Portraiture - Resources for Artists

Some famous portraits

A small selection of famous portraits

Mona Lisa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mona Lisa (also known as La Gioconda) is a 16th century portrait painted in oil on a poplar panel by Leonardo Da Vinci during the Italian Renaissance. The work is owned by the French government and hangs in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France with the title Portrait of Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo.[1]

The painting is a half-length portrait and depicts a woman whose expression is often described as enigmatic.[2][3] The ambiguity of the sitter's expression, the monumentality of the half-figure composition, and the subtle modeling of forms and atmospheric illusionism were novel qualities that have contributed to the painting's continuing fascination.[1] Few other works of art have been subject to as much scrutiny, study, mythologizing and parody.[4]

Arnolfini Portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Arnolfini Portrait is a painting in oils on oak panel executed by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck in 1434. Among other titles, it is also known as "The Arnolfini Wedding", "The Arnolfini Marriage", "The Arnolfini Double Portrait" or the "Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife".

This painting is believed to be a portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife in a room, presumably in their home in the Flemish city of Bruges. It is considered one of the most original and complex paintings in Western art history. Being both signed and dated by Van Eyck in 1434, it is...the oldest very famous panel painting to have been executed in oils rather than in tempera. The painting was bought by the National Gallery in London in 1842.

The illusionism of the painting was remarkable for its time, in part for the rendering of detail, but particularly for the use of light to evoke space in an interior, for "its utterly convincing depiction of a room, as well of the people who inhabit it".

Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?)[1] , also often known as Portrait of a Man in a Turban, or in a red turban, etc, is an oil painting by the Early Netherlandish master Jan van Eyck, from 1433. It has been in the National Gallery, London since 1851

Rembrandt self-portraits - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

At one time about ninety paintings were counted as Rembrandt self-portraits, but it is now known that he had his students copy his own self-portraits as part of their training. Modern scholarship has reduced the autograph count to over forty paintings, as well as a few drawings and thirty-one etchings, which include many of the most remarkable images of the group.[27] Many show him posing in quasi-historical fancy dress, or pulling faces at himself. His oil paintings trace the progress from an uncertain young man, through the dapper and very successful portrait-painter of the 1630s, to the troubled but massively powerful portraits of his old age. Together they give a remarkably clear picture of the man, his appearance and his psychological make-up, as revealed by his richly-weathered face.[28]

Duane Keiser - On Painting: On "Las Meninas" by Diego Velazquez

Duane Keiser comments on his visit to see Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez in the Prado Museum in Madrid. Plus links to several useful image references

Albrecht Durer - Self-Portrait - 1498 (Prado Museum, Madrid)

Oil on Wooden Panel
Measures 52 cm x 41cm

Portraiture on wikipedia

Portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, in order to most successfully engage the subject with the viewer.

Portrait painting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Portrait painting is a genre in painting, where the intent is to depict the visual appearance of the subject, most often a person. A well executed portrait is expected to show the inner essence of the subject (from the artist's point of view, of course) not just a physical likeness.

The term 'portrait painting' can also describe a painted portrait. Portraitists create their portraits by commission or are inspired by admiration or affection for the subject. If an artist portrayes him- or herself, the result is called a self-portrait.

Portraits can depict the subject 'full body', 'half length' or 'head and shoulders'. Beside human beings, animals, pets and even inanimate objects can be chosen as the subject for a portrait.

Self-portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, or sculpted by the artist.

A self-portrait may be a portrait of the artist, or a portrait included in a larger work, including a group portrait. Many painters are said to have included depictions of specific individuals, including themselves, in painting figures in religious or other types of composition not intended to depict the actual persons as themselves. Often these are just faces in a crowd, often at the corner of the work, but a particular hybrid genre developed where historical scenes were depicted using a number of actual persons as models, often including the artist, giving the work a double function as portrait and history painting. Rubens and Rembrandt painted such scenes[3]This culminated in the seventeenth century with the work of Jan de Bray, and has been revived in recent years in photography by Cindy Sherman. Many artistic media have been used; apart from paintings, drawings and prints have been especially important.

Sometimes artists place their own image into group portraits, such as (probably) Jan van Eyck in the Arnolfini Portrait, who inspired Diego Velázquez in Las Meninas.[4] Later group portraits of family, friends or professional groups became common.

The Portrait Now - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Portrait Now was a major international overview of contemporary portraiture held in 1993-1994 at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Among many others it included portraits by Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Chuck Close, Jim Dine, Stephen Finer, Lucian Freud, David Hockney, Jeff Koons, Leon Kossoff, Alice Neel, Julian Schnabel and Andy Warhol.

Caricature - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A caricature is either a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness, or in literature, a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.[1]

Caricatures can be insulting or complimentary and can serve a political purpose or be drawn solely for entertainment.

National Portrait Galleries

National Portrait Gallery, London

The National Portrait Gallery, London was established with the criteria, still in use today, that the Gallery was to be about history, not about art, and about the status of the sitter, rather than the quality or character of a particular image considered as a work of art.

Originally, it was decided by the Trustees that "No portrait of any person still living, or deceased less that 10 years, shall be admitted by purchase, donation, or bequest, except only in the case of the reigning Sovereign, and of his or her Consort". This rule changed in 1969 in order to encourage a policy of admitting living sitters.

For the first 40 years the Gallery had no home before opening to the public in 1859. Its present home was opened in 1896 and was immediately too small for the collection. It has been subsequently extended.

The National Portrait Gallery, Washington

The National Portrait Gallery is dedicated to the exhibition and study of portraits of people who have made significant contribution to American history and culture and to the study of the artists who created such portraiture.

National Portrait Gallery - Australia

The National Portrait Gallery is in Canberra.

Begun in May 1998, the collection is growing rapidly. The majority of works in the collection have been gifts thanks to the generosity of donors. The Gallery is creating a collection of portraits of the highest quality regardless of media. Two principles guide the selection of portraits for the collection:

* the subject must be either important in his or her field of endeavour or a known and named person whose life sets them apart as an individual of long-term public interest; and
* the subject must be Australian, either by birth or association.

National Galleries of Scotland - Scottish National Portrait Gallery

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery provides a unique visual history of Scotland, told through the portraits of those who shaped it. It explores the lives of great Scots, past and present, who have inspired and changed the world - royals and rebels, poets and philosophers, heroes and villains.

The Scottish National Portrait Gallery was the first purpose-built portrait gallery in the world.

Portrait Collections

National Portrait Gallery | Search the collection

The National Portrait Gallery Collections include 106,228 portraits. Some 56,098 of the portraits which are digitally indexed for search purposes are illustrated.

