World’s Best Animal Realists: TUBIANA, AKER, SERSTINSKAJA, SCHAUER, DOLMAN, DODDE, PRAEGER, CARREGA & NHANANGA / 2025 Art Collectors Choice Awards
Artists from 49 countries competed in the 2025 ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS. 15 international art collectors scored 50 categories of online images covering drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography.
The winning works will be revealed in this column one category at a time.
The ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS winners in CATEGORY 33. REALISM — ANIMAL represent FRANCE, USA, LITHUANIA, GERMANY, UK, NETHERLANDS, SWITZERLAND & ZIMBABWE.
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Marion Tubiana:
“Animal portraits that are strikingly lifelike. This is how one could describe the paintings and drawings of Marion Tubiana. It is from photographs that this artist, who is also a wildlife photographer, works. These are snapshots taken by her or other photographers, which she transforms onto canvas or paper, where she expresses the emotions and deep nature of these creatures, the only beings capable of giving her “this particular sense of calm and well-being that only they can transmit.”
“Through the powdery and velvety texture of pastel, she brings to life on the medium images of a unique tenderness and fleetingness. Drawings she leaves unfinished to better give us the impression of witnessing the ephemeral appearance of animality transfigured by the artist. A sensation reminiscent of the evanescence of this medium, which, before being fixed, can be erased with a single stroke of the hand and dispersed with the slightest gust of wind. As for painting, Marion Tubiana sees it as “more intentional in terms of expression,” this time conveying the grandeur and power of these animals to which she feels so close.
“Mastering both techniques, Marion Tubiana becomes the artist of the anima, this breath that animates us as much as the animals, whose portraits reveal the soul of nature, inviting us to reconnect with it. “ quote from Bertrand Naivin.
MARION’S SITE: http://www.mariontubiana.com/
WINNER WEBSITES: CATEGORY 33. REALISM — ANIMAL
1st Place MARION TUBIANA FRANCE www.mariontubiana.com “Le Curieux” 30x30cm Pastel.
2nd Place — Tie LESA AKER USA www.facebook.com/lesa.aker “Pair Of Kings” 16x27" Pastel on Pastelmat.
2nd Place — Tie DANGUOLE SERSTINSKAJA LITHUANIA www.petdrawings.net “Tortoiseshell Cat” 35x25cm Pastel on paper.
3rd Place — Tie LESA AKER USA www.facebook.com/lesa.aker “Contemplation” 20x16" Pastel on Pastelmat.
3rd Place — Tie MELANIE SCHAUER GERMANY www.herzensmalerei.com “Amber Eyes” 50x70cm Pastel on Pastelmat.
4th Place — Tie SAM DOLMAN UK www.samdolman.com “Arthur” 16x20″ Oil on board.
4th Place — Tie PATRICK DODDE NETHERLANDS https://www.instagram.com/patrickd.art/ “Tiger” 20x30cm Airbrush.
4th Place — Tie YVONNE PRAEGER SWITZERLAND https://yvonnepraeger.com “Watch Out!” 100x100cm Oil on canvas.
5th Place — Tie CECILE CARREGA FRANCE www.crga-pastel-animalier.fr “Le Guépard” 40x30cm Pastel.
5th Place — Tie TAKUDZWA ALLAN NHANANGA ZIMBABWE https://takudzwaallanart.artweb.com “Stealthy Dawn” 150x100cm Acrylic on canvas.
6th Place — Tie MARION TUBIANA FRANCE www.mariontubiana.com “Apiaster” 30x40cm Pastel.
6th Place — Tie LESA AKER USA www.facebook.com/lesa.aker “Gus” 20x16" Pastel on Pastelmat
See hundreds of winning images and corresponding contact info to all the artists here:
In 2025, ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS had submissions from these 49 countries: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Herzegovina, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA, Zimbabwe.
15 international art collectors asked to score art:
Jason Stuckless — Toronto, Ontario
Kene J. Rosa — Los Angeles, California
Michael Gregg Michaud — Los Angeles, California
Alec Wilder — Los Angeles / Las Vegas / New Orleans
Eddie Dyer — Los Angeles / Las Vegas / New Orleans
Thomas Zora — Las Vegas
Ron Lundin — Naples, Florida / Chicago, Illinois / Vail, Colorado
Jay H. Brewer — Orlando, Florida
Alan McMullen — Fannettsburg, Philadelphia
Brian Townley — Waco, Texas
Aimee Unakis — Georgetown, Illinois
Jordan Wallace — Georgetown, Illinois
Carole Hatcher — Rancho Mirage, California
Jan Gold — Roseville, California
Karen Valentine — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mitchell Antesky — Toledo Ohio
