The Darling Portrait Prize is a biennial prize for Australian portrait painting which honours the legacy of L Gordon Darling AC CMG (1921-2015), founding patron of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia.
To enter, visit the National Portrait Gallery’s website.
The Prize seeks the most compelling recent Australian portrait painting. Judges will be looking for works of art that honour and/or push the genre, that offer unexpected insight into well-known people or that acknowledge our shared humanity through works that centre everyday people.
To be eligible, the work must meet the following criteria:
- a painting
- completed on or after 31 January 2022
- depicts a person or persons having a strong association with Australia, or who has made a significant contribution to Australian life
- is based on a live sitting or study from life (including online sittings).
To be eligible, the artist must meet the following criteria at the time the online entry is submitted:
- an Australian citizen or a resident of Australia
- 18 years or over.
It is free to enter the Prize.
The Gallery is committed to supporting artists involved in the Prize. Each selected finalist will receive:
- an artist fee of $1,200
- a copyright and image licensing fee of $1,000
- domestic artwork freight allowance to and from the Gallery
- domestic travel allowance and accommodation in Canberra for the exhibition launch.
In 2024, the winner will receive a prize of $75,000. All finalist artworks will be exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery from 22 June to 13 October 2024.
Entries close on 31 January 2024
