BP Portrait Award explained

The BP Portrait Award was an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. It is the most important portrait prize in the world,[1] [2] [3] [4] and is reputedly one of the most prestigious competitions in contemporary art.[5] [6] [7] Starting in 2024, the National Portrait Gallery’s portrait competition resumed under the new sponsorship of international law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.

History

British Petroleum took over sponsorship of the competition in 1989 from John Player & Sons, a tobacco company which had sponsored it from its inception in 1980, and has sponsored it since. The presence of both sponsors has triggered protests, with the group Art Not Oil (part of the international Rising Tide network) being responsible for most of those against BP. [8] In 2016, The Museums Association conducted a formal investigation into BP's sponsorship when Art Not Oil alleged that the company influenced curatorial decisions and used its association with the National Gallery to further its political interests both domestic and international.

The exhibition opens in June each year and runs until September. First prize is typically £30,000. In the early years of the century, the prize went up from £5,000, and its catchment area was gradually extended from residents of the UK and is now unrestricted. Until 2006, the competition has been open to under-40s only. Since 2007, it is open to anyone over the age of 18 and a separate BP Young Artist Award is granted to the best portrait artist between 18 and 30.[9]

In 1993, Tom Hallifax was used to advertise the awards.[10]

In 2012 the competition received 2,187 entries from 74 countries (including 1,500 from the UK)[11] of which 55 paintings were selected to be exhibited.

Winners

John Player Portrait Award

BP Portrait Award

SELF Portrait Prize

Selected works

It has become a BP Portrait Awards convention that a single work is selected to be used prominently on that year's posters and other publicity materials, and for the cover of the year's exhibition catalogue. Recent "showcase" portraits include:

BP Visitor Choice

Each year, the BP Visitor Choice competition offers visitors to the highly popular BP Portrait Award exhibition the opportunity to vote for their favourite portrait in the exhibition.

BP Travel Award

The BP Travel Award is an annual award allowing artists to experience working in a different environment on a project related to portraiture. The successful applicants work is exhibited at the Portrait Gallery the following year. Country of each artists project shown in brackets below.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Royal Society of Portrait Painters . Therp.co.uk . 20 November 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141129211753/http://www.therp.co.uk/rp-artists/artist/daphne-todd/ . 29 November 2014 . dmy .
  2. Web site: BP and National Portrait Gallery. Arts & Business. 20 November 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141129110215/http://artsandbusiness.bitc.org.uk/awards-ab/sponsorship/bp-npg. 29 November 2014. dead.
  3. Web site: The Journal – Familial feel at this year's BP Portrait Award Exhibition . Journal-online.co.uk . 20 November 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141217142413/http://www.journal-online.co.uk/article/9733-familial_feel_this_years_bp_portrait_award_exhibition . 17 December 2014 . dmy .
  4. Web site: World's most innovative new portraits go on display in Wolverhampton. Ignacio Villarreal. Artdaily.com. 20 November 2014.
  5. Web site: Cent Magazine. 21 June 2013 . 20 November 2014.
  6. Web site: National Portrait Gallery in London. xamou art. 3 January 2014 . 20 November 2014.
  7. Web site: Fine Art Connoisseur – The Best In Contemporary Portraiture At London's National Portrait Gallery. Fine Art Connoisseur. 20 November 2014. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20140322003217/http://www.fineartconnoisseur.com/The-Best-in-Contemporary-Portraiture-at-London-s-N/16631363. 22 March 2014. dmy-all.
  8. Web site: BP PORTRAIT AWARD DEMO: GUESTS AND JUDGES FILE PAST FACES OF THE GULF SPILL, 14.6.11. Aart Not Oil. 24 September 2017.
  9. Web site: BP Portrait Award 2007 Opens At National Portrait Gallery, London . culture24.org.uk . 5 May 2020.
  10. Web site: Fineart . 24 January 2015.
  11. News: Naked 'Auntie' wins £25,000 art prize . . London . 19 June 2012. 16 December 2013.
  12. Web site: Profile. The Glasgow School of Art. 24 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170925035242/http://www.gsa.ac.uk/support-gsa/gsa-alumni/alumni-stories/b/beaton-rosemary/. 25 September 2017. dead.
  13. Web site: JEFF STULTIENS RP. Royal Society of Portrait Painters. 24 September 2017.
  14. Web site: Biography .
  15. Web site: Artist – Annabel Cullen. ARTUK.ORG. 24 September 2017.
  16. News: Maev Kennedy . Maev Kennedy . US artist wins £25,000 BP Portrait prize with painting of 'Auntie' . The Guardian . 19 June 2012 . 12 December 2013.
  17. News: Michael Glover . Art review: The BP Portrait Award 2013 reveals our endless fascination with self-scrutiny and the human face . . 18 June 2013 . 16 December 2013 . London.
  18. News: Homeless man painting wins BP Portrait Award . . 24 June 2014 . 24 June 2014.
  19. News: Bakare . Lanre . Charlie Schaffer wins 2019 BP portrait award . The Guardian . 10 June 2019.
  20. https://therp.co.uk/portfolio/self-2013/ The Royal Society of Portrait Painters: Jan Mikulka: SELF, 2013

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