Brushes at the ready: Portrait Artist of the Year is back for a brand-new series tonight, with Stephen Mangan returning to host the popular Sky Arts competition.
Series 13 begins at 8pm on Wednesday, 7 October, bringing a fresh group of talented artists together as they battle to be crowned the UK’s next portrait-painting champion.
Filmed at Battersea Arts Centre in London in April, the new series promises familiar faces, challenging sitters and, for the first time, an entirely new judging panel.
When is Portrait Artist of the Year on tonight?
The new series of Portrait Artist of the Year starts tonight, Wednesday 7 October, at 8pm on Sky Arts.
The programme is also available to stream on NOW, giving viewers another way to catch the return of the competition.
Stephen Mangan is back in the presenter’s chair as artists from across the UK put their skills to the test, working against the clock to create portraits of some very recognisable faces.
Who are the celebrity sitters in the first episode?
The opening episode gets the competition off to a starry start, with Lennie James, Sheridan Smith and Vanessa Williams among the celebrity sitters taking their places in front of the artists.
Across the new series, the contestants will have the opportunity to paint an impressive array of cultural figures from entertainment, television, music, sport and the arts.
Among those appearing as sitters are Louis Theroux, Rylan Clark, Michelle de Swarte and Sheridan Smith, as well as Vanessa Williams.
The wider line-up includes theatre director Jamie Lloyd, musician Alison Balsom, opera singer Danielle de Niese, actors Joanna Scanlan, Dexter Fletcher and Arti Shah, and broadcaster Yalda Hakim.
Also stepping into the studio are comedian Grace Campbell, Munya Chawawa, Grace Dent, Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden, restaurateur Jeremy King and financier and broadcaster Anthony Scaramucci.
Poet and playwright Nikita Gill, author Jung Chang, artist and musician Kojey Radical, drag superstar Danny Beard and athlete Matt Weston will also be captured on canvas.
Who are the new judges on Portrait Artist of the Year?
One of the biggest changes for series 13 is the arrival of a completely new judging panel.
Joining the show are Jonathan Yeo, Eva Langret and Katy Hessel.
Yeo is one of Britain’s best-known contemporary portrait painters and has painted a string of high-profile figures, including King Charles III and David Attenborough. His portraits are particularly noted for their expressive and psychologically charged style.
Eva Langret, meanwhile, will be familiar to fans of Landscape Artist of the Year, having joined that series last year. She is Director of EMEA at Frieze and a prominent figure in the contemporary art world.
Completing the panel is art historian, curator and broadcaster Katy Hessel, founder of The Great Women Artists. Hessel has become well known for championing women artists and questioning the traditional art-historical canon.
Together, the trio replace the show’s previous judging panel and bring a fresh perspective to the competition.
Who is presenting Portrait Artist of the Year?
Stephen Mangan returns as host for series 13.
Mangan has become synonymous with the Sky Arts series, guiding viewers through the tense painting sessions, chatting to the celebrity sitters and meeting the artists competing for the title.
Which celebrities appear later in the series?
The celebrity line-up extends well beyond tonight’s opening episode.
As the competition progresses, viewers can expect to see portraits of figures including Rylan Clark, Louis Theroux, Michelle de Swarte, Deborah Meaden and Jeremy King.
The series then moves towards its semi-final, where Bridgerton stars Daniel Francis and Ruth Gemmell become sitters.
For the grand final, culinary pioneer Heston Blumenthal takes his place in the portrait spotlight.
Where was Portrait Artist of the Year 2026 filmed?
The thirteenth series was filmed at Battersea Arts Centre in London in April.
The venue once again provides the backdrop for artists to work side-by-side, painting their celebrity sitters while the judges assess everything from technique and composition to how successfully each artist captures the character of their subject.
What is Portrait Artist of the Year about?
The premise remains deliciously simple: talented artists are given a limited amount of time to paint a portrait of a celebrity sitter, with the judges deciding whose work deserves to progress.
But the appeal of the series is about more than simply producing a good likeness.
The artists have to find a way to capture the personality of their sitter on canvas while working under pressure and surrounded by fellow competitors. Some paintings are bold and experimental, others traditional and meticulous – and the judges have the difficult task of deciding which artists have done enough to stay in the competition.
With a new panel bringing different artistic perspectives, series 13 could prove to be a particularly interesting chapter in the show’s history.
Can you watch Portrait Artist of the Year without Sky TV?
Portrait Artist of the Year starts at 8pm tonight, Wednesday 7 October, on Sky Arts. Sky Arts is a free-to-watch channel – check your TV guide because you don’t need to pay for Sky TV to watch it!
The series is also available through NOW.
With Stephen Mangan back, a new trio of judges and a formidable collection of celebrity sitters lined up, there’s plenty to look forward to as Portrait Artist of the Year begins its thirteenth series.
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