BP Portrait Award film
Watch the film to hear more from the artists and their subjects
More than five million people have enjoyed the world’s most renowned portrait exhibition, free of charge, since BP began its support. Even on a traditionally quiet afternoon for art galleries, the exhibition is bustling. It’s one of the gallery’s most popular exhibitions.
“Just being selected for the exhibition can be a gamechanger for an artist’s career and winning is transformative,” said 2018 winner Miriam Escofet, recently back from exhibiting her work in Japan.
Escofet, who entered the competition four times before winning with An Angel at My Table, is one of many painters who say that artists, portraiture and the public have all benefited from the past three decades of BP’s support.
Daphne Todd, OBE
The competition has also helped to revive an important art tradition. It is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world. With a first prize of £35,000 for the winner, and a total prize fund of £74,000, the award is aimed at encouraging portraiture.
In fact, many credit the competition for sustaining the genre in the years when it fell out of favour as conceptual artists such as Damien Hirst dominated the scene and some art colleges abandoned courses in portrait painting.
“The Award has made portraiture sexy again, encouraging curators to put on shows and giving portrait painters a new lease of life,” said Daphne Todd, a 2010 BP Portrait Award winner, who works in a converted barn on her East Sussex farm.
The popularity of the exhibition is evidence of the wider appeal and more accessible nature of portraiture to the general public than other genres, said Clara Drummond, a 2016 winner with a portrait of her friend, Kirsty.
“Because portraiture is a picture of the human face, it’s something we can all relate to. It isn’t mysterious and incomprehensible in the way that some contemporary art might be,” Drummond said.
Miriam Escofet
Portraiture in Britain has its roots in the 16th century Protestant Reformation, when artists lost commissions to decorate churches. To survive, many found work painting the wealthy owners of the country’s stately homes.
The opportunities in British portraiture were so great they attracted some of the world’s most distinguished painters, such as Hans Holbein and Anthony Van Dyck. Both artists became leading court painters under the patronage of English kings.
“In a way, the big companies have taken over and become the patrons of today, and the competitions they sponsor are the most equitable and fair way of allowing artists from any background to get a platform,” Todd said.
Clara Drummond
The Portrait Award also provides a platform for work that could otherwise go unseen by the public and unrecognized in the art world. And, being chosen for the exhibition can help to open doors to commissions and other opportunities.
“It’s so difficult for artists to survive in the early years,” said Andrew Tift, who entered 12 times before scooping first place in 2006 for Kitty, a triptych of Lucian Freud’s first wife, Kitty Garman. “It comes down to blind faith and an ability to jump the hurdles,” he said.
Many artists struggle to find enough time to paint as they often need to teach or take up other jobs just to earn a living. Winning gave Tift the breathing space he needed to devote himself to his work, he said.
Andrew Tift
When announcing the 2019 winners, BP CEO Bob Dudley said the organization believes it has a responsibility to support and invest in the communities in which it works.
BP’s backing of the Portrait Award helps artists to pursue their passion and enables millions of people to enjoy that work, he said. Of the people who oppose BP’s support, he said:
“We respect different opinions and welcome discussion, even debate, about our involvement. But, let’s also remember there are many different points of view.”
Artists and critics have spoken publicly for BP’s involvement in the arts. The Times’ Richard Morrison said: “BP has been Britain’s biggest and most loyal arts sponsor for 30 years, during which time 50 million people have enjoyed events it has backed.”