The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is delighted to announce a new £2,000 prize for portraiture, The RP Award.

All works shown in the Annual Exhibition will be eligible. The award will be made to the artist whose work best represents the year's chosen theme - which for the inaugural year, 2018, is ‘Friends’. The judges will be looking for the most interesting and engaging interpretation of the idea of ‘Friends’ within the parameters of portraiture. The Society looks forward to receiving new and surprising explorations on the theme.

Artists are invited to submit works for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at their Annual Exhibition 2018.

Deadline: Friday 19 January 2018, 12 noon

There are many prizes and awards available to win, including:

• The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture: £10,000 plus the Society’s Gold Medal awarded for the most distinguished portrait in the Society’s annual exhibition
• The de Laszlo Foundation Award: £3,000 plus a Silver Medal for the most outstanding portrait by an artist aged 35 years or under
• The Prince of Wales's Award for Portrait Drawing: £2,000 and framed certificate for a portrait in any recognised drawing medium
• The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award: £2,000 and framed certificate for the most classically inspired portrait in the exhibition
• The Smallwood Architects Prize: £1,000 for a portrait in which architectural or interior features play an important part

Foe more details, and to enter, please visit the website, therp.co.uk/exhibit-with-us