Antony Williams announced as winner of the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024
The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award makes a welcome return to the National Portrait Gallery for 2024. The prestigious competition showcases the very best in contemporary portrait painting.
Antony Williams has won first prize for his portrait Jacqueline with Still Life. Second prize was awarded to Isabella Watling for Zizi, and third prize was awarded to Catherine Chambers for Lying.
Rebecca Orcutt wins the Young Artist Award for her self-portrait Before It’s Ruined (or an Unrealized Mean Side).
The winning portraits are now on display as part of the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024, which returns to the National Portrait Gallery with support from new sponsor Herbert Smith Freehills. The exhibition features 50 portraits, selected for display by a panel of judges including the National Portrait Gallery’s former Director, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE; visual artist, Barbara Walker MBE RA; sociologist and bioethicist, Sir Tom Shakespeare; actor and host of the podcast, Talk Art, Russell Tovey; and the Gallery’s Curator for Contemporary Collections, Tanya Bentley.
Antony Williams trained at Farnham College and Portsmouth University. Williams’ work has been publicly exhibited for over 30 years. His prize-winning portrait depicts Jacqueline, a model with whom Williams has worked with for a number of years. The judges were impressed with Williams’ confidence and mastery of the egg tempera medium. They felt the composition was nuanced and surprising.
The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award is one of the most important platforms for portrait painters. The highly competitive Award encourages artists over the age of 18 to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture in their work. Since its inception, the competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people.
Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024: 11 July – 27 October 2024
National Portrait Gallery, St Martin’s Place, London, WC2H 0HE
FREE Entry
Further Information: Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024