All competitions · Prize / award
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2027
National Portrait Gallery · London, United Kingdom
International portrait painting competition run by the National Portrait Gallery, London (formerly the BP Portrait Award). Open to painters aged 18+; first prize £35,000; selected works exhibited at the Gallery in summer 2027.
Your eligibility
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Who can enter
- Location
- Open worldwide
- Age
- 18 and over
- Career stage
- Any
- Mediums
- Painting
- Theme
- portraiture
- Size limits
- 2026 rules: minimum 25cm x 20cm, maximum 244cm x 244cm framed (2027 rules not read)
- Submission
- Online submission
- Also
- Aged 18+ worldwide. Painted portrait completed after 1 Jan 2025, based on a sitting/study from life with the human figure predominating (2026 rules: oil, tempera or acrylic on stretcher or board; unsigned on front). Previous first-prize winners since 1980 ineligible. Young Artist Award for ages 18-30. Fee discounts/free entry for benefit recipients, students and 18-25s (2026 rules).
About
The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award (formerly the BP Portrait Award) is the National Portrait Gallery's annual competition for contemporary painted portraiture. Entries are judged anonymously from digital submissions, with a second physical round for selected works.
It is open to artists aged 18 and over from anywhere in the world. Works must be painted portraits (oil, tempera or acrylic in recent rules) based on a sitting or study from life, completed after 1 January 2025 for the 2027 edition.
Prizes are £35,000 (first), £12,000 (second), £10,000 (third) and a £9,000 Young Artist Award for entrants aged 18-30, plus a separate £14,000 artist commission. Around 50 works are shown in a free exhibition at the Gallery from 24 June to 10 October 2027.