APP OF THE DAY - National Portrait Gallery (iPhone) - Pocket-lint

Review of the new iPhone app produced by the National portrait Gallery and available on iTunes

National Galleries of Scotland - National Portrait Collection

National Portrait Gallery - Collection highlights

National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian) | Collections on View

Collections on Permanent View

Smithsonian - National Portrait Gallery - Hall of Presidents

National Portrait Gallery, Hall of Presidents

Important Portrait Exhibitions

National Gallery London - Velazquez Exhibition

This is the first major exhibition in Britain to trace the career of Diego Rodriguez de Silva Velazquez, one of the world's greatest painters.

National Gallery London - Velazquez - Painter of Kings, King of Painters

'Velazquez: Painter of Kings, King of Painters'. This special online feature is designed to accompany the 'Velazquez' exhibition at the National Gallery and traces the artist's evolution, from his apprenticeship in Seville to court painter in Madrid.

National Gallery London - Velazquez - Paintings from the Exhibition

Slideshow of Paintings from the Velazquez Exhibition at the National Gallery, London

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | David Hockney Portraits

David Hockney Portraits
12 October 2006 - 21 January 2007
Wolfson and Ground Floor Galleries

Exhibition organised with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Celebrating The American Wing: American Portraits | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Portraits record likenesses, commemorate events, and celebrate human traits. Some include elaborate poses, attributes, and settings, while others are comparatively stark. In this way, each portrait represents a negotiation between the sitter and the artist. By the mid-eighteenth century, portraiture was firmly fixed as the predominant art form in the American colonies. It remained popular and desirable, especially among the country's elite, throughout the nineteenth century.

Explore American portraiture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Included are selected portraits from the collection, presented with related works and illuminating information.

The Museum Network - Portraits & Portraiture: Home

Using five museum collections, teachers and pupils can find out more about the fascinating subject of portraiture, including how portraits were created, how to strike a commanding pose, how to tell someone's status from their dress and the formal elements that go into making someone's likeness.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Archived exhibition
"Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch" was a major international loan exhibition held at the Metropolitan Museum from October 5, 1999, through January 2, 2000. It was the largest exhibition of portraits by the French artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ever presented outside France. The forty paintings and ninety-two drawings on view offered a virtual Who's Who of the ruling elite in France-the aristocracy of birth, beauty, politics, wealth, and intellect. This feature presents sixteen portraits by Ingres, together with illuminating details of each portrait and related works from the exhibition and the Metropolitan's permanent collection.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Special Exhibitions: Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s

Archived exhibition
Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s
November 14, 2006-February 19, 2007
The exhibition features gripping portraits by ten renowned artists: Max Beckmann, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Karl Hubbuch, Ludwig Meidner, Christian Schad, Rudolf Schlichter, Georg Scholz, and Gert H. Wollheim.

MoMA.org | Exhibitions | 1996 | Picasso and Portraiture

This first comprehensive survey of the portrait work of Pablo Picasso featured more than 130 paintings and 100 drawings and prints. The exhibition was organized by William Rubin, Director Emeritus, Department of Painting and Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, in collaboration with the Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris.

National Portrait Gallery - Self-Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary 2005-6

National Portrait Gallery
Self-Portrait: Renaissance to Contemporary
PAST EXHIBITION ARCHIVE SELF PORTRAIT:
Renaissance to Contemporary 20 October 2005 - 29 January 2006

The Society of Portrait Sculptors - Annual Open Exhibition

The Society of Portrait Sculptors, a representative body of professional sculptors committed to making portrait sculpture accessible to a wider public.

The Open Exhibition is the only forum for contemporary portrait sculpture and consists of about 70 sculptures of which approximately one third are chosen from open submission from non-members. It is held each year in May or June at The Gallery in Cork Street, London and FACE2009 will be held 11-16 May 2009. All works are subject to selection and are judged on the actual sculpture - no submissions by photograph are allowed.

Van Eyck to Bruegel | Explore & Learn | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Netherlandish portraiture spans the sacred and secular worlds. Donor portraits appear in altarpieces and are essential parts of devotional diptychs and triptychs........There also existed a strong tradition for independent portraiture, reflecting a society that became increasingly secularized in the sixteenth century.

The expressive character of each work depended to a great degree on its intended context, as well as on the artist's sensibility.

British Museum - The Intimate Portrait

The exhibition The Intimate Portrait features drawings and miniatures by Gainsborough, Reynolds, Ramsey and more. From the National Galleries of Scotland and the British Museum.

Portraiture in the USA

NGA: Themes in American Art: Portraiture

A National Gallery of Art resource on themes in American Art.

Blogs and Blogging about Portraits and Portraiture

National Portrait Gallery | Face to Face blog

The Face to Face web log is dedicated to the discussion and study of portraits of people who have made significant contribution to American history and culture and to the study of the artists who created such portraiture.

Portrait Society - NJ & Delaware Blog

News, Inspiration and Sharing venue for the New Jersey and Delaware members of the Portrait Society of America

ART: Still very much alive, thanksThe BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery

The BP Portrait Prize exhibition at the NPG shows us that painting is alive and in relatively good shape, argues critic Bunny Smedley.

Facing the truth about portraiture | Art & architecture | Guardian Unlimited

Laura Cummings comments about portraits by Hockney and contemporary portraits in the National Portrait Gallery

Articles about Portraiture

comments on portraiture, portrait artists and portrait competitions

How ugly can the faces get? (by Brian Sewell) | Arts | This is London

I no longer know the purpose of the annual BP Portrait Award. Twenty-eight years ago, when the National Portrait Gallery initiated it with John Player as the sponsor, its point was clear enough, born of dissatisfaction with the various professional bodies to which painters of portraits belong in hope of inclusion in their exhibitions and the commissions that might stem from them. These bodies had for years seemed trapped in doldrums of their own making, the genre of portraiture - the very thing to which they should have given life - lying in its deathbed, stultified by precedent and cliché. The Portrait Award was to be the remedy.

Portrait Award is a mug's game (by Brian Sewell) | Arts | This is London

The rot in portraiture is, on the evidence of this exhibition, a matter of neither age nor nationality, and the genre is in worldwide decline.

BBC News - Speaker John Bercow's portrait reviewed by Brian Sewell

Brian Sewell said the Speaker looked like "some bloke dug up from Essex" in the publicly-funded art work for his home in the Palace of Westminster. This is a BBC video of his comments

Eminent Portrait Artists in the History of Art (continued)

Hans Holbein the Younger Online

Hans Holbein the Younger [German Northern Renaissance Painter, 1497-1543] Guide to pictures of works by Hans Holbein the Younger in art museum sites and image archives worldwide.

National Portrait Gallery A-Z of Portrait Artists (A)

National Portrait Gallery (London)
A-Z of Portrait Artists

Hans Holbein the Younger - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Holbein the Younger (born c. 1497- died between 7 October and November 29, 1543) was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known for his numerous portraits and his woodcut series of the Dance of Death, and is widely considered one of the finest portraitists of the Early Modern Period.

