Portrait Competition – Royal Society of Portrait Painters

All artists over the world are invited to submit their portrait paintings for the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in the prestigious Mall Galleries in Central London. There are many reasons to submit your work. Being selected for this prestigious organisation is a mark of distinction. Your portrait painting will be selected by leading portrait painters. This year Royal Society of Portrait Painters sought submissions of new and traditional artistic models and perspectives in portraiture. Artists over 18, from all over the world may submit work for the exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at their Annual Exhibition.

Medium The Society welcomes paintings, drawings and original prints.
Deadline The deadline for submissions via this online portal is 25 January 2021, 12pm noon.

Prize money
William Lock Portrait Prize worth £20,000 for the most timeless portrait with a real feeling for paint and its aesthetic potentialThe Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture – £10,000 plus the Society’s Gold Medal awarded for the most distinguished portrait in the Society’s annual exhibition.
The RP Award – £2,000 will be awarded to the artist whose work best represents the year’s chosen theme – Childhood. The judges will be looking for the most interesting and engaging interpretation of the idea of ‘chilhood’ within the parameters of portraiture.
The RP Prize for the Best Small Portrait – A prize of £2,000 for the best small portrait in the exhibition, measuring not more than 38 x 30.5 cm (15 x 12 inches) framed
The de Laszlo Foundation Award – £3,000 plus a Silver Medal for the most outstanding portrait by an artist aged 35 years or under
The Prince of Wales’s Award for Portrait Drawing – £2,000 and framed certificate for a portrait in any recognised drawing medium
The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award – The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award, established by its co-founders Mark Ayre and William Bortrick in 2015, is presented for Classically Inspired Portraiture in the RP Annual Exhibition. It is presented each year with a certificate and a cheque for £2,000.
The Smallwood Architects Prize – £1,000 for a portrait in which architectural or interior features play an important part.