Mature nude wins BP Portrait Award 2012

This year's BP Portrait Award has gone to American artist Aleah Chapin for her large-scale painting of a family friend.

The 26-year-old's entry, 'Auntie' which depicts an older woman in the nude, was awarded the prestigious gong and its £25,000 prize money from a shortlist of four artists.

The second prize of £8,000 went to Ignacio Estudillo for 'El abeulo (Agustin Estudillo)' and the third prize of £6,000 to Alan Coulson for 'Richie Culver'.

Brooklyn-based Aleah Chapin has just completed a MFA in painting at the New York Academy of Art. She gained her BFA at Cornish College of the Arts in her native Seattle and attended a residency at the Leipzig International Art Programme in Germany in 2011.

'Auntie' is part of a series of nude portraits of women Aleah has known all of her life.

Chapin said: "The fact that she has known me since birth is extremely important. Her body is a map of her journey through life. In her, I see the personification of strength through an unguarded and accepting presence."

The public will be able to see the winning artworks from tomorrow at the annual BP Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The exhibition will include 55 portraits selected from 2,187 entries from artists working in 74 different countries.