Prepare to be amazed by the stunning art that stood out this year …
Artist, curator and art educator Daniel Nelis from Co Donegal won the National Gallery of Ireland’s AIB Portrait Prize 2025, judged by artist Gareth Reid, UCD Professor Emily Mark-FitzGerald and Hugh Lane Gallery Director Dr Barbara Dawson.
For an oil on panel titled Late Spring, Daniel received a €15,000 prize and a €5,000 commission to create a new work for the National Portrait Collection. He explains, “This is my wife Andrea, who has been a recurring presence in my work. The painting does not seek to sentimentalise our relationship, but to bear witness through an intimate and intrusive lens, with elements such as the fabrics and heather rendered with the same scrutiny as the figure. Such moments of reflection, experienced in the vivid reality of the present, are of greatest interest in my work.”
John Foley and Conor O’Leary received highly commended prizes of €1,500 for their works Biddy Boy and The Final Portrait.
The AIB Young Portrait Prize judges were artists Neil-Jack Alphonsus Hamilton and Alice Rekab, with Cian O’Brien of COBA. Guorui Sui won the overall category for his work, My Own World of Fantasy. The prize includes high-quality art materials and a €500 cash prize. Guorui said, “This self-portrait captures me in my happy place – surrounded by my favourite toys, away from the real world where not everything goes your way. I’m 11, nearing those “teenage years” everyone talks about. I know the “grown-up” world is coming, with its complexities and worries. So I’m soaking up every last bit of being a kid. Maybe I’m a ‘late bloomer’ or just refusing to leave the era of pure innocence. I’m happy to be its king for a little longer.”
Jill Tritschler (18) won in the category aged 16 to 18 with Minerva, oil on canvas. Each category winner received €250 and a personalised box of art materials.
Guess How Much I Love You, gouache and polychromos colour pencils on canvas by Jiayi Sun (15) was the winner of the category for ages 12 to 15.
In the category aged 7 to 11, Michael Ryan (10) won with In Deep Thought.
Rohan Agrawal (6) won the youngest category of 6 years and under with Me and My Curls, a work in oil pastel and acrylic on canvas.
Need to know: The exhibition features 26 shortlisted works until March 15, moving to the Regional Cultural Centre in Letterkenny from April 4 to July 20, and the Waterford Gallery of Art from July 18 to October 11 2026.
SEE MORE: Artistic License – Corban Walker