Diego Velázquez - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez (June 6, 1599 - August 6, 1660) was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary baroque period, important as a portrait artist. In addition to numerous renditions of scenes of historical and cultural significance, he painted scores of portraits of the Spanish royal family, other notable European figures, and commoners, culminating in the production of his masterpiece Las Meninas (1656).

From the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Velázquez's artwork was a model for the realist and impressionist painters, in particular Édouard Manet. Since that time, more modern artists, including Spain's Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí, as well as the Anglo-Irish painter Francis Bacon, have paid tribute to Velázquez by recreating several of his most famous works.

Titian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tiziano Vecelli or Tiziano Vecellio (c. 1485 - August 27, 1576), better known as Titian, was the leader of the 16th-century Venetian school of the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno (Veneto), in the Republic of Venice. During his lifetime he was often called Da Cadore, taken from the place of his birth.

Recognized by his contemporaries as "the sun amidst small stars" (recalling the famous final line of Dante's Paradiso), Titian was one of the most versatile of Italian painters, equally adept with portraits and landscapes (two genres that first brought him fame), mythological and religious subjects. His painting methods, particularly in the application and use of color, would exercise a profound influence not only on painters of the Italian Renaissance, but on future generations of Western art.[1]

Jan van Eyck - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jan van Eyck or Johannes de Eyck (before c. 1395 - before July 9, 1441) was an Early Netherlandish painter active in Bruges and considered one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century.

He is responsible for painting Portrait of a Man in a Turban and the Arnolfini Marriage

Albrecht Dürer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

His intense and self-dramatizing self-portraits have continued to have a strong influence up to the present, and have been blamed for some of the wilder excesses of artists' self-portraiture, especially in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Nicholas Hilliard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicholas Hilliard (c. 1547-January 7, 1619) was an English goldsmith and limner best known for his portrait miniatures of members of the courts of Elizabeth I and James I of England.

Joshua Reynolds - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (16 July 1723 - 23 February 1792) was the most important and influential of 18th century English painters, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealisation of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy. George III appreciated his merits and knighted him in 1769.

Category:Portrait painters - Wikimedia Commons

Portrait painters From Wikimedia Commons

Best Portrait Artists, Top 10 List of Greatest Portraitists: Masterpieces of Portraiture: 1400-Present

Best Portrait Artists, Top 10 List of Greatest Painters of Portraiture: Van Dyck, Hans Holbein, John Singer Sargent, Raphael, Van Eyck, Velazquez, Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt: 1400-Present

Famous Portrait Artists, 20th Century: Graham Sutherland, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucien Freud

Famous Portrait Artists of the Twentieth Century: English Portraitists: Graham Sutherland, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucien Freud

Notable Contemporary Artists specialising in Portraiture #2

Portrait Artists, Members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (est 1891), or The RP as it is known, is the foremost Society for Portrait Artists and Portrait Painters in the United Kingdom. Most of the portrait painters and artists are available for private and company portrait commissions

The American Society of Portrait Artists - Sargent Medal Winners

Sargent Medal Winners from 1994 onwards

Portrait Society of America - Gold Medal Award winners

Gold Medal Award recipients

Daniel E. Greene - Portrait Artist, Subway Paintings, Still Lifes, Workshops, Paint Sets & Painting Videos

Daniel E. Greene, Master Artist in Oils and Pastel

American Artist: Daniel E. Greene: Gleaning Inspiration From Formative Experiences

Daniel E. Greene: Gleaning Inspiration From Formative Experiences - by M. Stephen Doherty

Daniel E. Greene is a master painter of portraits, still lifes, figures, and urban scenes executed in pastel or oil. Many of his noncommissioned pictures are based on personal experiences..........

Portrait Artist & Painter June Mendoza

June Mendoza AO.OBE.RP.ROI is a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Artists and a Freeman of the City of London. She is one of the world's foremost portrait painters. She undertakes commissions for portraits on a wide range of subjects examples of which are displayed on her Internet gallery. Her

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters - Daphne Todd

Daphne Todd, president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1994 - 2000, was the first female to hold this office since the Society was founded in 1891. Portraits by Daphne Todd are included in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Science Museum; The Royal Holloway Museum and Art Gallery; The Royal Academy (Chantry Bequest); Oxford University; Cambridge University and the University of Wales; beside numerous other educational establishments, institutions and private collections in Britain and Europe.

Portrait Painting by Portrait Artist Marvin Mattelson

Marvin Mattelson. Award winning portrait artist. Museum quality, classical realistic family, official and corporate oil portraiture

Portrait Societies - UK and Europe

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The RP, Portrait Commissions, Portrait Artists - Home

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (est 1891), or The RP as it is known, is the foremost Society for Portrait Artists and Portrait Painters in the United Kingdom. Most of the portrait painters and artists are available for private and company portrait commissions

Royal Society of Portrait Painters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a British association of portrait painters which holds an annual exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London. ...

Portrait miniature painters, presented by the Hilliard Society

Portrait miniature painters who accept commissions, listed by country and state or province

The Society of Portrait Sculptors

The Society of Portrait Sculptors, a representative body of professional sculptors committed to making portrait sculpture accessible to a wider public.

Royal Society of Portrait Society Annual Exhibitions

The RSPP have been holding annual exhibitions for more than 100 years

MAKING A MARK: Antony Williams wins Ondaatje Prize 2012

121st Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - Antony Williams's marvellous egg tempera painting of Margaret Beckett won the £10,000 Ondaatje Prize and another gold medal - for the most distinguished portrait in the exhibition.

MAKING A MARK: Analysis of open entry to RSPP Annual Exhibition

an analysis of (a) the impact of the digital submission on the entries and (b) the percentage of works selected which came from the open entry

MAKING A MARK: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2011 (Part 1)

Tai-Shen Schierenberg, Hon RP has won the Ondaatje Award for the most distinguished portrait in the 2011 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

MAKING A MARK: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2011 (Part 2)

Following Part 1 of my review - which focused on awardwinners, in this second part of my review I'm going to focus more on the work which attracted my attention.

MAKING A MARK: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2010

According to the catalogue it took eight members of the selection panel about eight and a half hours to look at 822 submissions. This year the catalogue explains how the process works.

MAKING A MARK: Exhibition review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters 2009

the Private View of the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at the Mall Galleries is always packed out! Which means you get to see a lot of celebrities from a distance and don't get to see any of the drawings or paintings very easily! My preference is for seeing the exhibition the next day when it's much easier to see, appreciate and enjoy the work - and take a break and sit down easily while you work your way round the 200+ works in this year's show!

MAKING A MARK: James Lloyd wins The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture

I'm very pleased to announce that James Lloyd is the first artist ever to achieve the 'double' of winning the The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture as well as the the BP Portrait Award which he won in 1997.

MAKING A MARK: Portrait completed in 2 hours wins Ondaatje Prize

The £10,000 Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture and a Gold Medal has been awarded to Michael Reynolds RP for a portrait which took him precisely 125 minutes to execute.

