National Portrait Gallery announces shortlist for Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024

The Gallery’s celebrated painting competition returns for its forty-second year thanks to the support of new headline sponsor, Herbert Smith Freehills.

Three artists have been shortlisted for prizes, with fifty portraits selected for final display.

L-R: Zizi, 2023 by Isabella Watling © Isabella Watling; Jacqueline with Still Life, 2020 by Antony Williams © Antony Williams; Lying, 2020 by Catherine Chambers © Catherine Chambers.

Three artists have been shortlisted for the prestigious Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024 (11 July until 27 October 2024), which makes a welcome return to the National Portrait Gallery in 2024. The three shortlisted portraits were selected from 1,647 entries from 62 countries, with 50 selected for final display.

Entries were submitted anonymously and judged by a panel, which included the National Portrait Gallery’s Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE; visual artist, Barbara Walker MBE RA; sociologist and bioethicist, Sir Tom Shakespeare; actor and host of the podcast, Talk Art, Russell Tovey; and the Gallery’s Curator for Contemporary Collections, Tanya Bentley.

The three shortlisted portraits are:

• Zizi (2023) by Isabella Watling

• Jacqueline with Still Life (2020) by Antony Williams

• Lying (2020) by Catherine Chambers

The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award is 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 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people. It has a first prize of £35,000, making it one of the largest for any global arts competition. Following its display in the exhibition, the first prize-winning portrait will also be temporarily displayed in the National Portrait Gallery’s ground-floor History Makers space, which celebrates contemporary figures. The second prize winner will receive £12,000 and the third prize winner will receive £10,000. The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award will also include a Young Artist Award, which will see a prize of £9,000 awarded to a selected entrant, aged between 18 and 30, profiling their talent and supporting career development. A new commission will also be awarded to one artist every two years. All artists chosen to exhibit in 2024 and 2025’s Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for this commission, which has an increased value of £14,000.

The prizes and the artist selected for the Young Artist Award will be announced at the award ceremony on 9 July 2024. The artist commission will be announced at the award ceremony in 2025.