NEW YORK—The seventh NTD International Figure Painting Competition concluded this week with a striking statement: For the second time, no Gold Award was given.
In a field filled with extraordinary technical mastery, the judges left the highest honor vacant—signaling that virtuosity alone, however refined, must be animated by something more. Throughout the evening, organizers and artists alike returned to a shared standard: that great art unites rigorous craftsmanship with moral depth, spiritual insight, and humanity.
The decision reflected a core principle of the competition, which is dedicated to classical realist painting guided by the values of truth, kindness, and beauty. As NTD Television CEO Samuel Zhou told the audience, each finalist’s work represented not just skill, but “a living story that reflects virtue, beauty, and compassion … an experience that transcends time and space.”
This year’s Silver Awards went to four paintings that came closest to that ideal: “Fate” by Vu Thuy of Vietnam, “The Widow’s Mite” by Ken Corbett of the United States, “Tales of Wisdom” by Clodoaldo Martins of Brazil, and “The Touchstone” by Ken Young of the United States.
Among them, Martins’s “Tales of Wisdom” stood out for its quiet humanity. The painting depicts an elderly man reading to a circle of children, their faces absorbed in attention and ease. For Martins, the scene reflects something increasingly rare in modern life.
“We live in a time of constant rush,” he said. “People no longer stop to pay attention the way they used to. In this painting, the grandfather and children are in a calm environment, where learning happens through coexistence and tranquility. It’s an invitation to reflect on what we may be losing.”
Martins explained that while the work was not initially created for the competition, he realized partway through that it aligned with NTD’s mission of truth, kindness, and beauty. Having participated in three NTD competitions, he said these have deepened how he reflects on his purpose as an artist.
“You start to reflect more deeply on your mission,” he said. “Those principles influence the evolution of the work in a really positive way.”
Another Silver Award went to Corbett for “The Widow’s Mite,” a contemporary interpretation of the biblical story of a poor widow who gives her last coins to God. Corbett reimagined the woman as young and burdened with children, heightening the moral weight of her sacrifice.
“She wasn’t just giving extra money,” Corbett said. “She was giving everything she had. As an artist, I relate to that. I never know when my next paycheck is coming, but I’ve learned to trust God when he asks me to give.”
For Corbett, participating in the competition affirmed a lifelong goal: to create paintings that transmit faith, sacrifice, and moral conviction across generations. “I want my children and grandchildren to know what I believe,” he said. “A painting can bridge that gap.”
Bronze Award Winners
If the Silver Awards reflected stories of wisdom and devotion, the Bronze winners revealed how artists from around the world are grappling with creation, suffering, and spiritual struggle.
Among them was Slovenian painter Nik Anikis Skusek, whose painting “The Divine Creator” presents a luminous human figure against a cosmic backdrop. The painting is both allegory and autobiography.
“It represents a pathway to becoming the greatest version of myself,” Skusek said. “Not the best on the planet—but the best in my life. Creation and destruction exist in all of us. You have to jump in, dedicate yourself, and develop your skills. Sitting on the fence brings nothing.”
Skusek, who studied classical painting in Florence, said the competition reconnected him with a spiritual foundation he had nearly lost. “It pushed me back into my heart,” he said. “People told me they felt like better human beings just looking at the painting. That changed me.”
Taiwanese artist Shao-Hang Tsai also received Bronze for “Forced Organ Harvest,” a stark work addressing the ongoing persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. Accepting his award, Tsai said simply, “I hope that through my artwork, you can learn about this persecution.”
Restoring Traditional Values to Art
The competition’s judges did not release formal scoring, but longtime chief juror Zhang Kunlun has repeatedly emphasized that technical excellence must serve something higher. Throughout the evening, speakers framed the event as part of a larger effort to restore traditional values to art in an era they see as deeply distorted.
“At a time when human art has been at its most distorted and darkest,” Zhang said in his address, “you chose to walk a righteous path of your own … guiding human art back to what is upright and traditional.”
The Profound Humanity Award went to artists whose works placed moral meaning above all else, including Van Nguyen of Vietnam for “The Girl and Golden Cracks.” The painting portrays a woman repairing broken pottery using the Japanese art of kintsugi, in which fractures are filled with gold.
“Brokenness doesn’t mean throwing something away,” Nguyen said. “It can become beautiful. Vulnerability can turn into strength.” She added that the competition affirmed her belief that an artist’s role is to spread beauty and peace through craftsmanship and sincerity.
Taken together, the awards revealed a pattern: While extraordinary technique was honored through the Outstanding Technique prizes, the competition’s highest moral recognition was reserved for works that confronted suffering, faith, healing, and the meaning of being human.
With the Gold Award left unclaimed, the message was clear. In this international gathering of painters from more than a dozen countries, excellence was not measured by polish alone—but by how deeply a work spoke to the conscience.
In an art world often driven by novelty and shock, the NTD International Figure Painting Competition once again affirmed a different standard: that the highest achievement in art is not merely to impress, but to uplift.
The “Seventh NTD International Figure Painting Competition Finalist Exhibition,” at the Salmagundi Club in New York City, runs from Jan. 20 through Jan. 24, 2026. To find out more, visit OilPainting.NTDTV.com
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