World’s Best Celebrity Portraitists: YANTENG, BANKS, CHASOV, FELLA & FILICHKIN / 2024 WORLD ART AWARDS

Thom Bierdz
6 min readJun 29, 2024

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Artists from 61 countries competed in the 2024 WORLD ART AWARDS where 20 of the most revered galleries in the world were sent online images to score in drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography. The 300+ winning works, 1st to 6th Place (and ties) in all 50 categories, will be revealed in this column one category at a time, and also an upcoming movie.

The WINNERS in CATEGORY 31. PORTRAIT OF SOMEONE FAMOUS represent USA, SOUTH AFRICA, RUSSIA & ITALY.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Xiong Yanteng

is a young artist, a member of the Professional Alliance of American Artists and a member of the Portrait Society of America. His artistic journey began at the age of five. Graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Academy of Fine Arts, Minzu University of China. During his undergraduate studies, he received prestigious awards, including the prestigious First Class Professional Scholarship and several honours. After graduation, he went to the United States to further his studies. He has won first prize and top three in international painting and portrait competitions many times. And has been selected into multiple group exhibitions and personal exhibitions on many famous art websites. His works have been selected for physical exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Italy, Spain, Beijing and other places, including portraits that have been selected for the famous American National Exhibition, and won the Jerry’s Artarama Award at the American National Exhibition. His works were selected for the 2023 Spanish International Contemporary Figurative “Modportrait Modern Portrait Competition” and was awarded an honorable mentions drawing. And the 2023 Titian International Portrait Painting&Sculpture Competition exhibition,Won the third prize in the exhibition. His portraits have been featured on Google, various art media, news outlets, and multiple social media platforms. It is worth noting that his first-place portraits have been published in many art magazines such as 《Art Connoisseur magazine》,《Artisi Magazine》,《American Art Collector Magazine》,《Art appreciation》,《Observica Magazine 》,《The Book of Arts 》,《Artistonish Contemporary Art Magazine》,《Art and Color 365》,《Art Seen — The Curator’s Salon Magazine》,《Art IDEAL》,《Circle Quarterly Art Review Magazine》 and 《Visual arts magazine》《Art Seen》 《LEONARDO Guide》 《The Best Of Drawing 》 https://www.instagram.com/xiongyanteng.art?igsh=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

ART COLLECTORS — CONTACT THE WINNERS HERE: CATEGORY 31. PORTRAIT OF SOMEONE FAMOUS

1st Place and 2nd Highest Score In Contest XIONG YANTENG USA “First Color Pencil Portrait” 11x14” Color pencilpaper.

2nd Place — Tie CRAIG BANKS SOUTH AFRICA www.craigbanksart.co.za 21x29.78cm “Desmond Tutu” Charcoal on paper.

2nd Place — Tie YOURI CHASOV RUSSIA chasoffart@gmail.com “Gagarin-9” 27x36cm Paper, digital painting.

3rd Place — Tie GIANMARCO FELLA ITALY https://www.facebook.com/Gianmarco.Fella.ART/ 50x70cm “Walter White Alias Heisenberg” Pencil, charcoal and mixed media on paper.

3rd Place — Tie GIANMARCO FELLA ITALY https://www.facebook.com/Gianmarco.Fella.ART/ “Morgan Freeman” 50x70cm Pencil, charcoal, paper.

4th Place — Tie XIONG YANTENG USA 118085618@qq.com “Star-Lord In Jeans” 11x14” Color pencil on paper.

4th Place — Tie TANYA FILICHKIN USA https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-tanya-filichkin.html “Portrait Of John Lennon” 20x20” Acrylic on canvas.

5th Place — Tie YOURI CHASOV RUSSIA chasoffart@gmail.com “D.Trump-8p” 43x43cm Paper, digital painting.

5th Place — Tie TANYA FILICHKIN USA https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-tanya-filichkin.html “Portrait Of Liam Gallagher — Too Good To Give It Up” 20x20” Acrylic on canvas.

6th Place — Tie YOURI CHASOV RUSSIA chasoffart@gmail.com “A.Mucha” 30x30cm Paper, digital painting.

6th Place — Tie TANYA FILICHKIN USA https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-tanya-filichkin.html “Robert Plant — Enchanter” 8x10.5” Acrylic on watercolor paper.

In 2024, WORLD ART AWARDS had submissions from these 61 countries: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Denmark, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, UK, Ukraine, USA, Viet Nam, Wales, Zambia.

The World Art Awards 20 Best Galleries & Museums for 2024 who were asked to score art: (in alphabetical order by country):

Best in Australia: Bungendore Wood Works Gallery

Best in Chile: Isabel Aninat Gallery

Best in Columbia: Beatriz Esguerra Art

Best in Czech Republic: Knupp Gallery

Best in Georgia: UGallery

Best in Israel: Corridor Contemporary

Best in Japan: Nanzuka Underground

Best in Latvia: Galerija Romas Darzs

Best in Malaysia: Gallery des Artistes / Gallery@Tropicana

Best in Morocco: Comptoir des Mines Galerie

Best in Myanmar: New Treasure Art Gallery

Best in Portugal: Underdogs

Best in Taiwan: 1839 Contemporary Gallery

Best in United Kingdom: Miart Gallery London

Best in USA / Alabama: Alabama Contemporary Art Center

Best in USA / Arizona: Exposures International Gallery Of Fine Art

Best in USA / Iowa: Moberg Gallery

Best in USA / Nebraska: Kiechel Fine Art

Best in USA / South Dakota: South Dakota Art Museum

Best in USA / Utah: Ogden Contemporary Arts

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Thom Bierdz

One of Medium’s TOP ART CONTRIBUTORS, award-winning author, actor, film-maker, painter. 12 books: 6 on art. President of WAA & AAA & ACCA.