Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2019

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery invites artists to submit one portrait in any media for consideration in the fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. This year, the focus is on broadening the definition of portraiture and highlighting the genre's relevance in contemporary art. Artworks may originate from direct encounters between the artist and the sitter, but they may also be representative of indirect encounters. Judges will consider portraits that employ existing imagery or archival research as a means of responding to history. Artists are encouraged to think about portraiture's potential to engage with the social and political landscape of our time.

The 2019 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is open to artists who are at least 18 years old (by September 3, 2018) and who are living and working in the United States or its territories. Each artist may enter one work. The competition welcomes all media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, printmaking, textiles, video, performance, and digital or time-based media. Works must be new; any works completed before January 1, 2016, will be disqualified. Entry fee is $50.00.

All finalists' works will form a major exhibition at the Portrait Gallery from November 2019 through September 2020, with plans for a subsequent national tour. The competition is named for Virginia Outwin Boochever (1920–2005), a former Portrait Gallery volunteer whose generous gift endowed the program. Two-dimensional works should be framed and measure no more than 7 feet x 7 feet x 8 inches (including frame), nor weigh more than 150 pounds. Sculptures should not exceed 7 feet (height) x 7 feet x 4 feet in size, nor weigh more than 150 pounds. Analog and digital time-based media will be accepted.