Thursday, October 23, 2025

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

The Call for Entries for the HSFK Portrait Award 2026 has been published.

Artists aged 18 and over are invited to submit entries of painted portraits to this prestigious annual competition and exhibition which is run by and held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The deadline for entries is 22.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 6th January 2026

Those which are shortlisted will be displayed in the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery held between 25 June and 7 October 2026. 

Very many artists who have succeeded in being selected for this exhibition in the last two decades started out by reviewing my summary of the call for entries! I know because they told me when I met them at the Awards Ceremonies and the press views (2008-2025).

The highly successful competition aims to encourage 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 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries, and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people.  

Summary of Key Information about the Call for Entries


Note: Anybody who thinks I'm going to repeat four totally unmemorable names every time I write about this competition is mistaken. There was a reason the BP was called the BP!!  Hence I refer to this competition as The Portrait Award or The HSFK Portrait Award. 

I am going to start as I did last year - by highlighting the many good reasons why all aspiring portrait artists should enter this competition.

This post, written in 2023, tells you why you should enter WHY enter The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery (London)

Why enter The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery?

Just getting selected - of itself a very valuable addition to any portrait painter's CV - means 
  • your portrait painting will hang in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 25 June - 7 October 2026
  • you are also eligible to win one of the prizes! You could also win one of the valuable prizes
    • first prize is £35,000
    • second prize is £12,000
    • third prize is £10,000
    • the Young Artist's Prize (for artists aged between 18 and 30) £9,000
    • i.e. no increase from last year.
All selected artists aged between 18 and 30 will automatically be considered for both the Young Artist Award and the Portrait Award, but an individual cannot win both. 

The aim of the Young Artist Award is to profile their talent and support the development of their practice. I met a number of young artists at the exhibition last year.

Rachit Khandelwal (b.2004) with Finlay Trevor (b.2003) both exhibited in 2025 
and were both art students in Scotland 
(at the Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh School of Art respectively)
The portrait is Finlay's Quest for The Mackintosh Man (2024)

Note that those shortlisted for prizes MUST attend the Awards Ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 23 June 2026.

PLUS, there is the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Artist Commission worth £14,000 
  • ALL ARTISTS chosen to exhibit in 2026 and 2027’s Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for the bi-annual Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Artist Commission, which has a value of £14,000. 
  • This will be announced in 2027.
Now you have a better appreciation of the incentives - on to the practical matters......

What to do first


Full competition rules and guidance for digital submission can be found online at npg.org.uk/hsfkportraitaward.
The National Portrait Gallery reserves the right to disqualify any piece of work if the artist has not adhered to the rules, even if the work has been selected for exhibition.
 
I will provide a digest below - but this is not a reason not to read the rules. Make sure you understand them.

I have to say the competition rules have a very odd order. Hence why I reorganise them to make it clearer to artists what they can, should and must do - and what they cannot do!

WHO can enter The Portrait Award?

Now in its 44th year, the Portrait Award continues to attract exceptional artists from all over the world. Amy Emmerson Martin, Contemporary Curator, National Portrait Gallery
This competition is open to all international artists aged aged 18 and over as of 1 January 2025. By which I mean those who are good at portraiture!

You are NOT eligible to enter IF 
  • you are an employee of the National Portrait Gallery, or the sponsor, or their agents.
  • a previous first prize-winners of the Portrait Award since 1980 
Note however all previous prizewinners other than the first prizewinner can enter again.  I've known artists who won prizes repeatedly before they won the first prize!

To be eligible for the Young Artist Award, artists must be 30 years of age or under as of 1 January 2025. 

Not sure whether you measure up? Have a read of these two posts I wrote last year
You can also take a look at any/all of my previous posts about the competition and the artists who got selected or won prizes. See the end of this post.

How selection works


The shorthand version is:
  • Submission: everybody submits their digital images of their entry portrait to the NPG competition platform
  • First Round of Judging: the Judges review all entries digitally
  • Longlist: ONLY those who get through to the second round are asked to submit the physical portrait to a defined place (by 4th February)
  • Second round of Judging: The Judges meet to consider all those portraits they have long listed for this round of Judging
  • Exhibited / Second Round Judging Results: Artists are notified whether or not they have been selected for the exhibition by 12 February 2026.
  • Shortlist for prize: ONLY relevant Artists are notified if they have been shortlisted for a prize.

What kind of portrait do I need to submit?


Your entry must be a portrait painted between 1 January 2024 and 6 January 2026.
  • you can only enter one portrait - which must be based on a sitting or study from life.  
  • The human figure must predominate.
  • This can be a portrait of somebody known to you; a self portrait or a group portrait
  • The work must have been completed within the last two years; after 1 January 2024. 
  • No work previously submitted for the competition is eligible for resubmission.
I like people who play by the rules.  I once spotted a portrait online after it had been selected for The Portrait Award (when it was still BP) - that was being exhibited in an art gallery BEFORE the timeline for which the portrait must be eligible - and I reported this to the NPG.... 

