Famous faces at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition

A raft of famous faces from the Queen’s to Boris Johnson and Michael Sheen’s feature in this year's Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition.

James Lloyd’s painting of the society’s patron and Britain’s Monarch forms the centre piece to an unusually high profile collection of portraits.

David Hockney, one of Britain’s most famous artists, has had the easel turned on himself by Emily Porter-Salmon.

Peers including Baroness Boothroyd and Lord Fellowes feature, as does historian David Starkey and General Nicholas Houghton.

This year marks two decades since the Royal Society devoted itself exclusively to supporting portraiture.

The 200 portraits by 100 artists have been chosen from a mixture of Royal Society members and open submissions.

Prizes awarded by the Society include the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture, the Prince of Wales Award for Portrait Drawing, the Changing Faces Prize and the de Laszlo Foundation Prize.

The winner of the fourth Bulldog Bursary, awarded by the Society and sponsored by the Bulldog Trust, will also be announced.

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters annual exhibition opens tomorrow until 20 May 2011, www.mallgalleries.org.uk