John Moores Painting Prize Call for Entries Now Open

Submissions for 2023 edition of prestigious art prize open from 13 February until 24 March

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The call for entries for the 2023 edition of the John Moores Painting Prize is now open.  

Open from midday on 13 February until midday on 24 March 2023, the call for entries follows the announcement of the 2023 jury - Alexis Harding, Chila Kumari Singh Burman MBE, Claudette Johnson MBE, The White Pube and Yu Hong.  

The jurors select the prize winners and the paintings that will be exhibited in the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 exhibition, which will take place at the Walker Art Gallery from 16 September 2023 to 25 February 2024. The first prize winner will receive £25,000 and a solo display at the Walker Art Gallery in 2025. A shortlist of four other paintings will also be awarded £2,500.  

Alongside the first prize and prizes for the shortlist, there is also the Lady Grantchester Prize. The prize offers £5,000, a month-long residency in London and £2,500 worth of art materials from Winsor & Newton. Any registering artists are eligible to enter for this prize, with applications from artists in their final year of study or within five years of graduation especially encouraged. 

The call for entries coincides with the opening of a new display by the first prize winner of the 2020 edition, Kathryn Maple. The display, Under a Hot Sun, focusses on the extreme environmental situation the world is currently facing. Kathryn’s winning painting, The Common, is now part of the Walker Art Gallery’s permanent collection. 

Sandra Penketh, Executive Director of Art Galleries and Collections Care at National Museums Liverpool said: “The John Moores Painting Prize attracts a wonderfully diverse range of artworks celebrating all that’s exciting in painting today. The last edition of the show had almost 3,000 entries including works by both established and early career artists. I’m looking forward to seeing the final selection the jurors make after what will surely be a hugely enjoyable and exciting judging process.” 

Visitors to the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 exhibition will also be invited to vote for their favourite painting to win the popular Visitors’ Choice Award, sponsored by Rathbones. The winning artist will receive £2,023. 

Named after its sponsoring founder Sir John Moores in 1957, the internationally renowned prize, organised in partnership with the John Moores Painting Prize Trust, remains true to its founding principle: to support artists and to bring to Liverpool the best contemporary painting from across the UK. 

The John Moores Painting Prize has awarded more than £685,000 in prize money across 31 exhibitions, which have showcased more than 2,350 works of art. It presents a rich history of post-war painting in Britain. The first exhibition was held only six years after the Walker Art Gallery re-opened following the Second World War. 

Past prize winners include David Hockney (1967), Mary Martin (1969), Lisa Milroy (1989), Peter Doig (1993), Keith Coventry (2010), Rose Wylie (2014), Michael Simpson (2016), Jacqui Hallum (2018) and most recently Kathryn Maple (2020). Sir Peter Blake, winner of the competition’s Junior Prize in 1961, is Patron of the prize. 

The call for entries for the John Moores Painting Prize 2023 runs from midday on Monday 13 February 2023 until midday on Friday 24 March 2023. For further information, visit liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/jmpp.