National Portrait Gallery has opened the call for entries for its 2016 Portrait Award international painting competition, now in its thirty-seventh year.
With a first prize of £30,000, and a total prize fund of £61,000, the Award is aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon and develop portraiture in their work.
The BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world. In 2015, 2,748 artists submitted their work and the exhibition, which featured fifty-five paintings, was seen by nearly 330,000 people.
National Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Portrait Award prize list includes:
- First Prize: A cash award of £30,000, plus, at the judges’ discretion, a commission worth £5,000, to be agreed between the National Portrait Gallery and the artist.
- Second Prize: £10,000
- Third Prize: £8,000
- BP Young Artist Award: £7,000
- BP Travel Award 2016: £6,000
The Competition is limited to one entry per artist and the work must have been completed after 1 January 2015. It is open to everyone aged 18 and over.
BP Portrait Award 2016 Entry Fees
This year’s entry fee is £40.