AIB Portrait Prize 2026

14 November 2026 - 14 March 2027

Portrait Gallery | Admission free

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 receives 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 are given to highly commended works. The winners will be announced at an award ceremony here at the Gallery in December 2026, chosen by the members of this year's judging panel

Curated by Dr Brendan Rooney, Head Curator at the National Gallery of Ireland.

Judges:

Brian Fay, artist and Lecturer at TU Dublin.
Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator, Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA)
Joseph McBrinn, Art Historian and Lecturer at Belfast School of Art

Partner venues:

The exhibition will travel to two partner venues in 2027: Galway Arts Centre (3 April - 27 June 2027) and Limerick City Gallery of Art (9 July - 15 August 2027).