From hundreds of entries, 26 artists working across a variety of media made it through to the final stage …
“Watching entries arrive for the AIB Portrait Prize is a highlight of our year, and the shortlist this year demonstrates an incredible breadth of Irish artistic talent,” says National Gallery of Ireland Director Dr Caroline Campbell.
The shortlist includes paintings, video, pastel, mixed media and photography by artists from across the country. The winner of the AIB Portrait Prize will receive a prize of €15,000 and will be commissioned to create a work for the National Portrait Collection, for which they will be awarded a further €5,000. Two additional awards of €1,500 will be given to highly commended works. Judges for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026 are Dr Brian Fay, artist and lecturer at TU Dublin; Christina Kennedy, Senior Curator, Head of Collections at the Irish Museum of Modern Art; and Dr Joseph McBrinn, art historian and lecturer at Belfast School of Art. The exhibition of the shortlisted portraits will be on display in the Portrait Gallery (Room 23) from November 14 and the winners announced on December 2. Next year, the exhibitions will travel to Galway Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art.
Shortlisted Artists
Aideen Barry (Silvermines, Co. Tipperary), The Creator of Birds, After Varo, 2025, photograph.
Beverley Healy (Belfast, Co. Antrim), The Known and the Unknown (Elsa and Carlton), egg tempera and pencil on panel.
Breda Kenny (Kildangan, Monasterevin, Co. Kildare), Making a Splash, pastel on board.
David Goldberg (Co. Dublin), Listening, oil on canvas on board.
David Killeen (Raheny, Co. Dublin), Cricky Sea, Sandycove, December 2025, photograph.
Domnick Sorace (Co. Dublin), Self-Extended, artist’s blood, distilled water, hollow glass spheres and resin.
Elaine Adams (Kilmainham, Co. Dublin), Candid, photograph.
Emma Coady (Rush, Co. Dublin), There’s an Artist in My Kitchen, oil on canvas.
Enda Burke (Galway City), Dad and Elvis, photograph.
Evan Dow (Co. Dublin), Marie Mullen, oil on steel.
Gary Sheridan (Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan), Moments in Between: The Story of My Life, video.
Ivy Borden (Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare), Oikos Logia (I), tapestry woven on cotton with hand-spun wool, dyed with nettle, dock leaf and madder root and photograph.
Joe Caslin (Roscommon), Seen, pencil and digital drawing on paper.
Jonathan Dickson (Celbridge, Co. Kildare), Theo (Almost) Hiding Behind a Tree in Phoenix Park, oil on canvas.
Kathy Tynan (Co. Dublin), Sunday Morning, oil on canvas.
Marcel Vidal (Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny), Allergy, oil on linen.
Mark Fisher (Stradbally, Co. Laois), Belly Boy, acrylic on canvas.
Mary Woods (Rathmore, Co. Kerry), Generation Game, acrylic on canvas.
Merve Sagit (Walkinstown, Co. Dublin), Ritual Study I, photograph.
Michelle Boyle (Virginia, Co. Cavan), Edith’s Night Out, a Pint and a Half One, acrylic on hardboard.
Rowan Williams Huber (West Cork), Rico, photograph.
Rebecca Kehoe (Moy, Co. Tyrone), D A M O C L E S.
