PORTRAIT EXHIBITIONS

Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition

Celebrating the best in contemporary portraiture

PEOPLE’S PORTRAIT COLLECTION

Alastair Adams RP, ‘Marc Crank’ & Antony Williams, ‘Eli James’

Girton College, Cambridge

We are delighted to announce the unveiling of RP Antony Williams’ painting ‘Eli James’ as the 63rd work to be added to the People’s Portraits collection…

The People’s Portrait Collection was mounted in 2000 as a millenial exhibition. The idea was to represent ordinary people from all walks of life, and thereby offer a picture of the United Kingdom as it moved from the 20th century into the 21st.

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To promote the practice of and further excellence in painted portraiture

Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 hour ago

#CallforEntries: Critical Writing Prize 2025... SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN! An award for new writing on any aspect of contemporary portrait painting.The prize is open to all.--Three of the applicants will be selected to submit their complete texts and awarded either the first prize of £500 or one of two ‘special mention’ prizes of £250.All three texts will be published in the RP Annual Exhibition Catalogue published in May (2026). The catalogue is a well-established document of record within the sector. One of the aims of the prize is to provide a platform for aspiring writers on the visual arts and specifically to spark intelligent conversation about the contemporary portrait. THE PANELAnthony Connolly ~ President of The Royal Society of Portrait PaintersAlexander Marr ~ Professor of Renaissance and Early Modern Art, University of Cambridge Laura Gascoigne ~ Art CriticAlison Smith ~ Chief Curator NPG You can take a look at previous years finalists via our website if you're looking for some inspiration!Find out more: www.therp.co.uk or go to the link in our bio.DEADLINE: 15th December 2025, 5pmImage: Kenny McKendry RP, 'Ole Bendik'@kennymckendry..#portraits #writingprize #submitnow #prizes #rp #royalsocietyofportraitpainters #writing #artistofinstagram #portraitpainting #gogogo #critical #announcement #goodluck #proposals ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

4 days ago

#CallforEntries: Our Critical Writing Prize is back for a third year... SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN! An award for new writing on any aspect of contemporary portrait painting.The prize is open to all.By encouraging and publishing new writing we hope to expand and enliven this exchange which is central to the concerns of the Society. --Three of the applicants will be selected to submit their complete texts and awarded either the first prize of £500 or one of two ‘special mention’ prizes of £250.All three texts will be published in the RP Annual Exhibition Catalogue published in May (2026). The catalogue is a well-established document of record within the sector. You can take a look at previous years finalists via our website if you're looking for some inspiration!Find out more: www.therp.co.uk or go to the link in our bio.DEADLINE: 15th December 2025, 5pmImage: Olivia Pang, ‘Where are we going II’ - Used as reference for Lee Hearne’s 2024 finalist essay@xiayu1839 ..#portraits #writingprize #submitnow #prizes #rp #royalsocietyofportraitpainters #writing #artistofinstagram #portraitpainting #gogogo #critical #announcement #goodluck #proposals ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

6 days ago

#RP2025:Congratulations to Sam Clayden for being one of four artists who were awarded as Highly Commended for the de Laszlo Foundation Award this year with, 'Tomas’ The de Laszlo Foundation award, sponsored by the de Laszlo Foundation, aims to encourage young artists.Award for an artist under thirty-five years of age judged to have submitted the best portrait. We interviewed Sam during the PV, read more below... Q. Tell us a little more about the painting, where did it start?I went to the client and completed lots of pencil sketches, different poses, angles and expressions to try and get the idea down. Then I went back to the studio and turned those into more complete drawings and I then from those, decided on the pose, composition, what I wanted to include in it and I just went for it. Q. So for the later stages, did you see the sitter again or did you go off the material you had at this point?I made some colour sketches from the initial documentation but some other bits from life to then, bring it all back together in the studio. Q. What else are you up to at the moment/ do you have anything interesting coming up? I have Wimbledon art fair which is for open studios so I’ll have my studio included and I get lots of people through the door but other than that, I’m teaching some workshops with one being in Lisbon which has sold out too so that’s good! Other than this, I’m mostly doing commissions and personal projects. Q. Tell us more about your technique - It feels quite moody?Well yes, I guess I’ve always been a moody guy, a moody guy with a smile. There’s deep feelings in all of us and I think, the work doesn’t always have to be the loudest in order to get to the depth of what it is. I like the idea of trying to say the most with the least. Q. Would you like to share anything else about the work or perhaps the sitter?The sitter is a commission. He was honestly one of the easiest sitters I have worked with, not fidgety at all! I asked him if he wanted to be a model in the future and he said “no, I want to be a dancer and a billionaire”. Q. How long did the portrait take to make in total?It’s hard to say as sometimes I come in and do an hour or so but it’s probably something like 30 hours or so. A good working week, you know. Something else I will also say is, the brief was to paint him in his Grandfather's chair so his Father commissioned a portrait of him in his Grandfather’s chair and the lamp is his Great Grandfather’s.You can read the full interview via the news section of our website: www.therp.co.ukImages: @marksepplephoto & Sam Clayden, ‘Tomas’@samclaydenart ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

#CallforEntries: Our Critical Writing Prize is back for a third year... SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN! An award for new writing on any aspect of contemporary portrait painting.The prize is open to all.The Judges were delighted by the response for the second RP Critical Writing Prize.The variety and the accomplishment of the proposals really persuaded all concerned that there is a live and continuing conversation going on and we are excited to be part of it.By encouraging and publishing new writing we hope to expand and enliven this exchange which is central to the concerns of the Society. --Three of the applicants will be selected to submit their complete texts and awarded either the first prize of £500 or one of two ‘special mention’ prizes of £250.All three texts will be published in the RP Annual Exhibition Catalogue published in May (2026). The catalogue is a well-established document of record within the sector. Find out more and submit via the link in our bio or go directly to our website : www.therp.co.ukDEADLINE: 15th December 2025, 5pmReel images: Melissa Scott-Miller RP, 'Writer and her Dog, in her North London Living Room'@melissa.scottmiller..#portraits #writingprize #submitnow #prizes #rp #royalsocietyofportraitpainters #writing #artistofinstagram #portraitpainting #gogogo #critical #announcement #goodluck #proposals ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters

1 week ago

#callforentries:'The RP Drawing Prize: Revealing the Human' is here: a brand new open call for us!Submit a portrait in any style, using any technique: all interpretations of portraiture welcome/- Open to artists worldwide.- Up to 120 works selected for exhibition at The University of Hull Art Gallery.- Win the £5,000 RP Drawing Prize + other awards.Find out more and submit via the link in our bio or go directly to: www.therp.co.ukImage: Joshua Waterhouse RP, 'Jaz' (small)@jo#rpdrawingprize#opencalla#contemporarydrawing##portraitdrawingi#ArtistOpportunityg#revealingthehumany#drawingpeopleH#portraitureg#rpartistsr#royalsocietyofportraitpainterst#drawinga#submitnow #artists #submitnow #artists ... See MoreSee Less

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Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition

Celebrating the best in contemporary portraiture

PEOPLE’S PORTRAIT COLLECTION

Girton College, Cambridge We are delighted to announce the unveiling of RP Antony Williams’ painting ‘Eli James’ as the 63rd work to be added to the People’s Portraits collection…

OUR SPONSORS

Royal Society of Portrait Painters

Girton College, Cambridge

We are delighted to announce the unveiling of RP Antony Williams’ painting ‘Eli James’ as the 63rd work to be added to the People’s Portraits collection…