Portrait of Devon 2016 Best in Show Winner Presented at Crufts 2017

A portrait of last year’s Crufts Best in Show winner, Ch Burneze Geordie Girl (Devon) was unveiled at Crufts 2017 on Thursday 12th in the Genting Arena at the NEC, Birmingham.

Artist, Anne Zoutsos presented the painting to the Chairman of the Kennel Club Arts Foundation, Tom Mather in front of thousands of spectators in the arena. Anne and Tom were joined for the presentation by Devon and her proud owner, Marie Burns.

Following the presentation, the portrait was transported to London to become part of the Arts Foundation collection and is now on display at the Kennel Club in London. Marie will receive a limited edition print of the painting.

Anne Zoutsos is a full-time artist and has always loved drawing and painting. She comes from a family of talented artists and has painted professionally for 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: “When I was asked to paint Devon, there were three aspects of the painting I had to consider. The first was Devon herself – she was just a pleasure to paint with her sparkling, cheeky expression and lovely coat and conformation. 

“The other considerations were the tone and colour of the painting and the composition. I decided to use a background with considerable detail in it, but kept to a limited palette so that interest wouldn’t be drawn away from Devon. In the painting Devon is standing on a bed, a very popular place with all dogs.”