on 17th May, in line with the Government’s four-step ‘roadmap’ to lifting lockdown restrictions.
For the John Moores Painting Prize 2020 candidates, the gallery’s closure has meant that their work has so far been inaccessible to the general public. Fortunately, however, the Walker Art Gallery and National Museums Liverpool have put together a virtual tour of the 67 short-listed artworks for the prize. This exciting collection of paintings can be viewed on the National Museums Liverpool website:
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/jmpp/john-moores-painting-prize
Kathryn Maple’s acrylic on canvas work The Common was announced as the winner of John Moores Painting Prize 2020, and her painting will now permanently feature in the Walker Art Gallery’s world famous collection. As friends and partners of the gallery, we offer our congratulations to Ms Maple, and wish the Walker team all the very best for a successful (and hopefully permanent) reopening in a little under a month from now.