BP Portrait Prize
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The BP Portrait Prize is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England.
British Petroleum took over sponsorship of the competition in 1989 from John Player & Sons, a tobacco company, and has sponsored it since.
The exhibition opens in June each year and runs until September. First prize is typically £25,000. In the early years of the century, the prize went up from £5,000, and its catchment area was gradually extended from residents of the UK and is now unrestricted. It is regarded as the best showcase of young figurative painting in Britain, and many winners have gone on to become highly collectible. In spite of its traditional and non-headline-grabbing qualities, it has been highly popular with the general public, though in recent years there has been some controversy over the choice of winners.
[edit] Past winners
- Andrew Tift 2006
- Dean Marsh 2005
- Stephen Shankland 2004
- Charlotte Harris 2003
- Stuart Pearson Wright 2001
- Victoria Russell 2000
- Clive Smith 1999
- Thomas Watson 1998
- James Lloyd 1997
- James Hague 1996
- Ishbel Myerscough 1995
- Peter Edwards 1994
- Philip Harris 1993 [1]
- Lucy Willis 1992
- Justin Mortimer 1991
- Annabel Cullen 1990
- Tai-Shan Schierenberg 1989 [2]
- Alison Watt 1987
