12 
MuseoMag   N°II 2025 
Lis Hausemer and the artist met at the museum a few weeks ago when he came to drop off the painting. 
FROM LONDON TO LUXEMBOURG 
The museum welcomes Dan Gaasch’s Selina (2022) to its collection 
With the careful eye of a restorer and the vision of 
a painter, Dan Gaasch’s 2022 portrait Selina offers 
a fresh, contemporary take on the classic portrait. 
Selected for the renowned Herbert Smith Freehills 
Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 
London (NPG) in 2024, the painting captures the 
artist’s partner, Selina, in a moment of stillness 
and reflection. With its delicate mix of form, colour 
and texture, the piece draws you in, inviting you 
to pause and consider both the subject and the 
artist’s careful formal execution and composition. 
Almost a year after its recognition at the NPG, 
Selina has now found its permanent place in the 
MNAHA’s collection, marking an important journey 
from London to its new home. I had the chance to 
catch up with the artist a few weeks ago at the 
museum when he brought the painting in, and we 
got to chat about his work and creative process. 
SELINA’S JOURNEY 
The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award is de- 
dicated to contemporary portrait painting and is 
open to artists worldwide. In its 42nd edition in 2024, 
it showcased 50 selected works from 1.647 sub- 
missions across 62 countries. The jury, chaired by 
Nicholas Cullinan, former director of the NPG and 
now director of the British Museum, included promi- 
nent figures such as the gallery’s contemporary 
art curator. Tanya Bentley and British artist Barbara 
Walker. As Cullinan notes in the exhibition’s leaflet: 
“The anonymity applied to this process encouraged 
the judges to consider what resonated for them 
most, including the artist’s technical ability, their use 
of symbolism and narrative, and their application of 
colour, texture and shadows.” 
It was through this careful selection process that 
Dan Gaasch’s portrait made it through to the final 
cut. Interestingly, Selina was not only included in 
the NPG’s exhibition, but also chosen as one of the 
key images for its promotion, appearing on flyers, 
postcards and posters. As Gaasch tells me, there’s 
a real sense of joy in seeing Selina’s journey now 
come full circle. Just a year ago, he got the news 
that his work had been selected for the group show 
at the NPG, and now, one year later, it’s here in the 
museum, officially part of the MNAHA’s permanent 
collection, securing its place in the history of art 
from Luxembourg. 
© 
éric chenal