The Portrait Award, now in its thirty-sixth year at the National Portrait Gallery and twenty-sixth year of sponsorship by BP, is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world. With a first prize of £30,000 (approx. 47,000 USD), and a total prize fund of £61,000 (approx. 95,000 USD), the Award is aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon and develop portraiture in their work.

The work entered must be predominantly painted in oil, tempera or acrylic on canvas or board. No watercolours, pastels or works on paper will be considered.

For the BP Portrait Award 2015 there is a new entry procedure and a new judging process. Artists should upload a digital image of their work via the website for a first round of judging. All images will be viewed by a panel of judges and the entrants who are successful in this round will be invited to deliver their work to a venue in London for the second round of judging and final exhibition selection.

You are required to upload one photograph of your entire portrait. You also have the option to submit an extra photograph of a detail of the work. This may be a good opportunity to show the level of detail, the texture of the paint or a particular area of interest in the composition.

If your work is not entirely complete at the time of registration you can still enter the competition. The first round of judging will be based on the image that you upload.

Entry is limited to one entry per artist. The work must be no smaller than 25 x 20cm (10 x 8”) unframed and no larger than 244 x 244cm (96 x 96”) framed.

Entry fee is £38 (approx. 59 USD).

Eligibility

The competition is open to everyone worldwide aged 18 and over.

Prize

• First Prize: A cash award of £30,000 (approx. 47,000 USD), 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 (approx. 15,500 USD)
• Third Prize: £8,000
• BP Young Artist Award: £7,000

The BP Portrait Award 2015 exhibition will run at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from Thursday 18 June to Sunday 20 September 2015.