A portrait of last year’s Crufts Best in Show winner, Multi Ch Planet Waves Forever Young Daydream Believers, was unveiled at Crufts 2020 on Thursday 5th March in the Resorts World Arena at the NEC, Birmingham.
Artist Anne Zoutsos presented the painting to Crufts Chairman, Tom Mather, in front of thousands of spectators in the arena. Anne and Tom were joined for the presentation by Dylan and his proud owner, Kathleen Roosens.
Following the presentation, Kathleen took home the original portrait and a limited edition was transported to London to become part of the Kennel Club Art Collection, and will soon be on display.
Anne Zoutsos is a full-time artist and has painted professionally for over 30 years. Anne is based in Surrey and her work, including paintings of wild animals and dog portraiture, can be found in collections all over the world.
Speaking after the presentation, Anne said: “I was absolutely delighted to paint Dylan and decided that such a gorgeous little dog needed a special setting for his painting. As Papillons are thought to have originated in France or Belgium, I thought it would be appropriate to have him standing on a chaise longue. I couldn’t resist putting in a reference to the fact that Dylan’s breed, so named because the well-feathered alert ears of the Papillon (French for butterfly) resemble the spread wings of a butterfly, and so included a cutting of buddleia, otherwise known as the butterfly bush.
“I used several different reference photos to get Dylan in just the pose I wanted for the painting and made sure that his face could be seen clearly as he has a personality which just sparkles through.”
Dylan and Kathleen were also busy elsewhere at Crufts 2020, appearing on the Channel 4 programme with Clare Balding and on the Crufts Extra YouTube show with Scarlett Mofatt, meeting the public on the Papillon booth in Discover Dogs, as well as giving demonstrations on how to get started in dog showing. Kathleen also won the Papillon Best of Breed with Dylan’s brother, Simon (Multi Ch Premier League Daydream Believers).