Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Call for Entries: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027

You have TWO MONTHS to submit a portrait as an entry to the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027 (aka The Portrait Award!)

The BIG CHANGE this year is 

  • you do NOT have the Christmas break for final titivating - because....
  • the deadline for your entry is Tuesday 1 December 2026
This date change is not highlighted on the website. If you have friends who sometimes / always enter it might be worth making sure they're aware of the date change. You could always send them a link to this blog post! :)

This is about:

  • WHY enter the HSFK Portrait Award?
  • WHO can submit an entry?
  • WHAT sort of portrait you can submit?
  • HOW to complete and submit your entry
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 at the Private View!

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award  2027 - CALL FOR ENTRIES
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award  2027
CALL FOR ENTRIES IMAGE

First of all the full title of both the competition and the award is the "Herbert Smith Kline Portrait Award" - but that's too much and too long so I ALWAYS refer to it as either
  • the HSFK Portrait Award
  • or THE Portrait Award
The links to the official information are all included below.

Full competition rules and guidance for digital submission can be found online at npg.org.uk/hsfkramerportraitaward.


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 get the email asking them to submit the physical portrait to a defined place within a defined time period
  • 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 2027.
  • Shortlist for prize: ONLY relevant Artists are notified if they have been shortlisted for a prize - and they can't say!

WHY enter the HSFK Portrait Award 2027?


The competition encourages artists to demonstrate their impressive range and complexity of skill, from traditional techniques to innovative contemporary practices. 

What's on offer?


This is one of the world’s leading competitions for portrait painting.  It's also focused on identifying the very best in contemporary portraiture.

Just in case that's not enough for you, below are some other benefits.

The Prizes


Just getting selected - of itself a very valuable addition to any portrait painter's CV. It means
  • your portrait painting will hang in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 24 June to 3 October 2027
  • 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.
  • 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.
    • You will compete with all those selected for the exhibitions in 2026 and 2027
  • Note that those shortlisted for prizes MUST attend the Awards Ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 22 June 2027.
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.

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.

Joel Nichols won the Young Artist Prize this year.

What are other benefits?


My 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?


Entering the HSFK Portrait Award Competition


WHO can submit an entry?


The competition is open to all artists from around the world. 
You can be an international artist - you do NOT have to live in the UK. Moreover this Award has a number of notable international artists who have won First Prize or one of the other prizes.

In addition:
  • Artists must be aged 18 years or over as of 1 January 2026
  • To be eligible for the "Young Artist Award", artists must be 30 years of age or under as of 1 January 2026
Those not eligible for entry are employees of the National Portrait Gallery, the sponsor, their agents and previous first prize-winners of the Portrait Award since 1980.
If you want to take a look at the sort of people who apply and what their portraits look like, take a look at my blog posts 

WHAT TO DO FIRST - DOWNLOAD THE RULES!!!


Links to the Full competition rules and guidance for digital submission can be found online at https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/exhibitions/2027/herbert-smith-freehills-kramer-portrait-award-2027.
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.

WHAT sort of portrait can you submit?


The work must have been completed within the last two years, after 1 January 2025.
You can only enter one portrait 
  • it 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 (i.e. you cannot do a portrait of somebody who doesn't know you)
    • a self portrait 
    • or a group portrait (relatively few of these are submitted which actually means these get a close look re suitability for exhibition)
  • The work must have been completed within the last two years; after 1 January 2025. 
  • No work previously submitted for the competition is eligible for resubmission.
People will "out you" if you submit an artwork which is older than two years old which they have previously seen in an exhibition / gallery.  You have been warned. 

In terms of the FORMAT of the portrait itself, below is what the rules say. I've emboldened those aspects you need to be very careful about.
  • 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. 
  • Paintings will be judged anonymously so should not be signed on the front. 
  • Minimum size: 25cm x 20cm unframed. Any works smaller than this will not be considered. 
  • Maximum size: 244cm x 244cm framed. Please note that we cannot accept any works larger than this. 
  • Multi part works (up to three parts) will be accepted and regarded as one work. (i.e. but they must NOT exceed the maximum size)
Do NOT render your portrait ineligible by breaking any of the rules.