In terms of the portrait itself, below is what the rules say. I've emboldened those aspects you need to be very careful about.
  • 2.1 The work entered must be predominantly painted in oil, tempera or acrylic and must be on a stretcher or board, preferably framed and unglazed (i.e.: no glass or perspex). No watercolours, works on paper or pastels will be considered. 
  • 2.2 The work entered should be a painting based on a sitting or study from life and the human figure must predominate. 
  • 2.3 Self-portraits and group portraits are permitted. 
  • 2.4 Paintings will be judged anonymously so should not be signed on the front. 
  • 2.5 Minimum size: 25cm x 20cm unframed. Any works smaller than this will not be considered. 
  • 2.6 Maximum size: 244cm x 244cm framed. Please note that we cannot accept any works larger than this. 
  • 2.7 Multi part works (up to three parts) will be accepted and regarded as one work. (i.e. must NOT exceed the maximum size)
Do NOT render your portrait ineligible by breaking any of the rules.

How to enter the HSFK Portrait Award


In order to submit an entry
  • first you must register for a secure artist account on the Gallery’s competition platform www.competitions.npg.org.uk.  Using this account, you can
  • complete the entry form
  • submit one digital image of your portrait (the entire work - including all parts re diptychs and triptychs) for the first round of judging. 
  • your one digital image must be high quality. Each image must be saved as a JPG/JPEG and be 3 MB or smaller.
I would suggest you work out beforehand how large your image need to be shot can be to be 100dpi and remain within 3MB

To avoid reflection/distortion: make sure your oil paint in dry and the portrait is absolutely parallel to the camera lens (See my website page How to photograph art for artists)

DIGITAL Submissions and Correspondence


Note that EVERYTHING is online and digital apart from second round deliveries and collections.
  • all correspondence is digital 
  • The first round of judging is completed digitally between 7th January and 20th January.
  • All entrants will be notified by email if their work has been selected for the second round of judging by 21 January 2026. (this does not mean it's been selected for exhibition - this is the longlist - from which the Judges will decide who gets exhibited)

How much does it cost to enter?


Entry into the competition costs £40. However: 
  • Artists in receipt of Universal Credit or Pension Credit can enter this year’s competition for free, 
  • a 50% discount is in place for artists who receive Disability Benefits, who are students or are between the ages of 18 and 25.
Those artists who submit their entry at a discounted fee must be able to provide evidence on request by the National Portrait Gallery. This proof of status must be valid as of the 6 January 2026.

If you get long listed


If you get through the first digital round of judging, they need your actual portrait for the second round of judging in person.

You MUST therefore be in a position to organise, pack and deliver your portrait to to a specified judging venue between 29-30 January or 2-4 February 2026 (between 09.00 and 17.00 ONLY).

Do not underestimate what is involved in doing this!
Paintings should not be delivered to the National Portrait Gallery as they will not be accepted.
Note that:
  • the address of the London Judging Venue will only be provided to longlisted artists after the first round of judging i.e. do not turn up on spec and try and slip your portrait into the mix!
  • UK Entrants: 
    • all hand-delivered portraits must be delivered WITHOUT packaging
    • all portraits sent by post can be delivered in suitable packing (but this will not be retained and the Gallery will not provide any packaging for the return delivery of portraits not selected for exhibition)
  • IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE UK you must
    • must arrange and pay for delivery of your artwork to the London judging venue on the allocated dates.
    • you must take full responsibility for all costs, including any import customs charges and duties
    • you must NOT advise the courier company to bill the recipient. 
    • SIMPLE FACT: It if does not get out of customs it will not be judged
    • International entries will be re-packaged in the original packaging - but you must pay a courier for collection and delivery back to you.
  • Applicants requiring proof of delivery are advised to use a recorded delivery service. 
My advice is to 
  • do your homework re different options for delivery well in advance
  • either deliver in person
  • or employ a very reputable and expert courier - used to shipping art to competitions
  • make sure your courier is very clear that your art is for exhibition only and is NOT FOR SALE (it makes a difference)
You may find my website pages on Art Business Info for Artists helpful 
NOTE: I accept absolutely no liability whatsoever for any info which is now out of date or incorrect (and there have been a lot of changes recently)

If you get selected

All exhibiting artists will be invited to the Press View on the morning of Wednesday 24 June 2026.
This is when I do photos of portraits with their artists plus a brief interview - which goes in my annual blog post along with links to your website. 

This post stays on this blog forever and gets referenced by other Portrait Award posts and gets read time and again by future aspiring artists. 

If you do NOT get selected


You need to arrange to get your work picked up. Read Section 8 carefully!
for works being collected by a courier the artist must provide 48 hours advanced notification to the Exhibitions Department to ensure work is prepared for collection.
and

Any paintings uncollected from London after Friday 20 February 2026 will be disposed of without prior notice. 

Other Matters

There are rules of entry relating to other matters which you also need to read. These cover:
  • ownership, copyright, moral rights, the rights of the people, names, trademarks, designs or works of art depicted in the works
  • copyright in relation to the exhibition and photography / use of images
  • responsibility for damage or loss 
  • privacy
  • acknowledgements

MORE INFORMATION about this competition in previous years

HFS Portrait Award 2024

Jacqueline with Still Life with Portrait Award Winner 2024 - Antony Williams
Egg Tempera on wooden board;
1222cm x 668cm (48 inches x 26 inches)
Gap while the National Portrait Gallery was closed for a major refurbishment - and a subsequent change of sponsor

BP Portrait Award 2020 

BP Portrait Award 2019

BP Portrait Award 2018

Miriam Escofet with her BP Portrait Award 2018 trophy and her portrait of her mother 

BP Portrait Award 2017

Prizewinners:
Exhibition:

BP Portrait Award 2016

Clara Drummond - Winner on 2016

BP Portrait Award 2015

BP Portrait Award 2014

Susanne du Toit - Winner 2013
Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, October 23, 2025
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