Review: Contemporary British Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2026

I had a lovely time on Friday evening at the Contemporary British Portrait Painters' Annual Exhibition - held, as usual, at Downstairs at the Department Store at 248 Ferndale Road in Brixton SW9 8FR. 

Just a 3 minute walk from the end of the Victoria Line at Brixton Tube.

It features 52 artists from the 75 members of the CBPP Collective.

a diverse showcase of some of the most distinctive and experimental portraiture being made in the UK today (Sarah Jane Moon Chair of CBPP)

"My neighbour Marisa" by Peter James Field
Cover of the CBPP 2026 Exhibition Catalogue

This post aims to do two things:

• point people to where they can see pics of all of the portraits and some of the artists in this collective - because I know not all of you can get to see the exhibition. (This is also not a group of London artists. Members live all over the UK)
• read a review of the exhibition if they cannot visit.

However you have until 14th June to get over to Brixton to see the show - admission is free. The exhibition is open from 10am until 5pm every day.

If you cannot get there, you can see my photographs online on my Facebook Page

• my album of photos "Contemporary British Portrait Painters: Annual Exhibition 2026 - which includes pics of some of the artists, all of which I know
• my post of pics of all the photos - on the walls of the exhibition.

Contemporary British Portrait Painters

This collective describes themselves as

a friendly, inclusive community actively supporting artists working in the field of portraiture. CBPP - About Us

The CBPP are

• intentionally run as a non-profit collective (you are expected to contribute) and
• take NO COMMISSION from the sales by individual artists at their exhibitions.
• everybody has to apply - there are no invitations.

Artists are encouraged to be searching for something new in their work, to find their own voice and transmit honesty and technical ability in their submissions......we would love to see work which exemplifies your own personal areas of interest and exploration in portraiture.

I think this is maybe because the age profile is maybe a tad younger than some societies. Which is not to say people are inexperienced. Far from it. 

These are the names of the exhibiting artists in 2026. They include 

• current and past exhibitors and prizewinners (including 5 previous winners) at The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery
• members of and award winners at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
• 4 past winners of the Portrait Artist of the Year competition on Sky Arts
• As well as people who have won top prizes for portraiture internationally

This is very definitely an exhibition of diverse contemporary portraiture which is worth visiting by 

• all those who are serious portrait artists - and 
• by all those who aspire to become better at portraiture.

Want to watch Landscape Artist of the Year 2027 being filmed?

Are you interested in watching Series 12 of Landscape Artist of the Year being filmed? This is the series which will be broadcast in early 2027.

This post is about:

• where 5 of the locations are and the day they are being filmed
• useful info about how to get there

You will recall from earlier posts that this series has 

• The ten artists for this new series have been selected (see Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year (Series 12). This new format means they all travel the length and breadth of the country visiting different locations - with one artist dropping out after every heat.
• a new judge Landscape Artist of the Year: A Celebrity Twist!

Series 12: An invitation to watch

Every year, SKY Arts and Storyvault Films allow people to watch various of the heats of Landscape Artist of the Year as they are filmed. 

They are welcoming people to come and watch SOME of the heats on specific dates this summer. 

BUT only some as they cannot accommodate audiences at the remaining heats and the final this year, due to the lack of parking and facilities. (I also suspect that some of those turning up to the Final last year were a few too many / maybe blabbed online before the episode aired?)

They're calling them Episodes, I'm calling them Heats as the Heats often change order when they work out how to air them. As in they usually want a really good one up front to hook viewers - and yoiu don't know what that is until after it's been filmed!

On the Day

The competition will start at approximately 9:30am and finish around 6pm. You do not need to contact us to reserve a place, but please note that some locations may charge a fee for parking. We hope to see you there!

Please note that posting of photos or videos of any artists or artwork will NOT be permitted until after the show has broadcast. This is to help us avoid spoilers ahead of the show's transmission. (They also keep their eyes peeled for such posting in advance of the broadcast!) 

Series 12 LAOTY Locations

HEAT 1: Richmond Riverside, London – Monday 15th June 

Richmond Riverside in background

Richmond boathouse and boats in middle ground

Richmond Bridge on right

Credit: Jim Linwood (Wikimedia Commons)

Richmond Riverside is not a generic term, it's a very specific place/development in Richmond in South West London near to Richmond Bridge. It also offers 

• a large flat space where they can erect the pods so that the artists can paint the oft painted view of the bridge and/or Corporation Island.
• Plus lots of services nearby. 
• Accessible by public transport (eg Richmond Station is a 9 minute short walk). Limited parking (you're competing with the workers and shoppers of this very popular place)

Richmond Riverside: the Red pin is located near the large flat terraces

There is very likely to be a second heat close by on the following day or more likely Wednesday - depending on the time needed to strike the set and set up again.

