Is it time for the arts to start saying no to oil money?

An artist has given away part of his winnings to protest against BP's role in climate change. The company's money has helped an unfashionable artform, but what's at stake is far more important

We can't stop looking at human faces. Can't stop being interested in ourselves, our species. The BP Portrait Award, whose annual exhibition of winners and strong contenders can be seen at the National Portrait Gallery until 24 September, is full of humanity. It is, perhaps, the most humanist art prize in the world, an art award that specifically celebrates the painted human image and looks for modern heirs to the profoundly compassionate tradition of portraiture that includes Rembrandt, Velizquez and Lucian Freud.

Yet it may be time to get over ourselves. Has the moment come to put nature before portraiture, and abolish this oil-tainted oil painting prize?