53 works in this year’s show

A prize-winning painting by Edinburgh-born artist Clara Drummond is this year’s winner of the BP Portrait Award and features in a new exhibition at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

Clara’s entry Girl in a Liberty Dress won her the £30,000 top prize which she intends to invest to help others in the art world.

The painting is of her friend and fellow artist Kirsty Buchanan and is among 53 works from 2,557 entries to this year’s competition.

At the time of Kirsty sat she was wearing a vintage Liberty dress, inspired by the fact that both artists were working on an exhibition with the William Morris Archive.

The judges, who included artist Jenny Saville and writer Alan Hollinghurst, were impressed by the portrait’s execution and its “subtle and enigmatic qualities”.

Ms Drummond, who now lives in Cambridgeshire, also receives a commission at the National Portrait Gallery Trustees’ discretion worth £5,000.

The award is in its 37th year and 27th sponsored by BP.  The £30,000 first prize is one of the largest for any art competition in the world.

The exhibition runs until 26 March and admission is free