Selected Painting: Stripes (Self-Portrait), Oil on Copper, 18” x 24”, 2025, © Doris Rose

GREY COUNTY, Ontario — Canadian artist Doris Rose has been selected for the 2026 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in London, UK.

Formerly known as the BP Portrait Award, this exhibition is one of the world's leading showcases for contemporary portrait painting, attracting thousands of international submissions annually, with only a small number selected for exhibition in London before touring the UK. This year's 52 exhibited works were selected from over 1,474 entries from artists across 63 countries.

“I’m incredibly honoured to have been selected and to become part of the history of this exhibition,” said Doris. “I’ve been collecting the exhibition catalogues since I was a child, and it’s been a long-term career goal of mine to be recognised alongside such exceptional painters.”

Doris’ selected work, Stripes, is a self-portrait oil painting on a copper panel exploring perceptual distortion informed by lived experience with invisible illness. Using layered oil painting techniques, the work creates a shifting triple-exposure effect that translates altered sensory perception into visual form.

“Much of my recent work explores the instability of perception and the surprising link between chronic migraine and ADHD and how they alter my sensory experience of the world,” said Doris. “I wanted the painting to sit somewhere between realism and distortion, where the image feels simultaneously present and difficult to fully grasp.”

Raised in Toronto with a current studio practice in rural Ontario, Doris has built one of Canada’s most engaged art communities online through her painting and behind-the-scenes educational art content, with over 260,000 followers and 150 million total views across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Doris’ self-portrait Stripes will be exhibited in the HSFK Portrait Award which runs from June 25 to October 7, 2026, at the National Portrait Gallery in London, with free public admission, before touring the UK.

Photo of the artist Doris Rose in her studio, 2026 © Kelsey Vansickle

About the Artist

Doris Rose is a contemporary-realist portrait artist based in Ontario, Canada. Born in the UK and based in Canada, she holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from OCAD University (2013), where she received the top entrance scholarship. Specialising in old master and photorealistic oil painting techniques, her most recent portraiture series, Blur, explores the perceptual distortions of living with chronic migraine and ADHD. With over 260,000 followers and 150 million total views across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, sharing her work and art tutorials, Doris has built one of Canada’s most engaged art communities online. dorisrose.com | @dorisroseart

About the HSF Kramer Portrait Award

The HSF Kramer Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery is one of the world’s most established and internationally recognised exhibitions dedicated to contemporary painting. Formerly known as the BP Portrait Award, the annual exhibition attracts approximately 120,000 visitors in London and has helped elevate the careers of some of the world’s most celebrated portrait artists. The 2026 exhibition runs from June 25 to October 7, 2026, before touring the UK. View the National Portrait Gallery Release →

Media Contact

Doris Rose
dorisrose.com
Media enquiries: dorisrose.com/contact
Press Kit: dorisrose.com/presskit

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