National Gallery of Ireland announces return of popular art competitions: Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2022

Logos of the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize

The National Gallery of Ireland today launches the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize competitions. For the Zurich Portrait Prize, the competition showcasing contemporary portraiture, the Gallery invites submissions from across the island of Ireland, and from Irish artists living abroad. The Zurich Young Portrait Prize, now in its fourth year, is open to young people aged 18 and under. For the first time, the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize exhibitions will also travel to Regional Cultural Centre, Letterkenny.
  
The Zurich Portrait Prize aims to encourage interest in contemporary portraiture and to showcase the 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. 

The Zurich Young Portrait Prize, which aims to foster and support creativity, originality and self-expression in children and young people returns for its fourth year in 2022. The competition is split into four age categories and is open to young people of all abilities aged up to 18 from across the country. Winners in each age category and an overall winner will be chosen from a shortlist of 20 works. Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. 

Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said, “The Zurich Portrait Prize and the Zurich Young Portrait Prize at the National Gallery of Ireland continue to go from strength to strength. Our aim is to encourage an interest in contemporary portraiture and we’re thrilled to have Zurich partnering with us once again as we do so. This year, we look forwarding to learning about how artists and young people have been inspired in recent times as we welcome submissions from all age groups, from artists here in Ireland and Irish artists abroad.”

Neil Freshwater, CEO of Zurich, said, “Since 2018 Zurich has held the honour of supporting these competitions, which showcase talented Irish artists of all ages both at home from the island of Ireland and from Irish artists based abroad. We look forward each year to seeing that creativity and energy housed amongst the greatest artists in the National Gallery.”

The closing date for entries to the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize is 22 June 2022. Exhibitions featuring shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland between 26 November 2022 and 2 April 2023. 

The exhibitions will then travel to Donegal where they will run at Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny from 3 June 2023 to 2 September 2023. This is the first time that the competition exhibitions will be on display in Ulster.

Highly commended artists and an overall winner for the Zurich Portrait Prize, as well as category winners and an overall winner for the Zurich Young Portrait Prize, will be announced in early December 2022, after the exhibitions have opened at the Gallery.
Find out more at www.nationalgallery.ie.

Notes for the Editor:

Media contact:

Ciara Mooney, Communications, National Gallery of Ireland, E: [email protected] 

Zurich Portrait Prize:

The Zurich Portrait Prize, open to artists aged 19 and over, runs for the ninth time in 2022 with Zurich as sponsor for the fifth year. The aim of the Zurich Portrait Prize is to showcase and encourage interest in contemporary portraiture, support Irish talent and to raise the profile of the long-standing and constantly evolving National Portrait Collection at the National Gallery of Ireland. 

Zurich Young Portrait Prize:

Following the outstanding success of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the competition runs for a fourth year in 2022. This inclusive art competition is open to children and young people of all abilities, up to the age of 18, from across the island of Ireland. 

National Gallery of Ireland:

The National Gallery of Ireland is one of the country’s most popular visitor attractions housing the nation’s collection of European and Irish art from about 1300 to the present day, and an extensive Library & Archive. Entry to the collection is free for all to enjoy, learn and be inspired.

Zurich:

Ireland is Zurich’s location of choice for its pan-European company Zurich Insurance plc (ZIP). Since the beginning of 2009, ZIP has been headquartered in Dublin and it is the main risk carrier for Zurich’s general insurance business in the EU. Neil Freshwater is the CEO of Zurich Insurance plc. In terms of domestic business, Zurich focuses on two key business areas in Ireland – General Insurance and Life. In Ireland, Zurich employs over 1,250 people.