BP Portrait Award 2002

Cover of BP Portrait Award 2002
190 x 125mm, 80 pages, With 60 colour illustrations, ISBN 1 85514 505 7

Out of print

The BP PORTRAIT AWARD 2002
Foreword by Richard E. Grant
Introductory essay by William Packer

The BP Portrait Award is a leading showcase for young artists specialising in portraiture. This book, the first ever full catalogue of the exhibition, includes colour reproductions of the prize winners and all entries selected by the judges for display in 2002, supported by an essay from the renowned journalist and art critic Bill Packer.

Attitudes to portraiture have changed dramatically since the Award's inception in 1980. It is now one of Britain's most popular annual exhibitions, each year bringing to the fore new and sometimes undiscovered talent. When Justin Mortimer won the award in 1991, he was propelled into a series of high-profile commissions including HM The Queen, and said that 'Winning the BP Portrait Award was an extraordinary thing: that year I was still an art student and happily ignorant of how to get an artistic career. The prize was the catalyst.'

William Packer's lucid essay presents an overview of the Award and explores the growing interest in British portrait painters, setting their work within the historical context of portraiture in general and celebrating the continuing success of this prestigious event.

Accompanies the major exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 19 June to 8 September 2002 and at Aberdeen Art Gallery from September to November 2002.

Encourages the best in contemporary figurative portraiture

Richard E. Grant first made his name in the cult classic Withnail and I (1987). Since then he has appeared in numerous films on the big screen as well as a appearing in a diverse body of work on television. He is also a diarist. 

William Packer is art critic for the Financial Times.

This product is supplied by the National Portrait Gallery Company Limited. 

Every purchase supports the National Portrait Gallery.