National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery's annual BP Portrait Award is the world's most prestigious competition of its kind, promoting the very best in contemporary portrait painting

Sandy Nairne, director of the National Portrait Gallery: "BP's ongoing and invaluable commitment to portrait painting through the BP Portrait Award is an outstanding example of how corporate support can make a major and positive impact on the country's art scene."

The BP Portrait Award

This unique Award, which we have supported for 20 years, has become a key event in the arts calendar. Open to everyone over 18, it encourages artists to develop portraiture within their work. The competition is judged from original paintings and is followed by an exhibition of selected entries.

As well as the £25,000 first prize and other prizes, the competition includes a commission for the winning artist to paint a portrait of a notable public figure which is then displayed at the National Portrait Gallery. Previous commissions have included Harold Pinter, JK Rowling, Camila Batmanghelidjh, Dame Vivien Duffield and Dame Cicely Saunders.

We are extremely proud that the BP Portrait Award is one of the National Portrait Gallery's most popular exhibitions with over 242,000 people visiting it each year in London and on tour around the UK.

The BP Portrait Award 2009 book

A paperback book, which includes 60 colour illustrations, accompanies the exhibition priced at £8.50. It features an introductory essay by Sarah Dunant, the best selling author of The Birth of Venus.

Family Trail

A family trail and labels featuring specially created illustrations by the award-winning children's book author and BP Portrait Award 2008 exhibitor, Oliver Jeffers, will lead families through a range of fun activities. The trail and labels encourage family members to take a closer look at key works and find out about recurring themes in the exhibition such as hats and headgear, interiors and expressions.