MAKING A MARK: The Ondaatje Portraiture Prize is re-awarded - to Tom Coates

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Awards Panel has withdrawn the Ondaatje Prize from Michael Reynolds (as announced at the Private View and Awards Ceremony on 25th April and included in the Press Pack) and, as reported in Art Daily yesterday, has re-awarded it to the original runner-up Tom Coates RP, RBA, PS, PNEAC instead for his portrait of Ulick O'Connor, Irish writer, playwright'.

Portrait Societies - Australasia

Portrait Artists Australia - national association of professional portrait artists

Find the most comprehensive collection of Australian Portrait Artists online, browse for images and biographies and contact us for commission enquiries.

Portrait Societies - North America

American Society of Portrait Artists

The American Society of Portrait Artists (ASOPA) is the largest portrait artist patron organization in the world.

Portrait Society of America

Portrait Society of America is a 501c3 non profit arts organization dedicated to providing educational resources, events and literature to anyone interested in the traditions and aesthertics of fine art portraiture.

Portrait Society of Canada

The Portrait Society of Canada is a public organization, dedicated to fostering the practice, techniques and aesthetics of Fine Art Portraiture and Sculpture through public education.

Portrait Competitions in the UK - BP Portrait Award

The top portrait award in the UK

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award

BP Portrait Award - introduction

BP Portrait Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The BP Portrait Prize is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.

Making a Mark: BP Portrait Award

The rules changed for the BP Portrait Award 2007.

The Portrait Award, now in its 28th year, is dedicated to encouraging artists to focus upon and develop the theme of portraiture. In previous years entry to the competition has been limited to artists under the age of 40. In 2007, the competition is now going to be open to everyone aged 18 and over

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award 2011 Shortlist

The four artists shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award 2011 at the National Portrait Gallery are:
* Ian Cumberland (County Down, Northern Ireland) for "Just to Feel Normal";
* Wim Heldens (Amsterdam, Netherlands) for "Distracted",
* Sertan Saltan (Connecticut, USA) for "Mrs. Cerna" and
* Louis Smith (Manchester) for "Holly".

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award 2011: links to Selected Artists

This is the "added value" list of all those artists selected for the BP Portrait Award including links to their websites and an analysis of where all the artists come from by country

MAKING A MARK: Review: BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2011

The BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2011 has been the most popular exhibition in the Gallery's history. This ppst includes the winning portrait, details of other prizewinners and artists whose portraits I highly rate

BP Portrait Award Winners 1990-2011

Then.............and now

National Portrait Gallery - BP Portrait Award (1990) - Annabel Cullen

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1990 - Annabel Cullen
Self-portrait © The Artist

National Portrait Gallery - Baroness Blackstone by Annabel Cullen

National Portrait Gallery
list of portraits for Annabel Cullen including Tessa Ann Vosper Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone by Annabel Cullen,

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award (1991) - Justin Mortimer

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1991 - Justin Mortimer
Three Seated Figures © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1991

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase | Justin Mortimer statement

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase (1991) Justin Mortimer statement

Justin Mortimer - Portraits

JUSTIN MORTIMER
Portrait Commissions
Harold Pinter Commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery 1992

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award (1992) - Lucy Willis

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
(1992) Lucy Willis
Her Majesty's Pleasure © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1992

Lucy Willis - portraits

Portraits by Lucy Willis plus details of how to commission portraits

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award (1993) - Philip Harris

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1993 - Philip Harris
Curriculum vitae
Personal statement

"Beneath the immaculate paint lies drawing, direct onto the canvas almost of Degas' strength and delivery."
Brian Sewell (1993) Art Review

Philip Harris - super photo realism, contemporary artist

Philip Harris won the BP Portrait Award in 1993.

He is a contemporary artist who works in the super realism/photo realism genre. Works of his include 'Two Figures in a stream' and 'self portrait'. He studied at Bradford College. He is happy to work on a commission basis as a personal portraiture artist.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (1994) - Peter Edwards

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1994 - Peter Edwards
Includes Curriculum vitae and Personal statement
Portrait of an Artist's Model © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1994

Born in Wales, Peter Edwards' first portrait to enter the collection was of the Liverpool Poets Adrian Henri, Roger McGough and Brian Patten; another portrait of the poet Seamus Heaney led to a one-man show of contemporary poets at the Gallery in 1990. In 1991 he painted for the Gallery a life-size portrait of Sir Bobby Charlton and after winning the BP Portrait Award in 1994 Edwards was commissioned to paint Kazuo Ishiguro.

Peter Edwards, Portrait Artist, Fine Art, National Portrait Gallery

Welcome to the website of Peter Edwards, Modern Portrait Artist.

Here you will find information on completed work and paintings such as Sir Bobby Charlton, Michael Winner and more.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (1995) - Ishbel Myerscough

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1995 - Ishbel Myerscough
Krishenda © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1995

Ishbel Myerscough on artnet

Here are the top 3 auction results for Ishbel Myerscough

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (1996) - James Hague

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1996 James Hague
Self-portrait © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1996

JAMES HAGUE: AN EXHIBITION OF PORTRAITS

British BP Portrait Award Winner, commissioned contemporary portraits.

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award (1997) - James Lloyd

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase
1997 - James Lloyd
Penelope watching tv © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1997

Includes Curriculum vitae and Personal statement

Making a Mark: James Lloyd wins The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture

In 2008, James Lloyd won the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture for the most distinguished portrait of the year.
James held the Paul Smith Scholarship at the Slade School of Art (1994-96). He won the BP Portrait Prize in 1997. Other prizes he has won include the ING Discerning Eye Award in 2003 and the Carroll Foundation Award (now the de Laszlo Foundation Award - see below - in 1999. He's undertaken a number of commissions of prominent figures and has two portraits hanging in the National Portrait Gallery including his portrait of Paul Smith. He has recently been admitted to membership of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (1998) - Thomas Watson

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award | First Prize winner 1998 Thomas Watson
Jude © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1998

National Portrait Gallery | What's On | BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase | Thomas Watson CV

National Portrait Gallery - Thomas Watson CV

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (1999) - Clive Smith

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award First Prize winners showcase
Double Single © The Artist
1st Prize, BP Portrait Award 1999

National Portrait Gallery - Clive Smith

National Portrait Gallery
list of portraits for Clive Smith including Sir Ian Murray McKellen by Clive Smith,

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | BP Portrait Award | First Prize winners showcase

BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery | First Prize winners showcase

First Prize winners showcase - A celebration of 10 years of the BP Portrait Award.

