Adam Portraiture Award Exhibition 2026

The Adam Portraiture Award is Aotearoa’s most prestigious and popular portraiture prize.
This biennial competition for painted portraits is held at The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata and generously sponsored by the Adam Foundation. The Adam Portraiture Award is a major touring exhibition which gives contemporary portrait artists the opportunity to have their work shown on the national stage. It plays an important role in recording the changing face of Aotearoa.
In 2026, Sydney-based New Zealand artist Jude Rae was judge.
The exhibition of 43 finalists was on display at the NZ Portrait Gallery in Wellington until 9 August, and is now on a nationwide tour.
Image: 2026 Winner
Duncan Pepe Long
Solomon Tāmehana, 2026
Oil on wood
(Solomon Tāmehana)
“Duncan Pepe Long’s portrait of Solomon Tāmehana brings acute insight and a remarkably light touch to classical realism. The painter has placed Solomon in an interior that says much about him, but much more can be gleaned from direct characterisation: the mischievous side eye and informal stance, unseen hands stuffed in pockets. Tonal acuity, the artist’s subtle grasp of light, gives us a powerful sense of ambience and nothing is over stated here. In the best tradition of painting, less is definitely more.”
— Judge's comment