The Facts
On July 8, 2025, the National Portrait Gallery announced Moira Cameron as winner of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025 for her self-portrait A Life Lived, which carries a £35,000 first prize. Tim Benson won the £12,000 second prize for Cliff, Outreach Worker, and Martyn Harris took third place for Memories; Michelle Liu received the Young Artist Award for her portrait Kofi. The 46 selected portraits are on free display at the London gallery from July 10 to October 12, 2025.
The Signal
Now in its 43rd year, the award is a bellwether for contemporary figurative painting in the UK. The jury, chaired by Rosie Wilson and including artist Maggi Hambling and Courtauld professor Dorothy Price, chose an introspective, boldly painted self-portrait of an older woman over more conventional likenesses. Cameron, trained at Ravensbourne and Chelsea, returns to her own practice after decades collaborating with Pop artist David Spiller and her son Xavier; A Life Lived reworks an image she first painted 40 years ago. The selection signals continued institutional appetite for psychologically charged, painterly portraiture and offers a mid-career British artist a significant platform.
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- Artists: Moira Cameron, Michelle Liu, Tim Benson, Martyn Harris
- People: Maggi Hambling, Dorothy Price, Peter Brathwaite, Rosie Broadley, Rosie Wilson, Clifford Dobbs, David Spiller, Xavier
- Museums: National Portrait Gallery
- Locations: London
- Prices: £35,000, £12,000
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