Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours Annual Exhibition 2013 - Call for Entries

The 201st Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours will be held at the Mall Galleries between 5 - 18 April 2013.

Private view, Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 2012

Deadlines for entries are as follows:

• Digital Submission and Pre-Selection Deadline: Thursday 31 January (noon).  This enables artists to submit work for pre-selection and avoids the cost of getting the work to London if it is not pre-selected for review by the Final Selection Panel.
• Receiving Days: Friday 22 & Saturday 23 February (10am – 5pm) This is for work which has been pre-selected and work which was not submitted via the digital entry.  All work is then reviewed by the Final Selection Panel. You can submit work via regional handing-in points -  select this link for more information

Thinking about Entering?

If you're not sure whether or not your watercolour artwork "fits" with this exhibition why not take a look at my blog posts about previous RI Annual Exhibitions below.  These include gallery shots of works in the exhibition - which display the variety, size and quality of work which is accepted.  Plus links are given, where available, to the websites of prizewinning artists and artists whose work I liked.

• Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Annual Exhibition 2007 
• Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Annual Exhibition 2008 
• Exhibition: RI Painters in Watercolour (2010)
• Review: 199th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (April 2011)
• 200th Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (March 2012)

Annual Exhibition 2012: Paintings by Ronal Maddox, President of the RI

Who can submit artwork?
The is an "Open" Exhibition which means that non-members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour are also allowed to submit work.

What to submit

The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours do not accept work water created using miscible/mixable/soluble oil paint.  Their definition of a watercolour painting is:

A painting made using water soluble media, on a paper based support.

• Acceptable media:  
• Watercolour or any water soluble colour
• any use of acrylic must be handled as a watercolour. 
• Paintings must be under glass 
• Paintings must not be executed on hardboard or canvas
• Size of work: Work must not exceed 2.4m (8ft).  In recent years I've noted that work from non-members has typically been smaller than that of the members.  
• Additional criteria: 
• Work must have been completed within the last two years ( ie not before 1 November 2010)
• All works must be for sale - minimum price £300 - the gallery takes 45% commission on all sales
• NOTE: The condition that paintings entered should be recent work that had not previously been shown in London has been dropped
• Number of works:  A maximum of six works may be submitted. A maximum of four works will be selected for exhibition
• Framing:  All artwork submitted must be exhibition-ready.  The Mall Galleries give full information about their framing requirements in the Registration Pack which are standard across all exhibitions.  Three important points are that:
• metal frames are inadmissible 
• all frames must be wide enough and stout enough to withstand mirror plating for hanging purposes and  
• there should be no projections whatsoever from the back of the works. This is to prevent damage to other works.

Awards / Prizes

There are numerous prizes which include

• The Turner Watercolour Award of £2,500, 
• Winsor & Newton/RI Members’ Group Award, 
• RI/Winsor & Newton Young Artists Award (aged under 30), 
• The Debra Manifold Memorial Award presented by the Linda Blackstone Gallery, 
• The Donald Blake Award and The Rowland Hilder Award presented by Lincoln Joyce Fine Art, 
• Frank Herring & Sons Easel Awards, 
• St Cuthberts Mill Award, 
• The Arts Club Award, 
• The Matt Bruce RI Memorial Award, 
• The Ranelagh Press Award, 
• The Buzzacott Award.

Entry Costs and Commission

• The fee for each work submitted is £12 for each painting (£6 per work for artists aged 35 and under).
• All sales and payment for exhibited work will be handled by the Mall Galleries once the registration form has been handed in.
• A commission of 45% plus VAT will be charged on the price paid for work or copyrights sold during or as a result of the exhibition, or on commissioned work 
• Selling prices quoted on the form must include commission and VAT.

If a painting sells for £300, the gallery will get 45% (ie £135) plus VAT on the £135 (ie £27) making a total deduction of £162 leaving the artist with £138.

How to submit

• Download the Registration Pack. The Mall Galleries Registration Form must be submitted with all entries - however they are submitted 
• Online registration and pre-selection - This avoids the costs of framing and transport of works to London for pre-selection purposes
• Register online by noon on 31 January to submit your work as a digital entry
• pay fee
• upload Digital file of image being submitted for exhibition
• Notification of pre-selection posted on the registration site from: Wednesday 7 February.  Work which is pre-selected is not guaranteed to get in to the Exhibition but has got support from some of those involved in selection.
• Receiving Days: Friday 22 & Saturday 23 February (10am – 5pm) plus regional handing-in points
• Notification of selection for the exhibition posted on the Selection Notification page -
  Thursday 28 February (noon)
• Receving Days Works plus completed registration form, labels and submission fee have to be delivered unpacked to the Mall Galleries' basement administrative offices at: 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD - or to one of the regional pickup points. Select this link for information on regional handing-in points.
• Collection of unaccepted work: Saturday 9 & Wednesday 13 March, 10am-5pm
• Collection of unsold exhibition work: Thursday 25 April , 10am-5pm
• Insurance: Artists are strongly advised to insure their own work

Exhibition
There's a Private View on 4 April (14:00 to 20:00) and then the exhibition opens to the public the following day 5 April and continues until to 18 April 2013 (10:00 to 17:00 daily) - including including weekends.

Will you be submitting work this year?

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