BP Portrait Award 2017 comes to Exeter

Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery will be the first venue outside London to host the BP Portrait Award 2017 exhibition.

Following its initial showing at the National Portrait Gallery, London, from 22 June to 24 September, the exhibition will be at RAMM from 4 October to 3 December followed by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and then Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.

The three shortlisted artists were announced last week and all prize winners will be announced at an award ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery, London, on Tuesday 20 June 2017.

Thomas Ehretsmann, Benjamin Sullivan and Antony Williams have been nominated for the £30,000 first prize. The three portraits were chosen from 2,580 submissions from 87 different countries. Selected from thousands of entries by artists from around the world, the BP Portrait Award 2017 will represent the very best in contemporary portrait painting.

Camilla Hampshire, Museums Manager & Cultural Lead, Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM), is a member of the BP Portrait Award 2017 judging panel.

The BP Portrait Award, organised by the National Portrait Gallery, London, is the most prestigious international portrait painting competition of its kind and has launched the careers of many renowned artists. With a total prize fund of £61,000, the Award is aimed at encouraging artists to focus upon and develop portraiture in their work. From parents to poseurs, figurative nudes to famous faces and expressive sketches to piercing photo-realism, the variety and vitality in the exhibition continues to make it an unmissable highlight of the annual art calendar.

Many artists who have had their work exhibited have gained commissions as a result of the considerable interest in the award. Recent commissions include Dame Sally Davies by Daphne Todd (BP Portrait Award 2010 winner).

Pictured are the shortlisted portraits (left to right):