Image: New Zealand Portrait Gallery, Wellington
The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is closing the Wellington run of 'The Adam Portraiture Award 2026' on 9 August, before the biennial portrait prize begins a nationwide tour. The exhibition presents 43 finalist works and remains on view at the gallery in Shed 11, 60 Lady Elizabeth Lane, with visitors able to vote for the $2,500 People’s Choice Award.
The Adam Portraiture Award is described by the gallery as Aotearoa’s most prestigious and popular portraiture prize. Sponsored by the Adam Foundation, the competition is dedicated to painted portraits and is presented as a major touring exhibition that gives contemporary portrait artists a national platform. The gallery says the award also plays an important role in recording the changing face of Aotearoa.
This year’s judging was carried out by Sydney-based artist Jude Rae. The exhibition page identifies Duncan Pepe Long’s 'Solomon Tāmehana' as the winner, with Carol Bucknell’s 'Rita in the Winter Gardens' named runner-up and Ilya Volykhine’s 'Brett in a Blanket' receiving highly commended recognition. Honourable mentions went to Toni Armstrong for 'George', David Owain Jones for 'Esther reading', Sacha Lees for 'Maid-to-Measure', and Jasmine Middlebrook for 'Right Here and Now'.
The gallery’s newsletter highlights several finalists by name, including Duncan Pepe Long, Carol Bucknell, Ilya Volykhine, Toni Armstrong, David Owain Jones, Sacha Lees and Jasmine Middlebrook, and notes that the exhibition is entering its final week in Wellington. It also points visitors to the catalogue, which is available from the gallery shop in print form for $20 and features a double spread of each finalist’s work with full-page colour reproductions.
The award has a public-facing programme around it, including an artist talk held on 1 August featuring Te Whanganui-a-Tara-based finalists Sacha Lees, Benjamin Dellabarca and Emma Hercus. The gallery also listed live portrait painting with finalist Daniel Phillips on 2 August, when visitors were invited to watch him work and take home a finished portrait for a koha on a first-come, first-served basis.
After the Wellington presentation ends, 'The Adam Portraiture Award 2026' is scheduled to tour six venues between August 2026 and January 2028. The tour begins at Te Atamira in Queenstown from 29 August to 10 November 2026, followed by Marlborough Art Gallery in Blenheim with dates to be confirmed, Mahara, The Cromwell Memorial Events Centre in Cromwell from 12 February to 31 March 2027, Hawke’s Bay Museum in Napier from 20 April to 19 July 2027, Percy Thomson Gallery in Stratford from 31 July to 26 September 2027, and The Arts House Trust in Auckland from 25 November 2027 to 16 January 2028.
