bp portratis

Françoise Nielly's painting is expressive, exhibiting a brute force, a fascinating vital energy. Oil and knife combine tsculpt her images from a material that is , at the same time, biting and incisive, charnel and sensual. Whether she paints the human body or portraits, the artist takes a risk : her painting is sexual, her colors free, exuberant, surprising, even explosive, the cut of her knife incisive, her color pallet dazzling.

Preview an exhibition of this year's BP Portrait awards – including winner Daphne Todd's painting of her dead mother – going on show at the National Portrait Gallery

Mary Jane Ansell was a previous finalist in the prestigious BP Portrait Award in 2004, 2009, 2010 and 2012 and has exhibited several times with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and The Threadneedle Prize. Based in the UK she shows internationally with recent group and solo exhibitions in London, New York, Singapore and LA. Mary Jane’s work also features on the covers of a number of recent novels, including New York Times bestselling author Tiffany Baker and on the recently released…

A finalist in the National Gallery’s BP Portrait Award on multiple occasions (2004, 2009, 2010, 2012), Mary Jane Ansell works in a photorealist style that references the past using a modern viewpoint. Hugely crisp and realistic, Ansell is able to capture both a hugely exact physical likeness of the sitter as well as convey the emotive essence of the sitter.

Portraits by Richard Twose, including the BP portrait award shortlist entry for 2014, Jean Woods