Chance to exhibit at National Gallery

The National Gallery of Ireland has announced that the new sponsor for its Portrait Prize and Young Portrait Prize competitions and exhibitions is AIB. AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize competitions are now open for entries from people of all ages. The AIB Portrait Prize showcases contemporary portraiture and invites submissions from artists working in all media across the island of Ireland, and from Irish artists living abroad. The AIB Young Portrait Prize is open to young people aged 18 and under.

In the AIB Portrait Prize, the winning artist receives a prize of €15,000 and a commission worth €5,000 to produce a new work for inclusion in the national portrait collection. Two additional prizes of €1,500 are awarded to highly commended works. Hundreds of artworks by artists of all disciplines are considered by an expert judging panel, to be announced in the coming months.

The competition plays a vital role in celebrating a range of different practices and interpretations of portraiture.

The AIB Young Portrait Prize - which aims to foster and support creativity, originality and self-expression in children and young people - has four age categories. Winners in each age category and an overall winner are chosen from a shortlist of 20 works. Winners receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize.

The closing date for entries for both the AIB Portrait Prize and the AIB Young Portrait Prize is Friday, June 21. The exhibitions will run in the National Gallery of Ireland’s Portrait Gallery from November 9, to March 9, 2025.

The highly commended artists, category winners and overall winners of the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize will be announced in November, after the exhibitions have opened to the public at the gallery.