American's free portrait of French neighbour wins major art prize

A Franco-American artist living in south-west France has won one of the world's leading portrait prizes after painting his neighbour for free.

Marc Dalessio, originally from Los Angeles and now based in the Gers village of Jégun, won first prize in the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 at London's National Portrait Gallery with his oil painting Jean-Denis (2025).

The portrait depicts his friend and neighbour, Jean-Denis Corneille-Lierre, who lives across the street from Mr Dalessio's home and studio.

“Jean-Denis was absolutely thrilled when he heard his portrait had won,” said Mr Dalessio.

“Here in the village, everyone wants to talk to him about it.

“I was kidding with him that nobody knows who I am, but everyone recognises him from pictures of the portrait in the local press.”

The work was selected from 1,474 entries submitted from 63 countries, earning the artist £35,000 in prize money.

Free portrait led to award-winning painting

Mr Dalessio moved to Jégun in June 2021 and decided to offer free portraits to neighbours before accepting commissions so he could practise painting with an overhead light source.

“I had not considered Jean-Denis initially because he works long hours during the week in Toulouse, but I was chatting with him one day and he said he had always wanted to have his portrait done. We started almost right away,” he said.

The portrait was completed over around six sittings, with Mr Dalessio playing French podcasts while his neighbour posed.

After Jean-Denis took the finished painting home, Mr Dalessio decided to enter it into the competition. Rather than ask for it back, he painted a second version specifically for the award.

“With the second one, I just kept experimenting for hours. I worked on it without a reference, trying to make an idealised version,” he said.

The clothing and pose remained almost identical, but he reworked the subject's face.

Inspired by classical portraiture

Mr Dalessio said he drew inspiration from historic portrait painting traditions.

“If you go to the National Portrait Gallery, to the third floor, you have the English School. The idea of portraiture back then was that you are not supposed to paint people the way they are.

“You are supposed to take them and combine them with this platonic, ideal person. Nobody does that any more.

“The fashion today is for paintings to be accurate, so it was interesting playing around with this idea, which ended up appealing to the judges.”

About an hour before the winner was announced, organisers told Mr Dalessio the judges believed his work had a “timeless presence”.

“When I heard that, I kind of suspected that maybe I had won. Describing a painting as ‘timeless’ is generally a very good sign,” he said.

“It was very exciting, of course, to find out I actually was the winner.”

“Dalessio’s portrait grabbed the judges’ attention with the simple framing of the sitter and his highly effective, economical painting paired with the intentional use of colour in the glow of the background and the sliver of white from the sitter’s collar,” said the National Portrait Gallery. 

Gers landscapes are a dream

Despite this most recent portraiture award, Mr Dalessio is fully absorbed by “landscape season,” waking up early to paint outdoor scenes before returning to his studio in the afternoon to escape the hot weather. 

Mr Dalessio and his wife Tina Orsolic, also a painter, first visited Gers after being invited to teach a course and participate in a local exhibition.

“These were exactly the kind of landscapes I had dreamed of: rolling hills, open spaces, not too many hedges, wheat, sunflowers… They call the Gers ‘the little Tuscany of France’ but it really is like some of the prettiest parts of Tuscany, with the hilltop towns and big open spaces. So, we decided to move here,” said Mr Dalessio. 

“My job is basically to go outside, be inspired and fall in love with the world, and spend hours or days capturing it on the canvas,” he added.

Mr Dalessio studied in Florence, Italy, and has also lived in several different countries including Croatia, Portugal, and the Netherlands.

“I lived in Italy for 22 years and never felt Italian, but because I have French nationality it is quite different and I feel more connected to France.

“I will say that France works really well for artists in terms of support from the state and we have been welcomed so warmly by the French, particularly in Gers. Lots of press and museums are getting in contact with my wife and I to offer exhibitions. The French just seem so interested in art and it is really wonderful to move here as an artist,” said Mr Dalessio. 

Marc Dalessio’s Jean-Denis is on display alongside 50 other shortlisted competition entries at the National Portrait Gallery in London until October 7. 

You can also visit marcdalessio.com/painting-workshops for information on his upcoming painting courses in France (Provence and Gers) and abroad.