Image: Aideen Barry, The Creator of Birds, After Varo, 2025. Courtesy the artist and the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
The National Gallery of Ireland has announced the shortlist for the AIB Portrait Prize 2026, naming 26 artists whose work will go on view in Dublin from 14 November 2026 to 14 March 2027. The exhibition will be shown in the Gallery’s Portrait Gallery, with free admission, and the winner is due to be announced on 2 December, before the presentation travels to Galway and Limerick in 2027.
The shortlisted artists are Aideen Barry, Alannah Henry, Beverley Healy, Breda Kenny, David Goldberg, David Killeen, Diego Fabro, Domnick Sorace, Elaine Adams, Emma Coady, Enda Burke, Evan Dow, Evanna Devine, Gary Sheridan, Ivy Borden, Joe Caslin, Jonathan Dickson, Kathy Tynan, Marcel Vidal, Mark Fisher, Mary Woods, Merve Sagit, Michelle Boyle, Paul MacCormaic, Rebecca Kehoe and Rowan Williams Huber.
The gallery’s announcement describes the artists as working across a variety of media. The previewed works include Aideen Barry’s ‘The Creator of Birds, After Varo’, 2025; Alannah Henry’s ‘Sa Samhradh’; Beverley Healy’s ‘The Known and the Unknown (Elsa and Carlton)’; and Breda Kenny’s ‘Making a Splash’. Other shortlisted works named in the announcement include David Goldberg’s ‘Listening’, David Killeen’s ‘Cricky Sea, Sandycove, December 2025’, Diego Fabro’s ‘Reverie 26 “Venetia”’ and Domnick Sorace’s ‘Self-Extended’.
The list also features Elaine Adams’s ‘Candid’, Emma Coady’s ‘There’s an Artist in My Kitchen’, Enda Burke’s ‘Dad and Elvis’, Evan Dow’s ‘Marie Mullen’ and Evanna Devine’s ‘Frank Flannelly, Farmer from Easkey, Co. Sligo. 6 April 2026’. Further works named by the National Gallery are Gary Sheridan’s ‘Moments in Between the Story of My Life’, Ivy Borden’s ‘Oikos Logia (I)’, Joe Caslin’s ‘Seen’, Jonathan Dickson’s ‘Theo (Almost) Hiding Behind a Tree in the Phoenix Park’ and Kathy Tynan’s ‘Sunday Morning’.
The remaining works are Marcel Vidal’s ‘Allergy’, Mark Fisher’s ‘Belly Boy’, Mary Woods’s ‘Generation Game’, Merve Sagit’s ‘Ritual Study I’, Michelle Boyle’s ‘Edith’s Night Out, a Pint and a Half One’, Paul MacCormaic’s ‘Sister Stan in the Office of the Sanctuary’, Rebecca Kehoe’s ‘D A M O C L E S’ and Rowan Williams Huber’s ‘Rico’.
The judging panel for this year’s competition comprises Dr Brian Fay, Christina Kennedy and Dr Joseph McBrinn. The National Gallery also said it is partnering with Galway Arts Centre and Limerick City Gallery of Art to present the AIB Portrait Prize and AIB Young Portrait Prize 2026. Following the Dublin presentation, the works are scheduled to travel to Galway Arts Centre from 3 April to 27 June 2027, and to Limerick City Gallery of Art from 9 July to 15 August 2027.
