National Portrait Gallery, BP Portrait Award, 2020

Girl at a table (Lucy) has been selected for inclusion in the BP Portrait Award, 2020. Selected from 1,981 entries by artists from 69 countries around the world, the exhibition will be held at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 21 May - 28 June 2020, all the winners and selected entries will subsequently tour to: Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, 10 October 2020 - 24 January 2021.

“The portrait is of Lucy, whom Braiden met through a mutual friend. She agreed to sit for her portrait and the sittings took place at the artist’s studio. He says: ‘Lucy arrived wearing a beautifully patterned summer dress that complimented the Prussian blue walls of the room.”

— The National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery, BP Portrait Award, 2019

Simon Thomas Braiden’s painting, Ian , has been selected for the BP Portrait Award 2019. Following the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, 13 June - 20 October 2019, all the winners and selected entries will subsequently tour to: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh , 7 December 2019 – 22 March, 2020, Ulster Museum Belfast, March – June, 2020. This year, the final 44 exhibited works were selected from a total of 2,538 entries, from 84 countries.

“The portrait is of the artist’s friend, Ian. The portrait was developed over a series of sittings in the artist’s studio in which initial working drawings were developed into this more formal painted composition. Braiden was keen to capture the sense of ‘psychological ambiguity’ in the sitter.”

— The National Portrait Gallery

Groucho Club, Acquisition, 2018

Simon Thomas Braiden’s portrait, Gemma, has been acquired by, The Groucho Club, London, for their permanent collection.

National Portrait Gallery, BP Portrait Award, 2018

Portrait of a girl (Becky) has been selected for inclusion in the BP Portrait Award, 2018. The exhibition will be held at the National Portrait Gallery, London, 14 Jun 2018 – 23 Sept 2018 and will subsequently tour to: Wolverhampton Art Gallery, 13 October – 30 November, 2018, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, 15 December 2018 – 10 March, 2019, Winchester Discovery Centre, 6 April – 26 June, 2019. 2,667 entries were received from artists in 88 countries.

“The portrait is of Becky, an artist’s model who first agreed to sit for Braiden in April 2017. The portrait began with a series of sketches in which the fundamental questions of the composition were resolved. Braiden says: “The painting attempts to portray the ambivalence experienced by a young person in negotiating the transition from adolescence to adulthood.”

— The National Portrait Gallery