Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum

Tuesday 22 July – Sunday 7 September 2025

The winner of the 8th edition of the prestigious Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize will be announced at the opening of the shortlist exhibition at Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum on 22July.

There are 41 shortlisted works and 38 of these will be displayed from 22 July until 7 September, incorporating painting, drawing, photography, collage, embroidery, sculpture and digital media, featuring artists hailing from across the world, including Germany, India, the US, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Nigeria, China, Spain, Iran and the UK.  

The biennial prize – managed by the Ruth Borchard Collection and Piano Nobile Gallery – is the only UK art competition to focus exclusively on self-portraiture.

Will Hargreaves, Self After Self, 2025 – willhargreaves

Entrants to the prize are asked to submit original and innovative self-portraits that explore personal identity, expression, and the human experience. The only requirement is that the artist depicts themselves, allowing for a broad mix of works that are either figurative, abstract, from life or from memory, which together offer a perfect human snapshot of the portraiture being created today.

The shortlist represents artistic excellence in contemporary art and offers a chance for audiences to engage with some of the most innovative artists working today, both established names, rising stars and fresh faces.

Gail Reid – The Raft Of The Medusa – 2025 – Gail Reid

The works will be hung throughout the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, creating a conversation between the contemporary self-portraits and the historical collection. Furthermore, a virtual exhibition will also include the longlisted works, as visitors will be able to see the full breadth of over 270 incredible works that were entered.

SakurakoKuroda_Ihavetobethere_Utamakura_2024 – くろださくらこ

The shortlisted works have been chosen by an eminent panel of judges, who will also decide the winner, including presenter and comedian Alan Carr, Director of the Paul Mellon Centre Dr Sarah Turner, Executive Vice President & President of Hilton Europe, Middle East & Africa Simon Vincent CBE, TV executive and cultural leader Sir Peter Bazalgette, last edition’s prize winner Colin Davidson, and member of the Borchard family Alex Brenden.

Claire Luxton, The Poets wife, 2024 © Claire Luxton

Some of the shortlisted works that visitors will be able to see include East Sussex-based Claire Luxton (b.1991) with a floral headpiece photograph, Londoner Liorah Tchiprout (b.1992) portrayed with her whippet in her Jewish culture-influenced figurative style, German-born performance artist and photographer Henri T (b.1987) with a black and white photograph as a trans person, Rafaela de Ascanio (b.1986), born in the Canary Islands and now London-based, with a signature defiant female protagonist pose, and critically-acclaimed Hampshire-based sculptor Sean Henry (b.1965) depicting himself waiting against a metal bar.

Sean Henry, Untitled (Man Waiting), 2023 © Sean Henry

The other shortlisted artists are: Emma Kathleen Hepburn Ferrer, Gail Reid, Gracie House, Hannah Finer-Vernier, Iness Rychlik, James Wild, Jane Dienemann, Joanna Cohn, John Wonnacott, Lewis Hazelwood Horner, Lisa Stokes, Maayan Sophia Weisstub, Manasa Priya Dhulipalla, Olana Light, Oluwatobi Adewumi, Peter Armstrong, Rajesh Naidu, Richard Foster, Rosie Woodruff, Sakurako Kuroda, Scott Purdin, Sofia Lipskerova, Susanne Du Toit, Will Hargreaves, Bianca Raffaella, Mark Bell, Harriet Selka, Desiree Sydow, Wang Xin Yongxi, Anthony Connolly, Cecilia Arundel, Alexandra Telgmann, Aki Kano, Hanieh Yavari, Emma Hopkins, Dr Gindi.

Rafaela de Ascanio, Autoretrrato, 2025 © Rafaela de Ascanio

The winning artist will receive £10,000 in prize money and their work will go on tour to Southampton City Art Gallery as part of the gallery’s re-opening. Previous winners include the inaugural recipient Celia Paul (b.1959), and those on the shortlist now join artists such as Maggi Hambling (b.1945), Tracey Emin (b.1963) and Jonathan Yeo (b.1970).

Alexandra Telgmann

Sarah Newman, Museum Manager at Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum says: “We are thrilled to be working alongside Piano Nobile to host the exhibition of shortlisted works from the 2025 Self Portrait Prize. This vibrant showcase brings contemporary self-portraiture into the heart of the Russell-Cotes, a house steeped in history, creating enriching cultural juxtaposition. It is a true pleasure to collaborate with such a prestigious award, and to share these powerful, personal works with our visitors here in Bournemouth.”

Dr Robert Travers, Executive Chairman of Piano Nobile, says: “This year marks the 8th edition of the Self Portrait Prize, which has become established as the leading international prize dedicated to self-portraiture. Acquisitions every year has led to the Ruth Borchard Collection consisting of over 250 works, including by those artists already established who we all know and love, to those who are young and emerging and have gone on to become internationally recognised. 

“A revised and updated edition of Face to Face—the definitive publication dedicated to self-portraiture and about the collection—will be published by Thames & Hudson in 2026 and will include many artworks which entered the collection via the prize.

“We are delighted to be collaborating this year with Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum and look forward to a very special exhibition where we are able to explore contemporary self-portraiture in such a rich historical context.”