2000 Victoria Russell
1999 Clive Smith
1998 Thomas Watson
1997 James Lloyd
1996 James Hague
1995 Ishbel Myerscough
1994 Peter Edwards
1993 Philip Harris
1992 Lucy Willis
1991 Justin Mortimer
1990 Annabel Cullen

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | BP Portrait Award 2001 | Images from the BP Portrait Award 2001

BP Portrait Award 2001 | PAST EXHIBITION ARCHIVE (no images)
The BP Portrait Award 2001 received 661 entries. Of those there were eight prize winners and forty-nine others selected for exhibition.

First prize: Stuart Pearson Wright
Title: The Six Presidents of the British Academy
oil on linen © The Artist

The Saveloy Factory - Stuart Pearson Wright

The Saveloy Factory: Website of the UK artist Stuart Pearson Wright

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | BP Portrait Award 2002 | Images from the BP Portrait Award 2002

BP Portrait Award 2002 PAST EXHIBITION ARCHIVE (No images)
The BP Portrait Award 2002 received 760 entries. Of those there were eight prize winners and forty-seven others selected for exhibition.

First prize
Catherine Goodman
Title: Antony
oil on canvas © The Artist

CATHERINE GOODMAN

Catherine Goodman - website

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Winner 2003 - Charlotte Harris

National Portrait Gallery - BP Portrait award 2003

Charlotte Harris wins £25,000 and, at the Trustee's discretion, a commission of £3,000 to paint a portrait for the Gallery's collection. Charlotte is the youngest artist on this year's shortlist at 21 years old. Her portrait is of her 83-year old grandmother, Doris Davis, who lives in Kent. The portrait was completed over 3 months last summer. Charlotte is currently (as at 2003) in her final year of a BA in Fine Art at Leeds Metropolitan University and is currently studio assistant to Tom Wood, the Visiting Professor of Painting at Leeds University.

Charlotte Harris, Paintings and Portraits

Charlotte Harris website - paintings and portraits

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | BP Portrait Award 2004 | Shortlisted

PAST EXHIBITION ARCHIVE BP Portrait Award 2004
at the National Portrait Gallery
Images from the BP Portrait Award 2004
The BP Portrait Award 2004 received 955 entries.
There were four prizewinners and fifty others selected for exhibition.

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Winner 2004 - Stephen Shankland

1st Prize

Cash prize of £25,000 and a commission

Stephen Shankland (b.1971) is a Scottish artist and graphic designer living and working in Aberdeenshire. He studied at Grays School of Art and has exhibited widely, including in the BP Portrait Award 1999. The Miracle is a portrait of Stephen's wife Kelly and son Connor, who was born prematurely in January 2003.

StephenShankland - Home Page

Modern Scottish contemporary portrait, figurative artist. Winner of the 2004 BP Portrait Award. Specialist in figurative and portrait painting. Narrative paintings. Coastal scenery. Golf Landscapes.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award (2005 ) - Dean Marsh

National Portrait Gallery
BP 2005 Portrait Award Winner - Dean Marsh
Title: Giulietta Coates
oil on board © The Artist

Dean Marsh said "Giulietta is my girlfriend and I wanted to paint her because I love her. It's the second time that I have painted her and it's the largest portrait I've ever done. I spent around four to six months, in total, painting the picture. I'm not sure about my approach to portraiture, except that I try to be honest. I don't flatter".

Dean Marsh - website

Dean Marsh website - includes portraits (but not updated recently)

National Portrait Gallery | What's On | BP Portrait Award 2006

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award 2006
Kitty
by Andrew Tift
© the artist

National Portrait Gallery | What's On | BP Portrait Award 2006

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award 2006
Andrew Tift
The winner of the BP Portrait Award 2006 is Andrew Tift for Kitty
Andrew Tift (b.1968) who lives in the West Midlands graduated with a first-class degree and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Central England. His winning portrait is a triptych of Lucian Freud's first wife, Kitty Garman, whom Freud painted many times

Andrew Tift UK Portrait Artist

I am a figurative realist portrait painter. I work in a highly detailed, intensely realistic manner, environments and narrative objects are important ingredients to my portraits as they can help to reflect and reinforce the sitters identity. I seek to convey people in the most understanding, intimat

MAKING A MARK: View the BP Portrait Award 2007 and BP Travel Award 2006 exhibitions

The BP Portrait Award has always had considerable status within the UK as an award for portraiture. This year the rules were changed and the competition was opened up to all artists aged 18 and over living anywhere in the world.
As a result 1,870 people submitted entries for the main prize of £25,000 (an increase of almost 70%) but only 60 were selected for the exhibition

BP Portrait Award 2007 - Michael Simpson by Paul Emsley

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award
ichael Simpson by Paul Emsley, Winner of the BP Portrait Award 2007© Paul Emsley
Oil on canvas

Making a Mark: Paul Emsley wins BP Portrait Award

Paul Emsley has won the BP Portrait Award and £25,000 prize with his portrait of Michael Simpson - which was featured on this blog last week in this post "View the BP Portrait Award 2007 and Travel Award 2006 exhibitions". Paul wins £25,000 and a commission, at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees' discretion, worth £4,000.

Paul Emsley - Artist

Awards
UWE. Drawing Prize. RWA Autumn Exhibition. 2008.
BP Portrait Award. First Prize. 2007.
Silver Award for Works on Paper. British Interior Design Association. Art London 2005.
UWE Drawing Prize. RWA Autumn Exhibition 2004.
3rd Prize; Singer & Friedlander Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2003
1st Prize; Singer & Friedlander Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2002
3rd Prize; Singer & Friedlander Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2001.

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award shortlist announced - a woman will win!

The National Portrait Gallery have announced the four artists short-listed this year for one of Britain's most prestigious art prizes - the BP Portrait Award. A woman will win. A portrait of a woman that is...... I wonder if it's a first that all four portraits in the short-list are of women? This post includes a montage of prizewinning portraits plus an explanation of the backgrounds of both artists and portrait.

National Portrait Gallery - BP Portrait Award 2008 - Exhibitors

National Portrait Gallery | BP Portrait Award 2008 | Exhibitors

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Prize 2008 - exhibition opens

This post focuses on portraits in the exhibition - in advance of the announcements about the prizewinners.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award 2008 - Craig Wylie

National Portrait Gallery
BP Portrait Award 2008 - First Prize: Craig Wylie
K by Craig Wylie
the artist (b 17.06.1973) was shortlisted for the
first time this year, having been include

Making a Mark: Craig Wylie wins BP Portrait Award 2008

Craig Wylie has won the first prize in the BP Portrait Award - as I predicted on this blog last week. In fact, I did rather well as I also predicted that Peiyuan Jiang would win the Young Artist Award (for an artist aged 18-30) - and he won too.

