THE WILLIAM LOCK PORTRAIT PRIZE - The Royal Society of Portrait Painters

ANNUAL EXHIBITION

£20,000 for the most timeless portrait with a real feeling for paint and its aesthetic potential. Plus two runner-up prizes of £500 each.

2026 Winner – James Lloyd, ‘Portrait of Ishbel’

2026 Special Mentions:

Julia Hawkins NEAC ROI, ‘Portrait of Emma’

Antony Williams NEAC VPRP, ‘Jean’

2025 Winner – Rogier Willems, ‘Elvan’

2025 Shortlist:

Uri Blayer, ‘Self Portrait at 53’

James Hague RP, ‘Woman in Red Jumper’

2024 Winner – Mark Shields, ‘Companion’

2023 winner – Saied Di

2022 winner – Tania Rivilis

2021 winner – Frances Bell

Category: Prizes

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

To promote the practice of and further excellence in painted portraiture

Royal Society of Portrait Painters

5 days ago

#Annualexhibition2026:Our Annual Exhibition is back NEXT WEEK displaying 89 works by non-members and a range from members!RP Emma Wesley has shared some words on her exhibiting portrait below... "Professor Irene Tracey is the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University and formerly the Warden of Merton College, Oxford, who commissioned this portrait. By discipline, she is a Neuroscientist who co-founded the Oxford Centre of Functional Magnetic Imaging of the Brain. Known as ‘The Queen of Pain’ her research concerns the neuroscience of pain, specifically pain perception, analgesia and anaesthetics. My portrait of her is set in the Fellows’ Garden of Merton College, by the famous armillary sundial. She is accompanied by her golden retriever, Geoffrey Biscuit, who was a big part of life at Merton when she was Warden, and the chestnut leaves on the ground refer to a favourite old tree which stood at the College in her time, but later had to be cut down. References to Irene’s area of study are made through the inclusion of Damien Hirst‘s sculpture ‘Exquisite Pain’ in the background and the pain-relieving poppies in the foreground."-Emma Wesley When?7 May – 19 May, (closed to the public all day 12 May)Open 10am to 5pm otherwise @mallgalleries!Image: Emma Wesley RP, 'Professor Irene Tracey'@emmawesleyportraitpainter ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

@rawumberstudios portrait paint off is returning for 2026!They're looking for 10 artists to join them for a full day of painting from life at their studio in the beautiful Stroud.- 6 hours to paint- £2,500 top prize (plus more)- judged by artists; Lizet Dingemans, Luca Indraccolo and Andrew James- public vote prize tooOpen to anyone, so if you love painting from life, you should definitely go for it!Submissions close: 18th May 2026Where?Stroud — 26 JuneSUBMIT NOW: rawumberstudios.com/n/paint-off/2026Images: Raw Umber Studios, 2025 paint off class@aandimagazine @cassart1984 @royalsocietyportraitpainte @thecbpp ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

#DrawingPrizeExhibition2026:Drawing Prize: Revealing the Human 2026 OPEN CALL IS HERE!Selected works will be exhibited at the University of Hull Art Gallery, with up to 120 artworks chosen by a distinguished panel.With a chance to win the £5,000 RP Drawing Prize, the Daler-Rowney Materials Prize of £500 & The Almenara Collection Prize – awarded to an exhibitor who shows distinctive promise and in the opinion of the jurors, will benefit from this residential opportunity in Andalucía, southern Spain.Read more: www.thealmenaracollection.com/page/40172/art-residencies@dalerrowney1783@almenaracollectionSubmit here: therp.co.uk/the-rp-drawing-prize/Deadline: 28th July, 5pmImages: Nigel Whittaker, 'The Weight of Years' & Stephen Johnston, 'Francis'@nigelwhittakerart @observantpainter ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

Today we share the third snippet... of an Expert Panel Discussion, hosted by James Nicholls of Nicholls Art Group, on the occasion of an exhibition of Arnold Friberg paintings at the Mall Galleries. The talk is chaired by renowned curator Dr Alison Smith, with three of our RP member award winning artists Miriam Escofet, Antony Williams and Frances Bell. They talk about their work, their very particular working processes and the ideas that go into their portraits.Alison Smith was formerly lead curator at Tate Britain, chief curator of the National Portrait Gallery, and is now director of collections and research at the Wallace Collection. Miriam Escofet has won several awards, including first prize for the BP Portrait Award 2018 at the NPG, she was subsequently commissioned to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II for the Foreign Office. Antony Williams has won multiple awards, including the RP Ondaatje Prize twice and first prize at the HSF Portrait Award 2024 at the NPG, he was commissioned to paint Queen Elizabeth II in 1996 as part of his Ondaatje Prize. Frances Bell has won multiple awards, including the RP William Locke Prize and the prestigious Grand Draper Prize for the Portrait Society of America International Competition in 2025You can watch the full, very insightful discussion on our YouTube via the link in our bio or here: youtu.be/VsviH_zHmuwFilm: James Nicholls@james_nicholls_art ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

#Annualexhibition2026:Our next Annual exhibition is here, displaying the best painted and drawn portraiture!Today we share non-member Jeremy White's exhibiting portrait... "The portrait is “Self portrait with bucket hat”. This is a charcoal and graphite drawing on hand toned paper. It has become an annual tradition of mine to do a self portrait near the end of the year. I find self portraits are an opportunity to try new things which you wouldn’t be able to with sitters who might want something more traditional. I also try and focus on some of the things I’ve developed that year as an artist. This one in particular I made at the end of 2025, wearing the hat which I often wear when I’m painting outside. Given the long tradition of artists’ self portraits donning glamorous hats, I thought I’d add my own edition.--Jeremy White is a contemporary realist painter based in Hackney, London.Born in 1996 outside Paris, he was brought up in South East England, where he started drawing at a young age taught by his father and grandfather. Jeremy learnt the fundamentals of classical draughtsmanship and painting at London Fine Art Studios and since has been largely been self-taught through studying the masters, attending atelier workshops and spending lots of time painting outdoors.Jeremy has always loved the outdoors and often chases new views on hikes which inspire his landscape painting. Hiking trips across France, Italy, the Balkans and the UK have been the inspiration to many landscapes in his portfolio. Painting outdoors and on site allows Jeremy to turn the transient light effects and colour harmonies into compelling pieces. Day-to-day in London, Jeremy often spends time outside capturing the unique effects of light and atmosphere which a busy city creates.Finding inspiration in the endless complexity and variation in human faces, Jeremy also creates portraits. Jeremy’s portrait influences are wide from the more traditional masters such as Velazquez to more modern influences like Sargent and Repin and the small groups of contemporary realist painters working today."-Jeremy WhiteThis year our Annual Exhibition will also be presenting the following prizes and awards worth 41k:-The William Lock Portrait Prize-NEW The Faringdon Prize-NEW The Almenara Collection Award-NEW Daler-Rowney Materials Prize-The de Laszlo Foundation Award-The RP Prize for the Best Small Portrait-The Raw Umber Studios PrizeWe also have an amazing events programme - view it via the link in our bio or here: www.therp.co.ukWhen?7 May – 19 May, (closed to the public all day 12 May)Open 10am to 5pm otherwise @mallgalleries!Image: Jeremy White, 'Self Portrait'@jeremy_white_art ... See MoreSee Less

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