Student's art in National Gallery

Ben Cohen's painting will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery

The work of a 21-year-old Loughborough student will be displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

Fine arts student Ben Cohen, from Loughborough University, entered his oil painting of bookseller John Gallon in the BP Portrait Award competition.

The 6ft (1.8m) high painting was one of 55 chosen from more than 1,700 entries and will hang alongside works by masters such as Rembrandt and Holbein.

It will be displayed as part of an exhibition from June to September.

Mr Cohen said: "I'm totally shocked. Artists spend years and years and years trying to get that exposure. For me to be 21 and for this to happen already is incredibly important."

The portrait was chosen from more than 1,700 entries

He explained he first met the bookseller in his shop in town and asked Mr Gallon if he could paint his portrait.

"I came into the shop and just sensed a naturalness in the way John moved... The way that he spoke, I sensed honesty in his voice," Mr Cohen said.

"To be a subject, a bookseller who is going to be alongside artists, kings and queens, prime ministers and the rest of it, that is absolutely mind-blowing," Mr Gallon said.