Craig Wylie

Craig Wylie
Artist London United Kingdom +44 (77)15551973 craigjwlie@yahoo.co.uk www.craigjwylie.co.uk

BP Portrait Awards - Portrait of Perfection

BP website - Pdf file

Since taking over sponsorship of the annual Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1990, BP has helped to unearth some rare artistic talent. ROBIN KNIGHT fills in detail about the award and talks to seven past winners about the effect it has had on their
subsequent careers. Photography by Graham Trott

Portrait Award is a mug's game | Art | Arts & Exhibitions | This is London

A long and very critical review of the BP Portrait Award 2008 by Brian Sewell, Art correspondent of the London Evening Standard

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award 2009 - Peter Monkman

The First Prize was awarded to Peter Monkman for Changeling 2, part of a series of portraits of his daughter, Anna, at different stages of her life.

Making a Mark: Peter Monkman wins first prize in BP Portrait Award 2009

The best compliment I've had so far is "It's strange!" said Peter Monkman last night shortly after he was awarded the prestigious £25,000 first prize in the BP Portrait Award 2009. His winning portrait is one of a series of portraits of his daughter Anna at different stages of her life.

Peter Monkman artist

Monkman has exhibited widely including the BP Portrait Award (1st prize 2009, exhibited 2003, 2001, 1999) , Jerwood Drawing Prize (2007), 'Future Face' at the Science Museum (2005) and more recently at the Threadneedle Prize for painting and sculpture (2009, 2008) at the Mall Galleries and 'dependtendency' at the 53rd Venice Biennial.

National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award 2010 - Daphne Todd

The First Prize was awarded to Daphne Todd for Last Portrait of Mother a devotional study of her mother, Mary Todd, on her death bed.

Making a Mark: Daphne Todd wins BP Portrait Award 2010

Daphne Todd PPRSPP, NEAC - the Past President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - has won the £25,000 BP Portrait Award 2010 with Last Portrait of Mother - her painting of her mother Annie Mary Todd on her deathbed. She also wins a commission worth £4,000......In her speech on receiving the award she highlighted how her career has been a prime example of the benefit that this very prestigious award can bestow on those shortlisted for a prize as well as those who win it. It enabled her to give up work and become a full-time artist and she subsequently became the first woman President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters - Daphne Todd

Daphne Todd, president of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 1994 - 2000, was the first female to hold this office since the Society was founded in 1891.

National Portrait Gallery - Shortlisted artists

Shortlisted artists The three artists shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award 2010 are: David Eichenberg for Tim II; Michael Gaskell for Harry and Daphne Todd for Last Portrait of Mother.

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award 2010: List of Exhibitors and Brian Sewell

You can see all the individual works in the BP Portrait Award 2010 on the National Portrait Gallery website. Below you will also find a list of the names of the exhibitors in the BP Portrait Award 2010 plus where they come from and links to their websites if you want to see what other work they have produced. The websites I rate are highlighted.

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award: Michael Gaskell's unparalled record

In the last 11 years, Michael Gaskell has entered the BP Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery five times and his record is as follows:
* 2010 - 2nd prize
* 2009 - 2nd prize
* 2003 - 2nd prize
* 2001 - commended
* 1999 - commended
That means every time he's entered he's achieved some form of recognition. That's a record unparalled to my knowledge in the history of the competition.

MAKING A MARK: Two American Artists win BP Portrait Prizes

This year two American Artists have won BP Portrait Award prizes:
* David Eichenberg (b. 1972) won the 3rd Prize of £6,000 for his portrait Tim II
* Elizabeth McDonald (b. 1985) won the BP Young Artist Award (£5,000)

National Portrait Gallery - Prize Winners

The First Prize was awarded to Wim Heldens for Distracted, one of a series of portraits of Jeroen, a young man to whom Heldens has been a father figure since childhood and who he has painted at regular intervals. ( see http://heldensw.home.xs4all.nl/paintings2009.htm )

MAKING A MARK: Review: BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2011

The winner of the BP Portrait Award for 2011 is Wim Heldens (Amsterdam, Netherlands) for "Distracted" (oil on canvas, 750mm x 550mm).

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award 2011 Shortlist

An overview of the artists shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award 2011

Wim Heldens - website

Website of Wim Heldens

MAKING A MARK: BP Portrait Award 2011: links to Selected Artists

This is the "added value" list of all those artists selected for the BP Portrait Award including links to their websites and an analysis of where all the artists come from by country

The Ondaatje Portrait Prize

The premier prize of the The Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The RP, Portrait Commissions, Portrait Artists - Prizes

The Ondaatje prize for Portraiture (worth £10,000 plus a gold medal)
De Laszlo Prize for Outstanding Portraiture
The Prince of Wales's Award for Portrait Drawing
The Changing Faces Prize
The Arts Club Award

Making a Mark: James Lloyd wins The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture

James Lloyd is the first artist ever to achieve the 'double' of winning the The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture as well as the the BP Portrait Award which he won in 1997. The Ondaatje Prize is awarded annually to the painter of the most distinguished painting in the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. It is one of the most prestigious prizes in the world of portraiture and the winner receives a prize of £10,000 and the Society's Gold Medal.

Making a Mark: Portrait completed in 2 hours wins Ondaatje Prize

The £10,000 Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture and a Gold Medal has been awarded to Michael Reynolds RP for a portrait which took him precisely 125 minutes to execute. The announcement was made yesterday at the Private View for the Annual Exhibition for the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

Making a Mark: The Ondaatje Portraiture Prize is re-awarded - to Tom Coates

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Awards Panel has withdrawn the Ondaatje Prize from Michael Reynolds (as announced at the Private View and Awards Ceremony on 25th April and included in the Press Pack) and, as reported in Art Daily yesterday, has re-awarded it to the original runner-up Tom Coates RP, RBA, PS, PNEAC instead for his portrait of Ulick O'Connor, Irish writer, playwright'.

Making a Mark: Threadneedle Figurative Prize (part 2) - Green, Mills, Murdoch and Schierenberg

A review of shortlisted works in the Threadneedle Figurative Prize - includes portraits

Making a Mark: The Bulldog Bursary - an apprenticeship in portraiture

The Bulldog Bursary is that rare privilege - an educational project and a national bursary created to promote professional and artistic development within the field of painted portraiture. It's a prize which is subject to competition and comprises:
* a bursary of £5,000,
* studio space at the Art Academy, close to Tate Modern and
* most importantly, it offers a talented up and coming artist the opportunity to work alongside and be mentored by the members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP).

Making a Mark: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2010

Joy by Robin-Lee Hall - winner of the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture
egg tempera 71 61c (28 x 24")

MAKING A MARK: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2011 (Part 1)

Tai-Shen Schierenberg, Hon RP has won the Ondaatje Award for the most distinguished portrait in the 2011 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

MAKING A MARK: Review: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2011 (Part 2)

Following Part 1 of my review - which focused on awardwinners, in this second part of my review I'm going to focus more on the work which attracted my attention.

MAKING A MARK: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2012 - Call for Entries

This is a reminder that the deadline for registration and digital entries to The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2012 is 23 February 2012.
If you'd like to read more about past exhibitions - and see some of the works which have been accepted in the past - see my reviews of exhibitions in recent years which are at the end of this post.
If you'd like to know what you need to do to enter this year's exhibition - read on!

