• Portrait Award ~ Entries now closed

Rules & Regulations

2025 PORTRAIT AWARD COMPETITION

Rules & Regulations

This competition will be judged over two rounds. The first-round entries are to be submitted digitally on the Rust-en-Vrede website. For the second round artists will be invited to send their selected work to Rust-en-Vrede Gallery.

  1. The competition is open to all entrants who are permanently resident in South Africa and 18 years of age or older on 1 January 2025. Those not eligible for entry are employees of the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, the sponsors, the judges adjudicating the 2025 award, any of their immediate family and the winner of the 2023 Portrait Award.
  2. Entries should be submitted online through the Online Entry Form from 09:00 on 5 June 2025 to 17:00 on 14 June 2025.
  3. The portrait that you enter should be of a person (or persons) whom you know and whose consent has been expressly granted for their likeness to be used and/or depicted graphically. Working from photographs is permitted provided these were taken by yourself with the full and express consent of the person photographed, or their legal guardian.
  4. Multiple entries are allowed. One entry per artwork.
  5. The work must be a two-dimensional portrait and comply with the stated size requirements. Self- and group portraits are permitted. No sculptures, photographs and works created using software, AI or other digital means are allowed.
  6. A work submitted for the competition must have been created by the entrant, i.e. it must be his or her original work. All works remain the property of the entrant for the duration of the competition and exhibition, unless a work is sold at the exhibition.
  7. All entries are to be for sale at a market-related price and Rust-en-Vrede Gallery will act as the appointed agent. The entrant must provide a selling price for each work. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery will deduct a 35% commission on all sales. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery is not VAT registered and therefore VAT is not charged. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery’s appointment will automatically terminate when the work has been returned to the entrant, or sold.
  8. Size & Mass Limitations:
    Minimum size: 20cm width x 25cm height (unframed). Works smaller than this will be disqualified.
    Maximum size: 120cm width x 200cm height (framed). Works larger than this will be disqualified.
    No work or frame may exceed 10cm in depth.
    Weight restriction: No work may exceed 20kg in weight.  

  9. No multiple-part works (i.e. diptychs or triptychs) will be accepted.
  10. THE ENTRANT MAY NOT SIGN OR WRITE HIS OR HER NAME ANYWHERE ON THE WORK, INCLUDING THE BACK. All works will be judged anonymously and any work that is signed or contains any marking identifying the entrant may be disqualified. All selected works may be signed after the Portrait Award winner has been announced.
  11. Work previously submitted for a competition or exhibited in the public domain, including but not limited to, electronic media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or on a website, may not be entered into this competition.
  12. A copy of a document confirming your identity and age (ID, driver’s license, passport) and a copy of proof of payment should be uploaded on your Digital Entry Form.
  13. During the FIRST ROUND, the digital images will be viewed by a panel of judges. They will select up to 500 works (or less) from the digital entries. These artists will be notified by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery via telephone, email or WhatsApp by the 5th of July.
  14. The decision of the judges is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Entrants should be aware that all artworks are judged on an equal and anonymous basis.
  15. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery reserves the right to disqualify any artwork if the artist has not complied with the above rules as stipulated, even if the work was selected for exhibition.
(ONLY APPLICABLE TO SELECTED AND NOTIFIED ARTISTS)
  1. If your work has been selected during the First Round, you will need to organize the delivery of your artwork to arrive at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery by no later than 15:00 on Saturday 12 July 2025. You have the following options:

OPTION A:

Hand-deliver to the gallery in person or send your work with a courier of your choice.

  • Works must be delivered UNWRAPPED, with the Personal Information Sheet (Download here) firmly attached to the back of the artwork, to Rust-en-Vrede Gallery, 10 Wellington Road, Durbanville (tel 068 457 8589) between: Saturday 5 July to Saturday 12 July 2025 from 9:30 to 16:00
  • If works are sent by a courier or a third party, please arrange with them to remove the packaging and to present the work unwrapped, as packaging cannot be retained.
  • Entrants will have to adhere to the above dates and times when delivering to Rust-en-Vrede Gallery. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.

 

OPTION B:

Make use of the Stuttaford Van Lines free delivery service at one of the depots listed below.

  • Rust-en-Vrede Gallery has contracted Stuttaford Van Lines as the official courier service. This is a free service to entrants. Please make sure that the Personal Information Sheet (Download here) is firmly attached to the back of the artwork. Stuttaford Van Lines will wrap and package the work and transport it to Rust-en-Vrede Gallery. They will collect unselected work from the gallery, re-wrap it and transport it to the depot as indicated by the entrant on the Personal Information Sheet. Entrants will be notified by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery when they may collect the work from the various depots.
  • Should an entrant wish to make use of this option, the work should be delivered UNWRAPPED to one of the three specified depots between: Saturday 5 July and Wednesday 9 July 2025

 

NO ARTWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED AT ANY OF THE DEPOTS LISTED BELOW, AFTER 15:00 ON WEDNESDAY 9 JULY 2025.

