Selected Artists (Part 2: I - Y) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

This is Part 2 of my post about the artists selected for the Annual Exhibition of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026.

It's rather longer this year as most of the artists have been sending me their portraits - see below!

You can also read my previous post Selected Artists (Part 1: A-H) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

Artists Selected for The Portrait Award 2026

There's a lot of artists selected for the first time in this half of the 52 artists selected for this year's exhibition.

The Portrait Award too is an amazing event. It’s like the Oscars of the Portrait Painters world (for those who don’t know or might be unfamiliar with the name of the current sponsor)....I am… utterly gobsmacked. And won’t probably really truly believe it until I’m standing there next to my painting in June. Ros Koch

Selected artists who want to see my photos of past exhibitors - taken on the Artists Press View morning - should take a look at my reference where they all my "Artists with their Paintings" posts are listed.

Selected Artist Statistics

I'm proposing to do a statistical analysis of the artists ( re. male/female; country; first/previous exhibitor) as the National Portrait Gallery has not published one this year. I publish this in another post.

PART TWO

This covers the artists whose surnames start with "I" through to those who start with "Y".

Links to their websites are embedded in their names - and Instagram accounts indicated if they have one (that can be found easily!)

I've also indicated which artists are prior exhibitors - and the years in which they exhibited. All other artists are First Time Exhibitors.

• Shinji Ihara (Instagram) - (Prior Exhibitor - 2024, 2025) - a painter and contemporary artist based in Hiroshima, Japan. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1987, he received his MFA in Oil Painting from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. He is the Founder of HDL+ (formerly Hiroshima Drawing Lab), an artist-run space in Hiroshima. He has had multiple solo exhibitions in Tokyo and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Japan and internationally, including Asia and Europe. Previously selected for the Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2024 and 2025. I predicted he would be back again and I believe him to be a future prizewinner. 

Working primarily through painting, Ihara explores memory, relationships, and the position of the individual within society. Portraiture has been central to his practice, through which he examines the dynamics between seeing and being seen, presence and distance

After the rain, we remain by Shinji Ihara
oil on canvas, h72.7 × w91 cm
© Shinji Ihara

J

• Martin Jessup - an artist based in London.

People have called me an illustrator, cartoonist, designer and a creative. But I think for me, whatever you call it - I call it making pictures.

K

• Ros Koch (Instagram) - Contemporary South African painter. Born in the UK and she has lived in South Africa since 1998. Paints landscapes and portraits. Ros is a self-taught artist, who - thanks to traditional parents and schooling - took a long time to allow herself to transition from ‘art as hobby’ to ‘art as a career’

The Age of Adolescence (2024) by Ros Koch

Oil on board, framed in Kiaat; 250 x 250mm 

© Ros Koch

The fact that THIS painting - my first ever submission to the HSFK Portrait award - has been accepted to hang in the NPG is a beautiful full circle moment for me. It’s a coming of age (both in its title and artistic affirmation) and homecoming of sorts. Like many other artists, I used to go to the NPG as a child, always drawn to the people and their lives. And it is truly serendipitous that this one has been selected as its subject matter is so immensely meaningful and deeply personal to me, representing the intersection of things things I feel most passionate about.

Selected Artists (Part 1: A-H) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

Every year I highlight ALL the arrtists selected for the Annual Exhibition of the  Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

The 2026 Exhibition will be held at the:

• National Portrait Gallery (25 June to 7 October 2026)
• Derby Museum and Art Gallery (21 November 2026 – 21 February 2027) and
• The Gallery at The Arc, Winchester (5 March – 9 June 2027)

This year, word got around and I've had lots of emails - hence many more pics than usual! 

So this year I'm splitting this selected artists post into roughly two halves by surname

• Part 1: starting with A through G
• Part 2: from H through Y

In this post, my aim is to provide a profile of the artist. A later post will focus on "Artists with their Paintings (and/or the review) will focus on the stories behind the portraits.

There is, from my perspective, a very clear underlying theme to the selection this year. I'm not going to comment on it in this post but rather save it for the review.

However, you might want to see if you can work it out....

Artists Selected for The Portrait Award 2026

I know a number of the selected artists well either from this exhibition - and their repeat selection - or that of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters or ROI. Hence some entries are longer than others.

Repeat selection is often an indicator of somebody who might be a prizewinner in due course. Although Ben Sullivan (First Prize Winner 2017) pointed out getting selected for the Portrait Award is the best method of generating commissions so repeat selections are always very welcome!. He managed 11 selections before he finally won!

I have developed over time (ie the last 19 years!) the ability to spot a prospective repeat exhibitor - and you will see comments to this effect. I'm rarely surprised by those I see again

Every artist gets a mini bio, largely dictated by space and the need for brevity but also what I can find out about them online. Some, as requested, have written to me and filled in some of the gaps and sent me an image.

Everybody is a first time exhibitor unless otherwise indicated.