The Outwin Bocheever Portrait Competition (OBPC)

the premier American Portrait Competition

Outwin Bocheever Portrait Competition, 2013

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 is coming soon!
The new website will be available in July 2011, and the call for entries will open on September 1, 2011 and close on October 31, 2011.
The new website will have all of the rules for the competition.
The OBPC 2013 will again be open to all visual arts media.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 - All Finalists

Images by prizewinners, commended artists and all other finalists selected for exhibition in 2009-10

The Second Outwin Boocheve Portrait Exhibition 2009 - About the Competition

From more than 3,300 entries from every state, a jury of experts chose forty-nine works of art in a variety of media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, video and new media, and photography.

The first round of jurying was online. Once the Judges had identified the semifinalists, their works were then transported to Washington, D.C., at the Portrait Gallery's expense.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009 - Rules of Entry

Who may enter / What to enter /How the competition works and how it is judged

Outwin Boocheve Portrait Exhibition - People's Choice Award 2009

The Second Outwin Boocheve Portrait Exhibition
October 23, 2009 - September 6, 2010
People's Choice Award 2009

MAKING A MARK: The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2013 is an art competition which believes in planning ahead. The call for entries runs from September 1, 2011 and October 31, 2011.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006

The first ever Outwin Boocheve Portrait Exhibition
1 July 2006 - 19 February 2007
With the support of Virginia Outwin Boochever, the National Portrait Gallery chose to hold an open competition, asking artists throughout the United States to submit painted and sculpted likenesses of people close to them. The jury saw only one portrait from each artist. From more than 4,000 entries from every state, the jury chose 51 works of art.

Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006 - All Finalists

Images by prizewinners, commended artists and all other finalists selected for exhibition in 2006-07

ARTifice: Fear and Loathing in DC: Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

a commentary on the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

The National Portrait Competition by Miles Mathis

The National Portrait Competition by Miles Mathis - a commentary

Outwin Bocheever Portrait Prize Winners 2006 - 2009

winning image and the website of the winning artist

Dave Woody - winner of First Prize, The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009

Laura by Dave Woody (Fort Collins, Colorado)
Digital print, 2007
81.3 x 63.5 cm (32 x 25 in.)

Dave Woody Photography

All photographs on this site are copyright %uFFFD 2009 and are the exclusive property of Dave Woody. All rights reserved. Use or reproduction of photographs or text is prohibited without written permission from Dave Woody.

David Lenz - winner of First Prize, The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006

Sam and the Perfect World by David Lenz (Shorewood, Wisconsin)
Oil on linen, 2005
44 x 46 in. (111.8 x 116.8 cm)

David M. Lenz Official Website

"Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Lenz's portraits is the manner in which he evokes a sense of spirit and emotion from the individuals depicted in unusual, even beautiful, environments."
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery press release

Other Portrait Competitions in the USA

American Artist Portrait Contest!

Get Your Artwork published in American Artist!
Enter your two-dimensional drawings, paintings, or prints in a contest aimed at exploring creative approaches to this traditional theme. Entries can range from the photographically realistic to the interpretive, and they can be created with any medium or combination of media. The artist must certify that the image represents his or her appearance, personality, and/or spirit. Work will be judged both on the quality and originality of the images, as well as on a brief written explanation provided by the artist.

Portrait Society of America, Inc. - Members Showcase competition 2007

Details of Members Showcase competition 2008
Images of Members Showcase competition 2007

The Archibald Prize

Archibald Prize 2012 :: Art Gallery NSW

Australia's most extraordinary art event, the Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes is an annual exhibition eagerly anticipated by artists and audiences alike.

Archibald Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Archibald Prize is administered by the Trustees of the Art Gallery of New South Wales and is awarded annually. Since 2008, the prize is A$50,000.

MAKING A MARK: Tim Storrier wins the $75,000 Archibald Prize 2012

The judges reduced 839 entries down to 41 finalists and then one winner of The Archibald Prize 2012 - The histrionic wayfarer (after Bosch) by Tim Storrier.

MAKING A MARK: Finalists for The Archibald Prize 2012 + The Packing Room Prize

I gather from this Sydney Morning Herald article - Wood simply chuffed as Archibald targeted by graffiti artists that this year the Archibald Prize includes finalists involved with street art and digital art.

Archibald Prize 2011 :: Art Gallery NSW

The Archibald Prize is one of Australia's oldest and most prestigious art awards. JF Archibald's primary aims were to foster portraiture, support artists and perpetuate the memory of great Australians.

Quilty, Ben: Margaret Olley :: The Archibald Prize 2011 :: Art Prizes :: Art Gallery NSW

Art Prizes - The Archibald Prize 2011 awarded to Ben Quilty
Title: Margaret Olley
Medium: oil on linen

Sydney Morning Herald - And the winner of the Archibald Prize is ...

A portrait of the celebrated painter Margaret Olley by the artist Ben Quilty has won the $50,000 Archibald Prize.
The 88-year-old doyenne of Australian art, who was also the subject of an Archibald winner by William Dobell in 1948, said: "Ben's been wanting to paint me for years. But I kept on saying no.

MAKING A MARK: Ben Quilty's portrait of Margaret Olley wins 2011 Archibald Prize

Ben Quilty's portrait of his friend, the highly esteemed painter Margaret Olley has won the Archibald Prize worth AUS$50,000. I think it's an absolutely stunning portrait and a well deserved winner.

List of Archibald Prize winners - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a list of winners of the Archibald Prize for portraiture. As many of the images are copyrighted, an external link to an image has been listed where available.

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 2011

A$150,000 is awarded to the winner and A$10,000 awarded to the runner-up.

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 1988 - 2010

Catalogue of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize 1988-2010

Doug Moran National Portrait Prize - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The aim of the competition is to promote contemporary Australian portraiture and, as such, entry conditions stipulate that both the artist and their subject be an Australian citizen or resident for at least one year prior to the closing date for entries, however it is not required that the artist or the subject be well known.

How divorce was raised to a high art - Arts - www.smh.com.au

The long-running battle over Australia's richest portrait prize has ended with both sides claiming victory, writes Sharon Verghis. - Sydney Morning Herald Online

Self-Portraiture

Rembrandt van Rijn: Self-Portraits

Rembrandt van Rijn:
Selected Self-Portraits

No artist has left a loftier or more penetrating personal testament than Rembrandt van Rijn. In more than 90 portraits of himself that date from the outset of his career in the 1620s to the year of his death in 1669, he created an autobiography in art that is the equal of the finest ever produced in literature

Self-portrait - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Albrecht Dürer Self-portrait 1497 is among the earliest known formal self-portraits. He is dressed in Italian fashion, reflecting his international success. ...

