Moira Cameron has been awarded first prize in the 2025 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award for her contemplative and boldly executed self-portrait, A Life Lived. The large-scale canvas, a reflection on age, endurance and creative resilience, was selected from 46 shortlisted works currently on show at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Cameron, a British painter whose career spans decades and continents, revisits a self-portrait made over 40 years ago to produce a new work that is both profoundly personal and formally striking. Reclining in an armchair, the artist presents herself not in youthful flourish but with the weight of a life richly observed—shoulders slack, eyes heavy with thought. Layers of oil, applied by brush, knife and hand, animate the surface with an arresting combination of precision and abandon. Some sections are worked and reworked; others remain exposed, allowing process and memory to coexist.
The judging panel—chaired by Rosie Wilson, Director of Programmes and Partnerships at the National Portrait Gallery—praised Cameron’s use of colour and pattern, as well as the work’s “energy, vitality and humour”, which sit in deliberate contrast with the inward, meditative pose of the sitter.
Second Prize: Tim Benson for ‘Cliff, Outreach Worker’
Tim Benson, President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, has taken second prize in this year’s Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award for Cliff, Outreach Worker—a forceful and unsentimental portrayal of Clifford Dobbs, whose facial difference, the result of a childhood injury, is rendered with unflinching honesty
The painting forms part of an ongoing body of work in which Benson examines representations of visible difference, positioning his subjects as individuals whose stories challenge long-held ideals of portraiture and beauty. In Cliff, Benson avoids the trappings of pity or idealisation, choosing instead to present Dobbs as he is—direct, grounded, and vividly present.
Due to the sitter’s work commitments, Benson adapted his usual method, relying on rapid sketches and photographic reference rather than a live sitting. The result is no less immediate. Thick, gestural oil is laid down with purpose, each mark serving to construct not only the structure of a face but the impression of character.
The judges cited the work’s physicality and scale as key to its impact. “There’s an urgency here that draws you in,” one remarked. “The portrait doesn’t seek permission—it commands attention.”
Third Prize: Martyn Harris for ‘Memories’
Martyn Harris took third place with Memories, a quietly intense portrayal of a woman lost in thought. Known for his methodical technique, honed during a previous career in engineering and draughtsmanship, Harris captures the fragility of time and age in subtle detail: clasped hands, downcast eyes, and a face etched with experience.
Painted over three sittings, the portrait is both intimate and formally restrained. The judges responded to its emotional depth and technical refinement, particularly the treatment of texture, from the wool of the sitter’s jumper to the soft scattering of greying hair.
Young Artist Award: Michelle Liu for ‘Kofi’
Michelle Liu, an emerging talent originally from the United States, received the Young Artist Award for her portrait Kofi, painted during drop-in sessions at Big Turtle Studio. The sitter, a life model known for his “aloof slouch” and sculptural features, inspired a composition that blends observation with economy.
Liu’s background in IT and fine art merge into a practice grounded in precision and experimentation. Beginning with a monochrome underpainting and working wet-on-wet, she finds a balance between detail and spontaneity. A raised eyebrow, a softly rendered curl, and the suggestion of a necklace emerge from the surface with quiet clarity. Judges highlighted the sophistication of Liu’s restraint, noting the sensitivity with which she navigates both subject and setting.
Portraiture in the Present Tense
Now in its 29th year, the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award remains a vital platform for contemporary portraiture. This year’s selection—curated by a panel that includes Maggi Hambling CBE, Professor Dorothy Price FBA, Peter Brathwaite, Rosie Broadley, and chaired by Rosie Wilson—reveals a preoccupation with lived experience, visibility, and human connection.
“These portraits don’t just depict appearances—they carry stories,” said Wilson. “Together, they offer a compelling reflection of who we are and how we see one another in 2025.”
The exhibition runs through autumn at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Exhibiting Artists
Jose Antonio, Thomas Arthurton, Diego José Aznar Remón, Jo Beer, Tim Benson, Simon Thomas Braiden, Moira Cameron, Camila Carlow, Ant Carver, Comhghall Casey, Steve Caldwell, Yvadney Davis, Lucille Dweck, Archie Franks, Pippa Hale-Lynch, Roxana Halls, Martyn Harris, Nelson Hernandez, Owain Hunt, Zaizhu Huo, Tallulah Hutson, Shinji Ihara, Kevin Kane, Rachit Khandelwal, Richard Kitson, Stella Koureas, Michelle Liu, Cassandra Mahoney, Mick McNicholas, Matthew Midwood, Li Nang, Nguyen Kim Tuyen, Ashley Ogilvy, Jamie Routley, Cesar Santos, Nathalie Scott, Dide, Anca Luiza Sirbu, Emily Stainer, Finlay Trevor, Joshua Waterhouse, Simon Watkins, Sofia Welch, Paul Wright, Xu Yang, Brenda Zlamany
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award, National Gallery, London. The exhibition of the 46 final artworks is open to the public free of charge from July 10 to October 12, 2025.