Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize
Call-out to artists, children and young people across the country for entries
The National Gallery of Ireland today launches the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize competitions. For the Zurich Portrait Prize, the annual 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 is open to young people aged 18 and under.
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. Judges for the Zurich Portrait Prize are: artist Eamonn Doyle; Róisín Kennedy, art critic and Lecturer/Assistant Professor in the School of Art History & Cultural Policy, UCD; and Seán Kissane, Curator at IMMA.
The Zurich Young Portrait Prize returns for its third year in 2021. The inclusive art competition is open to children and young people of all abilities aged up to 18 from across the island of Ireland. Winners in four age categories and an overall winner will be chosen from a shortlist of 20 works. Winners will receive a bespoke art box and a cash prize. This year’s Zurich Young Portrait Prize judges are: visual artist Aideen Barry; artist, art teacher and activist Joe Caslin; and Tadhg Crowley, Senior Curator: Education + Community at the Glucksman.
Sean Rainbird, Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, said, “We were overwhelmed with the tremendous response to last year’s Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize. Following a challenging year for artists and children, we hope to learn more about how art has inspired, provided an escape or brought joy to people across the country in recent times.”
Neil Freshwater, CEO of Zurich, said, “Zurich is proud to have supported these important competitions since 2018. Working with the National Gallery of Ireland to shine a spotlight on talented artists of all ages has been a fantastic experience. We’re looking forward to seeing the shortlists for both the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize later this year.”
The closing date for entries to the Zurich Portrait Prize and Zurich Young Portrait Prize is 23 June 2021. Exhibitions featuring shortlisted works in both competitions run at the National Gallery of Ireland between 13 November 2021 and 3 April 2022. The exhibition will continue to partner Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, where it will be displayed between 23 April and 17 July 2022. Details of both competitions can be found at www.nationalgallery.ie.
Media contact:
Kate O’Leary, Communications National Gallery of Ireland
[email protected] / 087 334 1587
Zurich Portrait Prize:
The Portrait Prize, open to artists aged 19 over, runs for the eighth time in 2021 with Zurich as sponsor for the fourth 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. Find out more about the Zurich Portrait Prize
Zurich Young Portrait Prize:
Following the outstanding success of the Zurich Young Portrait Prize in 2019 and 2020, the competitions runs for the third year in 2021. 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. Find out more about the Zurich Young Portrait Prize
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.
National Gallery at Home:
Whilst the National Gallery of Ireland is closed, there are many ways to engage with the national collection online. ‘National Gallery at Home’ includes videos, Works of the Day, Mindfulness and Art, and at-home activities connected to the national collection. Virtual tours of iconic spaces such as the Shaw Room and the Grand Gallery can also be explored from home. Find out more at www.nationalgallery.ie
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.
