Durbanville resident wins Ryno Swart Drawing Medal in 2025 Portrait Award

Durbanville resident, Ruan Huisamen, won a medal and secured a spot in the top six of the prestigious Portrait Award on Friday, August 29.

He won the Ryno Swart Drawing Medal for his work Adolescent in Blue at a gala evening held at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery and Clay Museum in Durbanville, where the top six finalists were revealed.

His work captured the liminal state between childhood and adulthood, executed in charcoal and pastels. In a statement from the gallery and museum, the judges said it achieves an almost photographic precision, but with a softness that evokes vulnerability. 

This drawing medal that he won was introduced at the Portrait Award in 2023 to honour artist and educator Ryno Swart, who believed that drawing is a fundamental skill.  Mr Swart died in 2021 of COVID-related complications at the age of 76.

The award is reserved for the Portrait rendered in the best drawing medium.

The winner of the 2025 Portrait Award has been announced as Malik Mani from Upington in the Northern Cape, taking first place for his hyperrealistic, conceptual work Mask. 

Drawn in pencil, the portrait depicts a male face breaking through a cracked surface resembling peeling paint. Mani received R150,000 in prize money, along with a solo exhibition at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in 2027. 

Joining Mr Mani in the top three were Ashley Ogilvy, from Bakoven, who took second place with Wherever We Are, We Are Here and Joseph Dolby, from Edgemead, who took third place with Robyn.

Mr Mani described his approach and artistic style as surrealistic. 

“Realism often distracts the audience from the intended message and the underlying significance of the portrait. I had to devise a strategy to shift the audience’s focus from the technical skill to the underlying message, ” he said.

According to Donavan Mynhardt, curator at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, the judging process was highly rigorous. 

He said what made this year especially noteworthy was that the winning artist hails from Upington in the Northern Cape, the first time a winner came from that province.

On the other hand, Mr Huisamen said, “Winning the Ryno Swart Drawing Medal for best drawing feels less like a personal triumph and more like having a quiet doubt assuaged. To have my piece recognised amongst such a broad and brilliant spectrum of skill and vision is profoundly humbling.”

Top 40 works will be exhibited at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery and Clay Museum from Saturday, August 30, to Wednesday, October 29.

These biennial awards showcase portraiture in South Africa today, from oil to mixed media, realism to abstraction.

The Portrait 100 exhibition, featuring 60 more portraits that formed part of the Top 100, will be on display at the Spier Arts Trust Union House in Cape Town, from Saturday, August 30 to Wednesday, October 29.