A Brighton-educated painter has won a leading national art prize for a portrait of her mother.
Miriam Escofet, who studied 3D design at the recently demolished Brighton Art School, now part of Brighton University, has won the BP Portrait Award.
She was presented with the £35,000 prize at the National Portrait Gallery in London by the model and actor Lily Cole.
Her winning picture, An Angel at my Table, is a portrait in oils of her mother drinking tea in her kitchen.
The portrait won plaudits from the judging panel for its “constraint and intimacy” and “surreal quality”.
One of the judges, Rosie Millard, said of the painting: “The crisp tablecloth and china are rendered so beautifully and then you see that one of the plates and a winged sculpture on the table appear to be moving, which adds a surreal quality to the portrait.”
Sam Davies, Brighton University’s director of philanthropy and alumni engagement, said: “Congratulations to Miriam and we hope we will be able to welcome her back to the campus in due course.
“It would be wonderful to expose our current students to an artist of Miriam’s calibre as they look towards their own careers.”
She moved to Britain from her birthplace, Barcelona, as a 12-year-old.
After graduating from Brighton in 1990 she turned her hand to painting.
She now lives in London where her winning picture is currently on show at the National Portrait Gallery.
