Zurich Portrait Prize 2023

2 December 2023 - 10 March 2024
Room 23 | Admission free

The annual competition showcasing contemporary portraiture is open to artists from across the island of Ireland, and Irish artists living abroad. 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.

This exhibition will feature the shortlist of portraits chosen by the 2023 judging panel: Dorothy Cross RHA, artist, Dr Nicholas Cullinan, Director, National Portrait Gallery, London, and Anne Stewart, Senior Curator of Art, National Museums Northern Ireland.

An exhibition sponsored by Zurich Insurance plc, organised by the National Gallery of Ireland.

Shortlist announced

We are delighted to reveal the shortlist for this year's Zurich Portrait Prize. 25 artists, working across a variety of media, have made it through to the final stage of the competition.

Shortlisted artists for the Zurich Portrait Prize 2023 at the National Gallery of Ireland are:

• Gerry Blake (Wicklow), Courtney, living on a bus, 2021, photograph
• Jana Bulochova (Dublin), Infinite Self, 2021, photograph
• Leo Byrne (Dublin), Sheik Mikailu Bah, 2022, photograph
• Comhghall Casey (Tyrone/Dublin), Self Portrait, 2020, oil on board
• Ana Colomer (Clare), (sea)Urchin, 2023, acrylic on tondo canvas
• Shane Coughlan (Dublin), Patrick, back from the shops, 2023, photograph
• Jonathan Daczkowski (Dublin), Chloe McCarthy, 2023, photograph
• Aisling Dunne (Dublin), Before and After, 2023, photograph
• Kit French (Cork), Self - Portrait - Light Through the Window, 2022, oil on canvas
• Ellius Grace (Dublin), Sinéad O'Connor in Her Garden, 2021, photograph
• Vanessa Jones (Dublin), Wall (self-portrait), 2022, oil on linen
• Lynn Kennedy (Dublin), Orpen Minded, 2023, oil on canvas
• Marie Le Men (Dublin), Sean Hillen, 2023, watercolour on paper
• Sarah Liddane (Kerry), Waiting for inspiration, 2023, graphite and charcoal on paper
• Paul MacCormaic (Dublin), Annie Murphy, former lover of Bishop Eamonn Casey, Mother of Peter Casey, at her home in California, 2023, acrylic and oil on canvas
• Ryan O’Sullivan (Cork), Life’s a Drag, 2023, photograph
• Mantas Poderys (Donegal), Shota, 2021, pastel on cotton paper
• Sorcha Frances Ryder (Dublin), Wide Awake, 2023, photograph
• David Sexton (Dublin), Jyellowl, 2021, photograph
• Darragh Shanahan (Dublin), Lara, 2022, pinhole photograph
• Marie Smith (Cavan), Armand, 2023, fired clay on wooden stand
• David Stephenson (Wicklow), Ann and Ollie, Main Street, Wexford, 2023, photograph
• Bob Tait (Dublin), Jim, 2023, photograph
• Lee Welch (Dublin), Jerry Saltz as Michelangelo "David", 2023, acrylic on polyester
• Adrian Wojtas (Meath/Dublin), Manou, 2023, photograph