SFMOMA | Exhibitions | Exhibition Overview: Chuck Close

With nearly 100 self-portraits in a range of media, this exhibition highlights the trajectory of Close's pictorial language over a lifetime, ...

Art Gallery of New South Wales: Self Portrait: Renaissance to ...

May 14, 2006 ... The first large-scale exploration of self-portrait painting in oils, spanning 500 years of art history and featuring iconic works from major ...

NGA Classroom: Who Am I?: Self Portraits in Art and Writing ...

See what you can discover about these famous artists and yourself as you look carefully at their self-portraits and read from their letters and journals. ...

Chuck Close: Self-Portraits 1967-2005

This exhibition, co-organized by the Walker Art Center and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, focuses exclusively on Close's self-portraits in all of ...

Eye Contact: Modern American Portrait Drawings from the National ...

In about 1965, when Jacob Lawrence began this self-portrait, his was the face of "Negro" art for white America. The 1941 exhibition of his epic painting ...

A Collection of Self-portraits

The self-portrait is the artist's most personal form of expression. It is the ultimate means of self-analysis, presenting an opportunity for self-reflection ...

lines and colors :: a blog about drawing, painting, illustration ...

Feb 25, 2008 ... Many of history's great paintings have been self portraits, from Durer and ... 3 comments for American Artist's Self-Portrait Competition » ...

National Portrait Gallery | What's on? | Mirror Mirror | Self ...

The self-portrait is the artist's most intimate personal legacy, and most public form of self-advertisement. Self-portraits are often specific in intention, ...

Wapedia - Wiki: Self-portrait

Wiki: Self-portrait (1/4) A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 15th century that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as important characters in their work.

Includes many images of self-portraits by well known artists past and present

The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin - Self-portrait

A self-portrait may be a portrait of the artist, or a portrait included in a larger work, including a group portrait. Many painters are said to have included depictions of specific individuals, including themselves, in painting figures in religious or other types of composition not intended to depict the actual persons as themselves.

Portrait Commissions

Information and advice on how to commission a portrait

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Commissioning a Portrait Artist

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (est 1891), or The RP as it is known, is the foremost Society for Portrait Artists and Portrait Painters in the United Kingdom. Most of the portrait painters and artists are available for private and company portrait commissions

Miniature art: Commissioning a portrait

Portrait miniature painters who accept commissions, listed by country and state or province

Learning about Portraits and Portraiture

Lectures, events, tours, digital resources and workshops - available from Museums of Portraiture and Portraits Societies

National Portrait Gallery | Education | E-Learning

National Portrait Gallery | Education | E-Learning

National Portrait Gallery | Education | The Practice of Portraiture

National Portrait Gallery | Education
The Practice of Portraiture - Suggestions and investigations for Secondary School Art Teachers
based on the National Portrait Gallery collection Liz Rideal
Art Education Officer NPG

National Portrait Gallery | Education | e-Learning | Investigating Drawing | Introduction

National Portrait Gallery | Education | e-Learning
Investigating Drawing; Explore the different drawing materials; Several techniques, related items and other materials: sketchbook sgraffito hatching pouncing

National Portrait Gallery | Education | The Practice of Portraiture | Double Portrait

National Portrait Gallery | Education
The Practice of Portraiture | Double Portrait

National Portrait Gallery | Education | The Practice of Portraiture | Group Portrait

National Portrait Gallery | Education
The Practice of Portraiture | Group Portrait
THE GROUP PORTRAIT: COMPOSITIONAL TRICKS

Portrait Society - NJ & Delaware Blog: Nelson Shanks Answers Questions posed to him from Dan Thompson

New Jersey and Delaware members of the Portrait Society of America

Nelson Shanks Answers Questions posed to him from Dan Thompson

Portrait Society - NJ & Delaware Blog: Rose Frantzen Demo - 2008 PSA Conference

New Jersey and Delaware members of the Portrait Society of America

Rose Frantzen Demo - 2008 PSA Conference
Notes courtesy of Florida Ambassador Kerry Vosler

The Museum Network - Portraits & Portraiture: Home

Using five museum collections, teachers and pupils can find out more about the fascinating subject of portraiture, including how portraits were created, how to strike a commanding pose, how to tell someone's status from their dress and the formal elements that go into making someone's likeness.

Portraits and Portraiture: Types of Painting

Types of Paintings: There are many kinds of portraits made for different reasons. Here we will explore those of individuals, groups of people, couples and self-portraits.

Making A Mark on drawing and sketching people

Practical tips for drawing people

Making a Mark: 10 Tips for How to Sketch People

Drawing and sketching people is an invaluable way of developing a wide range of artistic skills. I've been drawing people for very many years - family, friends, people in cafes and restaurants, life class models - and other artists.

This post provides 10 tips on how to sketch people - or at least my understanding of how I sketch people.

Pastels and Pencils - A Making A Mark Guide: Life Drawing and Life Class

A Making A Mark Guide: Life Drawing and Life Class provides answers to the following:

• what is life drawing?
• what are the benefits of life drawing?
• Life drawing teaches you how to see
• Life drawing teaches you how to draw what you can see
• Life drawing enables you to develop your own style of drawing
• practical aspects of a life class
• where can I find a life class?
• what do I need to take?
• what should I expect - of the place, the people and how it all works
• what I'm really worried about..... and the answers to the frequent concerns of people who've never enrolled.

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: People watching and sketching - outside Tate Modern

A great place in London for watching and sketching people is the space just outside Tate Modern.

Portraiture Workshops and Learning Events

annkullberg.com - Workshops

Find Colored Pencil Workshops and Colored Pencil Portrait classes near you.

Portrait Forums

Portrait Artist Forum - powered by vBulletin

Exchange indepth information with other portrait painters.

WetCanvas! - Portraiture Forum

WetCanvas!: Cyber Living for Artists
Portraiture Forum - dedicated to the human portrait in all mediums.

Pet Portraits and Wildlife Forum by Melanie Phillips for all Artists Painting Pet Portraits

Pet Portraits information, dogs, cats, horses and wildlife

portrait-sculpture.com :: Index

Portrait and figurative sculptor's forum

Portraits Online

Portrait Artists

Portrait Artists: List of artists specializing in Portraits and index to where their art can be viewed at art museums worldwide.

A Stroke of Genius - Portrait Artist website

Portrait artists portfolios - Top contemporary portraitists.
Over 100 artists featured with many specialties including political, judicial, government, official,children's, family.

Pastels and Pencils - Portraiture

Pastels and Pencils - Life - drawings and sketches by Katherine Tyrrell

Original fine art by Katherine Tyrrell. Drawings from life of people and cats in pen and ink, pencil and coloured pencils.
- Drawing artists
- Drawing a head and Portraits
- Portraits of Cats
- Fine art prints
These figurative drawings are a mix of fine art drawings and sketches of artists, models and cats. All drawings and sketches are from life...