PART ONE

A

• Adebanji Alade - Current President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Professional artist, teacher, author and television presenter (BBC One Show). He has a studio on Lots Road in Chelsea, London. I first met Adebanji years and years ago. I think I've known him almost as long as I've had this blog! I've also seen this portrait before - and I think it's wonderful. It was exhibited at the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters last November and it just blew me away. His family have always been very much part of who Adebanji is and this is a great record of his two kids painting with him at home. This is the first time he's been selected for this exhibition.

Copycats (2025) by Adebanji Alade

Oil on canvas, 101cm x 76cm, 2025




• Zena Assi - Born in Lebanon, in 1974, Zena Assi lives and works in London. She graduated with honors from l’Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), worked in advertising and taught in different universities. Many of her pieces are repeatedly shown in different international auction houses and are part of various public as well as private collections.
• Paul Aston - see his painting of The Costumer below. He is a figurative painter working in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. His subject matter varies from portraiture to landscape and still life. In 2023 he was a contestant in heat 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paul Aston (@paulastonpainter)

B

• Liam Barden - Painter and Teacher living in Folkestone. Co-Owner of @bardenartschool

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liam Barden (@colourfulgoo)



• Frances Bell - born in 1983 and raised in Suffolk, UK. Multi-award winning portrait painter. Classically trained in Florence, Frances works in a traditional way with a contemporary style. Her portrait is of her daughter. Frances is a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) and The Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP). I confidently predict Frances will win this Award one day.

Frances has been a full time professional painter since 2004, taking commissions all over the world for individuals, family’s and institutions. Frances has won over 25 Awards for her work and has participated in many exhibitions in the UK and internationally.

• Paul Benney - Currently holds the mantle of "most selected artist never to have won". Previous exhibitor nine times: 1994,1996 (Winner – BP Visitors’ Choice),1997 (Winner – BP Visitors’ Choice), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2014. He has worked as an artist and musician in both the U.S. and U.K. He has painted many prominent political and cultural figures. His work is represented in public collections world wide including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Australia, The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Collection, and a plethora of other prominent private and corporate collections. 
• He is the artist who was chosen to paint the State Portrait of HRH Queen Camilla.  (see my blog post The Coronation Portraits and The King's Tour Artists - at Buckingham Palace
• the link in the title of the portrait below explains the background to the portrait. 

Benney has twice won the public choice award in the BP Portrait Awards and has been short listed on two occasions. 

Fiona by Paul Benney
© Paul Benney

Only 10 paintings sold?

The 159th Annual International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society has finished at the Salmagundi Club. Some statistics - one jumped out to me (in red):

• 3,300 visitors 
• during the exhibition which ran for 3.5 weeks from April 7 – May 1
• $54,000 in awards, and 
• ONLY 10 PAINTINGS SOLD! 
• That means 
• only 0.3% of the visitors wanted to buy a painting!
• only c.6% of artists sold a painting

Facebook Post by AWS

You can find the names of the exhibited artists here (both AWS members and those selected from the open entry.)

These are the Award Winners. Paintings selected for awards can be viewed here.

Thirty-nine awards totaling over $54,000 were selected this year by the 159th Exhibiton Jury of Awards.

The only images online are those of award winners. They do not contain any details about size, materials or price.

Critique 

When art societies were first formed, the major reason was to share the costs of exhibitions of artwork so that artists could get their artwork in front of more people and stand a better chance of selling it.

It wasn't about showing off. It was about financing the artist to make money to enable them to continue being an artist. That's still - or should be - one of the primary reasons why artists exhibit today.

If an annual international exhibition by the one of the oldest and most prestigious watercolour societies in America can only sell 10 paintings then something they are doing is wrong!

AWS Facebook Page

Context

First, by way of comparison I'm going to highlight the number and percentage of sales of artwork exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours last three annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries (a large gallery supporting national societies of artists in the centre of London - accessible to fans, tourists and people walking up the Mall to/from Buckingham Palace)

As you can see, the RI have significantly more sales both in terms of actual paintings and percentage sold.

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026: SHORTLIST Announced

This is about the four artists shortlisted for the 44th edition of its prestigious Annual Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London. The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 was  formerly known as the BP Portrait Award and before that the John Player Portrait Award - which is what it was called when I first started visiting.)

Some background

The Portrait Award has earned a reputation as one of the most important platforms for portrait painters. The highly competitive Award encourages artists over the age of 18 to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture in their work. Since its inception, the competition has attracted over 50,000 entries from more than 100 countries and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people.

I'm pleased to see the NPG appears to have adopted my name for the competition ie The Portrait Award - as per my comment in this post last year!

Here's where I stand on the sponsor name. It's ludicrous. It's not a name which rolls off the tongue. People can never ever remember it and now they've added another name in!

Which is precisely why I will continue to refer to it as The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery, sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Shortlist for the £66K HSFK Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery

Selection for the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 

This post provides you with information about the four shortlisted artists, named today by the NPG,  and shows you images of their portraits.