HOW to complete and submit your entry

To enter the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027, artists will be required to upload their image via the website. 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 final round of physical judging.

The entry button is on this page

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.
  • No work previously submitted for the competition is eligible for resubmission.
I would suggest you work out beforehand how large your image needs to be. It can be upto 100dpi and remain within 3MB

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


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 1 December 2026. 
    • NO VALIDATION = NO ENTRY
  • All submissions and payment of entry fees must be completed by 22:00 on Tuesday 1 December 2026 (UK time).
  • On receipt of the registration and entry fee, a confirmation email will be sent to the artist.

DIGITAL Submissions and Correspondence


Note that EVERYTHING is online and digital apart from second round deliveries and collections.
  • all correspondence is digital ie. you must have an email address!
  • National Portrait Gallery may ask the entrants to confirm their age and identity by presenting a valid passport/identity card.

FIRST ROUND

  • The first round of judging is completed DIGITALLY
The artist or their representatives warrant that they are fully authorised and entitled to enter into the agreements contained in these rules, in respect of all rights in the work including ownership, copyright, moral rights, the rights of the people, names, trademarks, designs or works of art depicted in the works, and that no further permissions or conditions are required to deliver these agreements. 

JUDGING 

  • Artists should be aware that all works are judged on an equal and anonymous basis. 
  • All entrants will be notified by email if their work has been selected for the second round of judging  (this does not mean it's been selected for exhibition - this is the LONGLIST. Judges will decide who gets exhibited only after they have seen the physical portrait)


SECOND ROUND | LONG LISTING



Those artists selected for the second round of judging will be notified if their work is selected, or not, for exhibition by 12 February 2027.

You MUST therefore be in a position to organise, pack and deliver your portrait to to a specified judging venue between 27 January – 3 February 2027 (between 09.00 and 17.00 ONLY). No entries will be accepted at the London judging venue after 17.00 on Wednesday 3 February 2027. 

The National Portrait Gallery does not accept any responsibility for organisations or payment of any aspect of delivery or return shipping.

  • 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)
  • 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 (NPG WILL NOT PAY)
    • 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.

Do not underestimate what is involved in doing this!

MY ADVICE is to
  • READ THE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY AS TO WHAT NPG WILL AND WILL NOT DO
  • 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)

AFTER THE JUDGING - AND YOU ARE NOT IN THE EXHIBITION

  • All unselected works must be collected from the London judging venue on 15-19 February (9am - 5pm)
  • Any paintings uncollected from London after Friday 19 February 2027 may be disposed of without prior notice.

IF YOU GET SELECTED FOR THE EXHIBITION


Works selected for exhibition cannot be removed before the end of the exhibition tour. All exhibited works will be available for collection in London at the end of the tour.

Those shortlisted for prizes must attend the Awards Ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 22 June 2027 - which is when I snap my photos of you!

Two of the prizewinners waiting to hear who had won what in June 2026
plus the wife of the first prizewinner
(Yes - I do always stand next to where they're handing out the prizes!)

By this point, Marc Delassio's wife knew he had won the first prize.

All exhibiting artists will be invited to the Press View on the morning of Wednesday 23 June 2027.
Which is when I do photos of "Artists with their portraits" photographs plus a brief interview - which goes in my annual blog posts about the exhibition along with links to your website.

My posts stay on this blog forever and gets referenced by other Portrait Award posts and gets read time and again by future aspiring artists. :)

Exhibition


The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award exhibition will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery from 24 June to 10 October 2027.


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


Blogs Posts about Previous BP Portrait Exhibitions

HFSK Portrait Award 2026

Marc Dalessio with his prizewinning portrait

HFSK Portrait Award 2025


Moira Cameron - First Prizewinner 2025

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)

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 Wednesday, September 30, 2026
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