WILLIAM LOCK PORTRAIT PRIZE 2025 WINNER:
ROGIER WILLEMS
WITH HIS PORTRAIT TITLED ‘ELVAN’
£20,000 for the most timeless portrait with a real feeling for paint and its aesthetic potential!
“I have always kept a certain distance from the art world. I have no representation, I take on few portrait commissions, and I rarely enter competitions. Not out of disdain—far from it—but because, for me, painting is about the act itself: the continual attempt to renew myself, to grow, to push further. Painting is absolute freedom. And I cherish doing it alone.
Fortunately, I also genuinely enjoy teaching. I value it deeply when people find my work compelling enough to ask me to share what I know—to pass on techniques, perspectives, and ways of seeing. It gives me great pleasure, and it allows me to earn my living in the most enjoyable way I can imagine.
It was an utterly unexpected moment when, in 2025, I was awarded the prize for Best Painting at the RSPP for my piece ELVAN. It was a tremendous honour, not least because the William Lock Prize is awarded by fellow painters—artists I admire immensely. Among the members of the RP are some of my greatest heroes. I could not deny how meaningful and profoundly gratifying it felt to receive recognition from the field itself. I still thank them silently, almost every day.
I found the organisation, the exhibition, and the care surrounding it all remarkably warm and professional—. In the aftermath of winning the William Lock Prize, I noticed that the classes I teach in my Amsterdam studio began filling even more quickly than before, and interest in my workshops abroad has grown. The appreciation among colleagues has increased as well, which is a wonderful feeling. I am now working hard on developing online courses that can be followed internationally. I hope to release them next spring.
I do feel a certain pressure—likely self-imposed: I must remain good; I must at least match the level of the painting I created of ELVAN with every new piece I produce. The award has fed my ambition. Though I never sought recognition, this acknowledgement has quietly become a new standard for me. It gives me courage, momentum, and an even greater desire to paint tirelessly.
With my current portraits, I am experimenting with colour and brushwork. Although I aspire to a more direct style and approach, I keep discovering that I am happiest shaping a painting that develops slowly over many weeks, rather than working in a spontaneous, energetic burst. Because people are so complex and layered, I feel compelled to paint them literally in layers. It seems to be what I need in order to arrive at portraits that carry ambiguity and depth.
Alongside new portraits, I am now working on large nudes. I find myself enjoying them enormously, although they challenge me profoundly. I struggle more to “justify” them than I do with portraits, because a face alone can speak so powerfully for itself. If I can create a genuine encounter—a true connection—between viewer and portrait, then my mission is accomplished. I am not yet entirely certain what I seek in these large paintings of naked bodies, except that I feel an irrepressible urge to paint them. I look forward to exhibiting these works, together with the recent portraits, in a beautiful space—perhaps in a year or two.”
-Rogier Willems
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