The National Portrait Gallery’s celebrated painting competition returns for its 43rd year, with a striking self-portrait by artist Moira Cameron named as winner.
The winning portraits are now on display as part of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025. The exhibition features 46 portraits, selected for display by a panel of judges including visual artist, Maggi Hambling CBE; art historian and academic at The Courtauld Institute of Art, Professor Dorothy Price FBA; opera singer, artist and writer, Peter Brathwaite; Joint-Head of Curatorial and Senior Curator of 20th Century Collections at the National Portrait Gallery, Rosie Broadley; and, the panel chair, the Gallery’s Director of Programmes and Partnerships, Rosie Wilson.
Moira Cameron is a British artist who trained at Ravensbourne College of Art and Chelsea College of Art. Her work has been exhibited around the world, including in London, Japan, New York and Switzerland. Born into a family of artists, her artistic calling was never in question. After decades of artistic collaboration, first with her husband, Pop artist David Spiller, then with her son, Xavier, Cameron has returned to her own practice. As part of this newfound independence, she is reimagining paintings she created as a student.
A Life Lived is an evolution of a self-portrait Cameron painted 40 years ago. This large-scale work of the artist reclining in a comfortable armchair shows an older woman who has lived, observed and felt deeply. Her posture conveys quiet fatigue, with shoulders slightly slumped and head tilted in reflection. The lines on her face and the subtle shadows tell a story of time passing and of a life fully experienced. Rather than capturing a single moment in time, the portrait holds a lifetime within it.
Cameron began the new portrait by sketching the image with pastels and spray paints before applying thick layers of oil paint – brushed, palette-knifed, or smeared by hand – followed by more fluid oils. Some areas are scraped, washed away, and repainted, while others are intentionally left bare.
This portrait grabbed the judges’ attention with its bold, non-naturalistic treatment of the figure combined with vivid colour and use of pattern. The technique has an energy, vitality and humour that contrasts with the introspective pose and expression of the subject, creating a compelling tension.
Read the National Portrait Gallery Information here.