Selected Artists (Part 2: I - Y) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

This is Part 2 of my post about the artists selected for the Annual Exhibition of the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026.

It's rather longer this year as most of the artists have been sending me their portraits - see below!

You can also read my previous post Selected Artists (Part 1: A-H) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

NOTE: If you can't see the portraits which are pics embedded from Instagram, this is probably because you're not logged into Instagram. 

Artists Selected for The Portrait Award 2026

There's a lot of artists selected for the first time in this half of the 52 artists selected for this year's exhibition.

The Portrait Award too is an amazing event. It’s like the Oscars of the Portrait Painters world (for those who don’t know or might be unfamiliar with the name of the current sponsor)....I am… utterly gobsmacked. And won’t probably really truly believe it until I’m standing there next to my painting in June. Ros Koch

Selected artists who want to see my photos of past exhibitors - taken on the Artists Press View morning - should take a look at my reference where they all my "Artists with their Paintings" posts are listed.

Selected Artist Statistics

I'm proposing to do a statistical analysis of the artists ( re. male/female; country; first/previous exhibitor) as the National Portrait Gallery has not published one this year. I publish this in another post.

PART TWO

This covers the artists whose surnames start with "I" through to those who start with "Y".

Links to their websites are embedded in their names - and Instagram accounts indicated if they have one (that can be found easily!)

I've also indicated which artists are prior exhibitors - and the years in which they exhibited. All other artists are First Time Exhibitors.

• Shinji Ihara (Instagram) - (Prior Exhibitor - 2024, 2025) - a painter and contemporary artist based in Hiroshima, Japan. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture in 1987, he received his MFA in Oil Painting from the Graduate School of Fine Arts, Tokyo University of the Arts. He is the Founder of HDL+ (formerly Hiroshima Drawing Lab), an artist-run space in Hiroshima. He has had multiple solo exhibitions in Tokyo and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Japan and internationally, including Asia and Europe. Previously selected for the Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery in 2024 and 2025. I predicted he would be back again and I believe him to be a future prizewinner. 

Working primarily through painting, Ihara explores memory, relationships, and the position of the individual within society. Portraiture has been central to his practice, through which he examines the dynamics between seeing and being seen, presence and distance

After the rain, we remain by Shinji Ihara
oil on canvas, h72.7 × w91 cm
© Shinji Ihara

J

• Martin Jessup - a portrait painter living in Kent, working in traditional oils, specialising in highly detailed portraits for private clients and institutions and accepting a limited number of commissions each year.

Diane M Benoit 
oil on stretched canvas, 60 X 40 inches

K

• Ros Koch (Instagram) - Contemporary South African painter. Born in the UK and she has lived in South Africa since 1998. Paints landscapes and portraits. Ros is a self-taught artist, who - thanks to traditional parents and schooling - took a long time to allow herself to transition from ‘art as hobby’ to ‘art as a career’

The Age of Adolescence (2024) by Ros Koch

Oil on board, framed in Kiaat; 250 x 250mm 

© Ros Koch

The fact that THIS painting - my first ever submission to the HSFK Portrait award - has been accepted to hang in the NPG is a beautiful full circle moment for me. It’s a coming of age (both in its title and artistic affirmation) and homecoming of sorts. Like many other artists, I used to go to the NPG as a child, always drawn to the people and their lives. And it is truly serendipitous that this one has been selected as its subject matter is so immensely meaningful and deeply personal to me, representing the intersection of things things I feel most passionate about.

Selected Artists (Part 1: A-H) for The Portrait Award 2026 at the National Portrait Gallery

Every year I highlight ALL the arrtists selected for the Annual Exhibition of the  Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

The 2026 Exhibition will be held at the:

• National Portrait Gallery (25 June to 7 October 2026)
• Derby Museum and Art Gallery (21 November 2026 – 21 February 2027) and
• The Gallery at The Arc, Winchester (5 March – 9 June 2027)

This year, word got around and I've had lots of emails - hence many more pics than usual! 

So this year I'm splitting this selected artists post into roughly two halves by surname

• Part 1: starting with A through G
• Part 2: from H through Y

In this post, my aim is to provide a profile of the artist. A later post will focus on "Artists with their Paintings (and/or the review) will focus on the stories behind the portraits.

There is, from my perspective, a very clear underlying theme to the selection this year. I'm not going to comment on it in this post but rather save it for the review.

However, you might want to see if you can work it out....

Artists Selected for The Portrait Award 2026

I know a number of the selected artists well either from this exhibition - and their repeat selection - or that of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters or ROI. Hence some entries are longer than others.

