BP Portrait Award 2013
Past exhibition archive
20 June - 15 September 2013
Wolfson Gallery
Admission Free
The BP Portrait Award 2013 showcased fifty-five of the most outstanding and innovative new portraits from around the world. From informal and personal studies of friends and family to revealing paintings of famous faces, the exhibition featured a variety of styles and approaches to the contemporary painted portrait. These included the winner of the £30,000 first prize as well as the work of the BP Young Artist 2013 and the BP Travel Award 2012 winners.
In its thirty-fourth year at the National Portrait Gallery, and twenty-fourth year of sponsorship by BP, the Award was the most prestigious international portrait painting competition and the popular exhibition was one of the highlights of the annual art calendar.
For the fourth year, the BP Portrait Award: Next Generation project gave young people aged 14-19 the opportunity to get creative through portraiture, connect with BP Portrait Award artists and go behind-the-scenes online, inspired by the exhibition.
Exhibitors and Prize Winners
BP Travel Award 2012
The BP Travel Award was an annual award to allow artists to experience working in a different environment on a project related to portraiture.
In 2012 the Award was won by Carl Randall for his proposal to travel along the Tokaido Highway between Tokyo to Kyoto in the footsteps of Japanese woodblock print artist Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858). On route he recorded the people, their livelihoods and the landscape as finds them today in contrast to what was portrayed by Hiroshige. Fifteen of his final works were on display in this year’s exhibition.
Onsen by Carl Randall, 2013 © Carl Randall
Sumo by Carl Randall, 2013 © Carl Randall