The Portrait Competition

Though portraits account for some of the world’s most legendary artwork (hello, Mona Lisa), the United States has never held a national portrait competition. Until now.

In celebration of its July 1 grand reopening, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. has inaugurated the first-ever American portrait challenge, and asked artists and sculptors throughout the U.S. to show us what they’ve got.

View the results on this richly designed site, which comes complete with statements from exhibition finalists, online journals from 13 of the artists, and an interactive drawing and coloring tool for the painter within.

If you only have a moment, don’t miss the first-prize winner, “Sam and the Perfect World” by David Lenz. It’s a portrait of the artist’s son Sam, who has Down Syndrome. In his accompanying statement, Lenz muses over this image of his young boy, and what it means to be “perfect” in society today.

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