Artist Neil Haddon did not know where Tasmania was 22 years ago.
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He came to the state after meeting his Tasmanian-born wife in Spain and on Friday won the coveted $100,000 Hadley’s landscape art prize.
The University of Tasmania lecturer from Hobart was overwhelmed at winning the prize, which is one of the world’s richest landscape art prizes.
“It’s extraordinary, it’s incredible,” Haddon said.
The winning work, titled The Visit, depicts British author H.G. Wells cycling through a Tasmanian landscape.
It refers to Wells’ novel, The War of the Worlds, as well as colonial artist John Glover and French artist Paul Gauguin.
Haddon, 51, was born in Epsom, a market town in Surrey, England where Wells found the inspiration for his novel.
He did several versions of his winning work over a long period.
“It is about what it feels like to be a migrant,” Haddon said.
“It is as broad as the definition of the word landscape.
“Wells also alludes to the attempted genocide of Aboriginal Tasmanians in the opening paragraphs of his book.”
The prize is only in its second year.
This year it attracted 640 entries from across Australia, which was almost double the number of entries from its inaugural year.
The judges whittled it down to 31 finalists and then five favourite works before uniting in their decision to award the prize to Haddon.
“There is no doubt that his painting, The Visit, is a complex and accomplished painting that raises many questions about landscape, custodianship and contact history,” judge Jane Stewart said.
The prize is an acquisitive award, with the winning entry added to a permanent art collection at Hadley’s Orient Hotel.
Four artists were highly commended and each won $2250.
Those artists were Jacobus Capone and Daisy Japulija, both of Western Australia, Tjukupati James of the Northern Territory and Betty Kuntiwa Pumani of South Australia.
A people’s choice award will be determined by a public vote.