The call for entries for the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 is now open.

The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award celebrates the very best in contemporary portraiture and is one of the most important platforms for portrait painters today. The artworks explore the variety of approaches to portraiture, from the classic to the contemporary, and encourage viewers to reflect on the creativity of the artists’ processes.

Enter now for the chance to have your work on display in the National Portrait Gallery and win the top prize of £35,000. The second prize winner receives £12,000 and a third prize of £10,000 is also awarded. The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award will also include a Young Artist Award, which will see a prize of £9,000 awarded to a selected entrant, aged between 18 and 30, profiling their talent and supporting career development.

All artists chosen to exhibit in 2026 and 2027’s Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for the bi-annual Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Artist Commission, which has a value of £14,000. This will be announced in 2027.

The Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026 competition is open to all artists from around the world. Artists must be aged 18 years or over as of 1 January 2025.

Submission is limited to one entry per artist. The work must have been completed within the last two years; after 1 January 2024.

Since its inception, the long-standing competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and has been seen by over 6 million people. The highly competitive Award encourages artists over the age of 18 to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture in their work. Using an impressive range and complexity of skill, artists explore both classical and innovative techniques that show the enduring relevance of portraiture today