Some facts:

• The Call for Entries produced 1,474 entries from Artists from across the world who uploaded a photograph of their finished painting to the National Portrait Gallery’s Competitions Portal for the initial judging of digital images
• Specifically, entries were received from 63 countries. 
• All entries were judged anonymously - which means it'll be interesting to see how many artists previously selected are selected again.
• The Selection Panel is an ALL FEMALE jury and appears to be "contemporary" in nature. Its members are: 
• Melissa Blanchflower - Senior Curator at the Turner Contemporary
• Es Devlin - digital artist and set designer, ;
• Amy Emmerson Martin - Contemporary Curator at the National Portrait Gallery (previously Assistant Curator of Contemporary British Art at Tate)
• Mary Evans - artist and Director of the Slade.
• Artists who made it through the digital judging round were invited to hand-deliver or courier their work to a venue in London for a second, physical round of judging
• A total of 52 portraits have been chosen for the exhibition which opens from 25 June to 7 October 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery
• The portraits by the four artists were chosen from the 52 portraits selected for final display. 
• Prizes comprise:
• first prize of £35,000 - one of the largest awards for any global art competition. 
• second prize of £12,000 
• third prize winner will receive £10,000
• young artist (aged between 18 and 30) prize- £9,000. This prize aims to profile talent and help support the career development of a young artist - one of the original priorities of The Portrait Award. 

The Shortlisted Portraits

Only one artist has previously been selected for this award/exhibition. Which means three appear to be total newcomers - although they may have previously submitted paintings but not got selected.

Three of the four paintings are concerned with portraits of individuals with a black heritage.

The italicised quotes are from the NPG Press Release and I assume are words constructed from what the artists have said about the sitter and their process.

Note: Having researched the artists I am beginning to wonder the extent to which the Judges (and all the shortlisted artists) read the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2026 Rules. Specifically 2.2

2.2 The work entered should be a painting based on a sitting or study from life and the human figure must predominate.

 

Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2026

Apologies for this late review of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2026. 

Post shoulder replacement sirgery, I'm still one finger typing - with the index finger on left hand holding down the shift key periodically - which is frustrating. Plus I ended up very tired from all my necessary outings last week and seem to be having another spate of surgery brain week this week - which makes getting started and writing anything difficult!

So this is going to be a short post. I may add to it later as I remember points I've forgotten!

If you'd like to see this exhibition, it's on at the Mall Galleries until Tuesday 19th May.

It comprises 208 paintings and drawings.

You can see 

• who won the awards in this blog post Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2026 | Award Winners
• my photos of the exhibition in albums on my Facebook Page. I try to snap every portrait in the exhibition - and then split them into albums by location
• East Gallery
• North Gallery

Just the West Gallery to go..... this is what it looked like last Sunday

view of the West Gallery

Key Points of Difference

I'm going to summarise what I saw as being the main differences from previous exhibitions

• It was another diverse and well hung exhibition. However it was only after I left and I started thinking about what was different that I realised the look of most of the exhibition has moved a very, very long way from the "stuffed shirt" main gallery that used to be the norm for very many years i.e. lots of commissioned portraits of eminent people in the government, forces, courts and education in very formal poses.

• there are still formal commissions - but most are so much more relaxed. Particularly as there are so many more women being portrayed in commissions! I particularly liked the two large portraits below - both by Jamie Routley RP

Two large naturalistic portraits by Jamie Routley

(left) Les Soeurs (The Sisters) by Jamie Routley RP 

Oil on linen, 100x110cm (105x115cm framed)

(right) The Winding Stair - Jesse Norman MP by Jamie Routley RP 

Oil on linen, 105x105cm (110x110cm framed)

• In part, I think this might well be because the artists are encouraging their clients to think out of the box rather than repeat "same as the last whoever" type portraits
• it really helps those who potentially want to commission - and make no mistake, this is primarily a marketing exhibition for RP members.
• I highly recommend, if there is no potential client in the commissions room at the back of the north Gallery that you have a look at the Commission Portfolio files if you want to see the range and calibre of artist on offer for potential commissions.

Portfolios for member artists and potential commissions

East Gallery - the Candidates Wall

• The East Gallery is a very high standard - and includes two former BP Portrait Award winners who are not RP members as artists selected from the open entry
• Wim Heldens (2011) - who I never met as I was "painting in Provence" - see Review: BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2011
• Craig Wylie (2008) - see Craig Wylie wins BP Portrait Award 2008 - which I remember very well as it was my first BP Portrait Awards night and the Chinese artist who won Young Artist of the Year beamed at me and said he read my blog before he tried again after missing out on selection the previous year!
  
• There's a fourth in the West Gallery! (see below)
• NOTE: There are three more BP Portrait Award winners in the exhibition - who are all RP members (Now HSF Award)
• Benjamin Sullivan RP (2017)
• Miriam Escofet RP (2018)
• Antony Williams NEAC VPRP (2024)

The two small paintings by the two former BP winners via the open entry are on this wall

• If you want to get noticed paint a very old artist. Which is what Neale Worley NEAC RP did in painting the centenarian figurative painter and multi award winner Anthony Eyton OBE RA RWA RWS - who is 103 next Sunday adnd has been painting for nearly 90 years! Neale won the President's Award for his effort. It's a very good painting - Anthony visits the Mall Galleries periodically and I saw him recently. Neale has also made a film about him.