On Friday night, we joined artists, art lovers, and the team at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville for the 2025 Portrait Award opening. The atmosphere buzzed with anticipation as finalists, friends, and family gathered to celebrate one of South Africa’s most prestigious art events.
From the warm welcome at the door to the remarkable works displayed across the gallery, the evening was a reminder of the power of portraiture.
The Deckle Edge Art Prize Winner: Elsiré Roos
Our proud moment of the evening was celebrating The Deckle Edge-sponsored winner, Elsire Roos, with her painting Girl From Philadelphia (oil on canvas).
All of the portraits on display were outstanding, and there were many we would happily hang in our homes. But Elsiré’s use of colour, the luminous turquoise paired with warm coral, captured our hearts. Her portrait radiated both energy and elegance, and we found ourselves returning to it again and again.
As our Deckle Edge winner, Elsiré received a prize hamper valued at over R10,000, including a Lyra Polycolor Artist Atelier 106 Set, a Museo A-frame IBIZA easel and Museo artist apron, to round off the prize, Elsire received a Schmincke samples goody bag and an A2 Artboard Professional Artist Canvas.
It was a joy to hand this over to Elsiré and know that these materials will support her practice as she continues her artistic journey.
The Rust en Vrede Winning Portrait: Mask by Malik Mani
The overall award went to 27-year-old Northern Cape creative Malik Mani (@malikmani_art) for his drawing titled Mask.
Mani’s Mask makes history as the first winning work rendered in a drawing medium. He receives R150,000 in prize money, along with the promise of a solo exhibition at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in 2027.
Malik Mani for his drawing Mask.
Ruan Huisamen for Adolescent in Blue
Other Works That Inspired Us
This year’s finalists truly showcased the diversity of South African portraiture. A few stood out for us.
Ruan Huisamen was awarded the Ryno Swart Drawing Medal for Adolescent in Blue. His astonishing use of detail with charcoal and pastels has to be seen up close to be believed. Photographs simply cannot capture the delicacy and precision of his work.
Hannah Anderson’s Your Life Is A Story Like The Wind (pastel) was another personal favourite. For me, his hair looked as though it was on fire, symbolic of the inner flame that drives him despite hardship and hunger. It felt like a portrait of resilience, life, and fight.
Joseph Dolby’s Robyn (Third Prize, acrylics) was a marvel of patience and vision. Composed of countless individual dots of colour, it resembled a woven tapestry. The painting felt like part modern portrait and part homage to aboriginal-inspired mark-making.
Lena Hugo’s Red Rubber, Black Gold commanded attention with its striking use of vivid blue set against a shimmering backdrop of gold leaf. Up close, the surface and contrast drew you in with magnetic power.
René Snyman’s Widowed (oil on canvas) impressed us with its scale and emotional depth. Bathed in a glowing yellow that gave the painting a regal quality, it seemed like a portrait of royalty. Yet the subject, a grieving woman accompanied by a cat curling at her feet for warmth and comfort, made the work profoundly human and moving. It felt masterful and full of quiet dignity.
These works reminded us why exhibitions like this are so vital. They bring forward not just technical brilliance but the personal and emotional stories of artists across South Africa.
Hannah Anderson’s Your Life Is A Story Like The Wind
Joseph Dolby’s Robyn
René Snyman’s Widowed
A Memorable Evening
The evening itself was as delightful as the art. The canapés were as carefully crafted as the portraits on the walls. The refreshments kept the conversations flowing and the atmosphere light.
We also enjoyed catching up with familiar faces in the South African art community.
It was great to see Gabriel Brown from Art Times, a magazine dedicated to promoting artists and furthering art in South Africa, always shining a spotlight on creativity across the country.
We also bumped into Mathew Bell, whose wildlife greeting cards we proudly stock at The Deckle Edge. And it was an honour to meet his mother, Felicity Bell, a previous Rupert Art Foundation First Prize winner, whose presence was another reminder of the depth of talent nurtured in our art world.
Exhibition Details
Where: Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, Durbanville
When: Until 29 October 2025
What to see: Mask by Malik Mani and 39 other powerful finalist portraits, including our Deckle Edge winner, Elsire Roos’s Girl From Philadelphia.
If you are in the Cape Town area, this is an exhibition not to be missed.
Nights like these remind us why we love what we do. Celebrating artists, their courage, and the stories they bring to life is always inspiring. Congratulations once again to Elsire Roos, Malik Mani, Ruan Huisamen, René Snyman, and to all the finalists who continue to amaze us with their originality and passion.
The Deckle Edge is proud to play a small role in supporting South Africa’s vibrant art community.