(l-r) Gareth Reid; Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald; Dr Barbara Dawson.
Enter the AIB Portrait Prize 2025
Looking for the AIB Young Portrait Prize competition? Enter it here.
Deadline: Friday 4 July 2025, 10pm (IST)
The AIB Portrait Prize 2025 is now accepting entries. The annual competition showcases contemporary portraiture and invites submissions from artists working in all media and disciplines, from across the island of Ireland and from Irish artists living abroad. The Prize aims to celebrate and encourage interest in contemporary portraiture, while raising the profile of the evolving National Portrait Collection at the National Gallery of Ireland.
The winner of the competition will receive a cash prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works.
An exhibition featuring a shortlist of portraits chosen by the judging panel will go on display in the Gallery from 8 November 2025 until 15 March 2026.
Applications for the AIB Portrait Prize have now moved online:
Entries will no longer be accepted via email. All applicants must submit their entries using the links to the online entry forms, available in both English and Irish. If you have any questions or need support during the application process, please contact: [email protected]. Please ensure that you have read the rules and FAQs before submitting your entry. You'll find them at the foot of the page.
Deadline:
Please submit your entry using the link to the online entry form on this page before 10pm (IST) 4 July 2025. Best of luck to everyone entering the competition this year!
Judges
Gareth Reid: Born in Belfast in 1974, Gareth Reid now lives and works in Glasgow. In 2023, he was awarded Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Decade for his drawing of Dame Judi Dench. Previously, he won Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2017, painting Graham Norton for the National Gallery of Ireland. In 2019, his portrait of King Charles III was commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces for Hillsborough Castle. His paintings are held in prestigious collections, including the National Trust, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ralph Lauren, The Old Bailey, Dublin City Council, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Historic Royal Palaces, The Royal Collection, and the National Gallery of Ireland.
Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald: Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald (School of Art History and Cultural Policy, University College Dublin) is one of the leading international scholars of Irish art and visual culture, widely published across 19th-21st century topics. Her most recent curated exhibition, Casimir Markievicz: A Polish Artist in Bohemian Dublin (1903-13) is currently on show at Dublin Castle until 14 September 2025.
Dr Barbara Dawson: Dr Barbara Dawson is Director of the Hugh Lane Gallery one of Ireland leading galleries of modern and contemporary art. During her tenure, she has developed the Hugh Lane Gallery into a progressive public cultural institution which, through its dynamic programmes and projects, provides an in-depth engagement and participation with the visual arts. She has curated several exhibitions most recently Andy Warhol Three Times Out 2023 – 2024.
(l-r) Gareth Reid; Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald; Dr Barbara Dawson.