JOHANNESBURG: Lord’s View Industrial Park 2, Oak road, Chloorkop, Johannesburg.
Contact person: Margarida Fernandes, tel 011 206 1500.

DURBAN: R103, Harrison, Cato Ridge
Contact person: Ashmintha Maharaj, tel 031 902 3566.

PORT ELIZABETH: 3 Ruan Road, Green Bushes Industrial Office Park. Old Cape Road. Green Bushes. Port Elizabeth
Contact person: Melody Trimalley, tel 041 405 7400.

  1. The personal data supplied by the artist will be used only for the purposes of the Portrait Award and will not be transferred to any third party.
  2. NO WET, OR SLIGHTLY WET, PAINTINGS WILL BE ACCEPTED. NO EXCEPTIONS! This includes both paint, and varnish. Pastel and charcoal drawings must be treated with a suitable fixative. All works on paper should be mounted behind glass or Perspex.
  3. The responsibility for damage or loss, however caused, lies with the entrant. Entrants are therefore advised to arrange adequate insurance cover against all risks. The sponsor, the carriers, the collection points, any other subcontractor, agent, or Rust-en-Vrede Gallery as the organiser of the Portrait Award, will not be liable for any loss or damage, whether or not caused by their negligence.
  4. The judges will select the final 100 artworks from those delivered to the gallery.
  5. The entrants whose works are selected will be notified by Rust-en-Vrede Gallery by 5 July 2025. 
  6. Unselected work can be collected from Rust-en-Vrede Gallery from Saturday 9 August 2025 to Saturday 16 August 2025 from 9h00 until 15h00.
  7. If you have indicated on your Personal Info Sheet that you want to make use of Stuttaford Van Lines to collect, package and return your work to your depot of choice, Rust-en-Vrede Gallery or the Stuttaford Van Lines depot will notify you as soon as the work arrives at the depots. Please consult the Rust-en-Vrede website and Facebook Page for specific dates and updates during this time (rust-en-vrede.com / www.facebook.com/rustenvrede). You will have to make immediate arrangements for the work to be collected from the depots once you are notified, as the work cannot remain there indefinitely.
  8. The work will be unwrapped. Should you collect or appoint a courier to collect your work from Rust-en-Vrede gallery, please arrange for the courier to wrap your work(s) appropriately for transport. Rust-en-Vrede Gallery cannot supervise the wrapping of artworks when collected.
  9. Any unselected works not collected by 16 August 2025 will be considered a donation to Rust-en-Vrede Gallery. Entrants hereby indemnify Rust-en-Vrede Gallery from any loss or damage suffered by such disposal.
  1. Of the 100 selected artworks, the Top 40 works chosen by the judges will be exhibited at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery from Saturday 30 August 2025 when the exhibition will open to the public. The works will be on display until Wednesday 29 October 2025 @ 15:00.
  2. The remaining 60 selected works will be shown at a venue to be determined. This exhibition, titled Portrait 100, will open on Saturday 30 August 2025 @ 11:00.
  3. The copyright of all works exhibited in the Portrait Award will remain the property of the entrant. The entrant agrees, on an irrevocable basis, that the organisers and/or the sponsors may reproduce any exhibited work, free of charge, for the purposes of marketing, promotion, merchandising, discussion and education, including by means of promotional catalogues, publications, posters, prints, postcards, the internet or in television documentaries.
  4. The names of the selected artists and details of their work submitted for the competition may be made public after the adjudication. By entering this competition, the entrant hereby consents to the disclosure of his or her personal information.
  5. The overall winner will be announced at a gala event at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery for invited guests, including the Top 40 artists and their partners on Friday 29 August 2025. Those shortlisted for the prize will be notified and are encouraged to attend the opening event.
  6. In addition to a prize of R150 000, Rust-en-Vrede Gallery will on application assist the winner in entering the next UK Portrait Award competition held by the National Portrait Gallery in London.

IMPORTANT DATES:

FIRST ROUND SUBMISSION OF DIGITAL ENTRIES: 5 JUNE 2025 @ 09h00 – 14 JUNE 2025 by 17h00

PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY TO ENTER! (Keep Loadshedding in mind)

Adjudication Process: Between 27 JUNE 2025 and 1 AUGUST 2025

AWARD CEREMONY – Rust-en-Vrede Gallery Gala Event: Friday 29 August 2025

TOP 40 EXHIBITION OPEN TO THE PUBLIC@ RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY IN DURBANVILLE: From Saturday 30 August 2025 until  Wednesday 29 October 2025.

100 SELECTED AND NOTIFIED: The remaining 60 selected works will be shown at the Spier Arts Trust Union House in Cape Town. This exhibition, titled Portrait 100, will open on Saturday 30 August 2025 @ 11:00.

COLLECTION OF UNSELECTED WORK FROM RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY: 9 August to 16 August 2025.

COLLECTION OF UNSELECTED WORK FROM DEPOTS: Rust-en-Vrede Gallery or the Stuttaford Van Lines depots will inform the artists as soon as the work arrives at the depots.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

Hamlin Jansen van Vuuren or Donavan Mynhardt