Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025

Excellent iteration of this annual exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery showcasing the shortlisted paintings in the competition for contemporary portraits.

This year included a number of works which referenced art history as well as a number of hyper-realistic pieces which I loved. These included Simon Thomas Braiden's beautiful portrait of impresario, Philip Sallon in a wonderful turquoise outfit.

I always find themes emerge and this year it seemed to be age and in particular dementia such as Paul Wright's large painting of his mother in a room of objects reflecting her life in bright colours. As ever there were also some great self-portraits such as Comhghall Casey's close up.

My favourite this year, and I admit I am quite shallow, was Jose Antonio Martinez Santos's portrait of a fireman sitting on the running board of his engine. It dominated the room with its detail and direct gaze. A close second was Dide's "Portrait of a Sculptor" showing the sitter on an art chair surrounded by pattern.

I wasn't convinced by the winner, Moira Cameron's self-portrait, which was the most expressive work in the show. It was huge and oddly seemed to work better in my photograph of it than it did in real life. Interestingly I spotted Maggi Hambling was one of the judges and it did have a slight look of her work.

Closes 12 October 2025


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