The Portrait Award, now in its thirty-third year at the National Portrait Gallery, is an annual competition aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon and develop portraiture in their work.
The competition is open to everyone aged 18 and over in recognition of the outstanding and innovative work currently being produced by artists of all ages working in portraiture.
Last year 2,372 artists submitted their work and the exhibition, which featured fifty-five paintings, was seen by over 341,000 people at the National Portrait Gallery.
The BP Portrait Award 2012 exhibition will run at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 21 June to 23 September 2012.
Recognizing Outstanding Work by Artists Working in Portraiture
The work entered should be a painting based on a sitting or study from life and the human figure must predominate.
The work entered must be predominantly painted in oil, tempera or acrylic and must be on a stretcher or board, preferably framed and unglazed. No watercolors, works on paper or pastels will be considered.
- Minimum size: 25 x 20cm (10” x 8”) unframed. Any works smaller than this will not be considered.
- Maximum size: 244 x 244cm (96” x 96”) framed.
£25,000 for the Winner of BP Portrait Award 2012!
- First Prize: A cash award of £25,000, plus, at the judges’ discretion, a commission worth £4,000, to be agreed between the National Portrait Gallery and the artist.
- Second Prize: £8,000
- Third Prize: £6,000
- BP Travel Award 2012: £5,000
- BP Young Artist Award: £5,000
An International Competition for Artists Aged 18+
- The BP Portrait Award competition is open to all artists from around the world.
- Artists must be aged 18 years of age or over on 1 January 2012.
- To be eligible for the BP Young Artist Award, artists must be 30 years of age or under as of 1 January 2012.
- The competition is limited to one entry per artist. The work must have been completed after 1 January 2011.
- No work previously submitted for the competition is eligible for resubmission.
Register for the BP Portrait Award 2012 Online or by Post
The best way to register your entry for the BP Portrait Award 2012 is online. It is also possible to register entries by post.
Entry Fee
The entry fee for this competition is £34.
