When
Thursday 16th June - Sunday 18th September 2011
Where
National Portrait Gallery
The BP Portrait Award exhibition returns to the National Portrait Gallery, offering the chance to see the works of some of the country’s best contemporary portrait artists brought together in London.
Contemporary art in London
The award, sponsored by BP, is an enormously successful annual event aimed at encouraging young artists to focus on and develop their portrait skills. The competition is open to any artist under the age of 40 and this year’s BP Portrait Award features a range of styles from a varied group of artists, collected in a unique exhibition.
BP Portrait Award winner
The winner of the 2010 BP Portrait Award is Daphne Todd who submitted a painting of her mother in her dying moments. The winning portrait, Last Portrait of Mother, was painted on Annie Mary Todd's death bed, just after she had reached her 100th birthday. Todd's mother gave permission to be painted after her death, having lived with the artist for the past 14 years.
BP Portrait Award shortlist 2011
This year's BP Portrait Award exhibition included four shortlisted portraits, and feature intimate and personal works from Wim Heldons, with a picture of his friend Jeroen entitled Distracted; Sertan Saltan and his painting of Mrs Cerna wearing rollers and holding a kitchen knife; Ian Cumberland with Just to Feel Normal; and Louis Smith who features a modern day female take on the myth of Prometheus entitled Holly. In previous years the exhibition has been the launching pad for the careers of a younger generation of artists and this year the award has been just as popular with artists, and will no doubt be even more popular with visitors.
Cultured days out
Art fans can enjoy an exclusive collection of works at the National Portrait Gallery this summer, showcasing the latest in contemporary portraiture. Over 2,300 entrants submitted works to the competition last year and visitors to the gallery can see a selection of the very best throughout the summer. And if that's not enough, visitors can also see the works of the 2010 BP Travel Award winner Paul Beel, who has creatd works based on his travels to Corfu's nudist beaches.
The BP Portrait Award runs at the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, from 10am - 6pm (Thu-Fri until 9pm) Thursday 16th June - Sunday 18th September 2011. The exhibition is free to visit.