BP Portrait Award

The BP Portrait Award is an annual portraiture competition held at the National Portrait Gallery in London, England. It is the successor to the John Player Portrait Award. British Petroleum took over sponsorship of the competition in 1989 from John Player & Sons, a tobacco company, and has sponsored it since. The presence of both sponsors has triggered protests, with the group Art Not Oil (part of the international Rising Tide network) being responsible for most of those against BP. The exhibition opens in June each year and runs until September. First prize is typically £25,000. In the early years of the century, the prize went up from £5,000, and its catchment area was gradually extended from residents of the UK and is now...