Repeat selection is often an indicator of somebody who might be a prizewinner in due course. Although Ben Sullivan (First Prize Winner 2017) pointed out getting selected for the Portrait Award is the best method of generating commissions so repeat selections are always very welcome!. He managed 11 selections before he finally won!

I have developed over time (ie the last 19 years!) the ability to spot a prospective repeat exhibitor - and you will see comments to this effect. I'm rarely surprised by those I see again

Every artist gets a mini bio, largely dictated by space and the need for brevity but also what I can find out about them online. Some, as requested, have written to me and filled in some of the gaps and sent me an image.

Everybody is a first time exhibitor unless otherwise indicated.

PART ONE

A

• Adebanji Alade - Current President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Professional artist, teacher, author and television presenter (BBC One Show). He has a studio on Lots Road in Chelsea, London. I first met Adebanji years and years ago. I think I've known him almost as long as I've had this blog! I've also seen this portrait before - and I think it's wonderful. It was exhibited at the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters last November and it just blew me away. His family have always been very much part of who Adebanji is and this is a great record of his two kids painting with him at home. This is the first time he's been selected for this exhibition.

Copycats (2025) by Adebanji Alade

Oil on canvas, 101cm x 76cm, 2025




• Zena Assi - Born in Lebanon, in 1974, Zena Assi lives and works in London. She graduated with honors from l’Academie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA), worked in advertising and taught in different universities. Many of her pieces are repeatedly shown in different international auction houses and are part of various public as well as private collections.
• Paul Aston - see his painting of The Costumer below. He is a figurative painter working in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. His subject matter varies from portraiture to landscape and still life. In 2023 he was a contestant in heat 2 of Portrait Artist of the Year.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Paul Aston (@paulastonpainter)

B

• Liam Barden - Painter and Teacher living in Folkestone. Co-Owner of @bardenartschool

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Liam Barden (@colourfulgoo)



• Frances Bell - born in 1983 and raised in Suffolk, UK. Multi-award winning portrait painter. Classically trained in Florence, Frances works in a traditional way with a contemporary style. Her portrait is of her daughter. Frances is a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) and The Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP). I confidently predict Frances will win this Award one day.

Frances has been a full time professional painter since 2004, taking commissions all over the world for individuals, family’s and institutions. Frances has won over 25 Awards for her work and has participated in many exhibitions in the UK and internationally.

• Paul Benney - Currently holds the mantle of "most selected artist never to have won". Previous exhibitor nine times: 1994,1996 (Winner – BP Visitors’ Choice),1997 (Winner – BP Visitors’ Choice), 1998, 1999, 2000, 2008, 2010, 2014. He has worked as an artist and musician in both the U.S. and U.K. He has painted many prominent political and cultural figures. His work is represented in public collections world wide including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The National Gallery of Australia, The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Collection, and a plethora of other prominent private and corporate collections. 
• He is the artist who was chosen to paint the State Portrait of HRH Queen Camilla.  (see my blog post The Coronation Portraits and The King's Tour Artists - at Buckingham Palace
• the link in the title of the portrait below explains the background to the portrait. 

Benney has twice won the public choice award in the BP Portrait Awards and has been short listed on two occasions. 

Fiona by Paul Benney
© Paul Benney

Only 10 paintings sold?

The 159th Annual International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society has finished at the Salmagundi Club. Some statistics - one jumped out to me (in red):

• 3,300 visitors 
• during the exhibition which ran for 3.5 weeks from April 7 – May 1
• $54,000 in awards, and 
• ONLY 10 PAINTINGS SOLD! 
• That means 
• only 0.3% of the visitors wanted to buy a painting!
• only c.6% of artists sold a painting

Facebook Post by AWS

You can find the names of the exhibited artists here (both AWS members and those selected from the open entry.)

These are the Award Winners. Paintings selected for awards can be viewed here.

Thirty-nine awards totaling over $54,000 were selected this year by the 159th Exhibiton Jury of Awards.

The only images online are those of award winners. They do not contain any details about size, materials or price.

Critique 

When art societies were first formed, the major reason was to share the costs of exhibitions of artwork so that artists could get their artwork in front of more people and stand a better chance of selling it.

It wasn't about showing off. It was about financing the artist to make money to enable them to continue being an artist. That's still - or should be - one of the primary reasons why artists exhibit today.

If an annual international exhibition by the one of the oldest and most prestigious watercolour societies in America can only sell 10 paintings then something they are doing is wrong!

AWS Facebook Page

Context

First, by way of comparison I'm going to highlight the number and percentage of sales of artwork exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours last three annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries (a large gallery supporting national societies of artists in the centre of London - accessible to fans, tourists and people walking up the Mall to/from Buckingham Palace)

As you can see, the RI have significantly more sales both in terms of actual paintings and percentage sold.