Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Call for Entries - Royal Society of British Artists 301st Exhibition

This is a reminder that you have until 8th December 2017 to submit an entry to the 2018 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA)

Paintings exhibited by members in the Main Gallery
The 301st exhibition in 2018 will be held in March 2018 at the Mall Galleries - across all three galleries due to its size.
  • It opens on Wednesday 21 March 2018 and closes at 2pm on Saturday 31 March 2018. 
  • It will open to the public every day from 10am - 5pm 
  • The Private View will be on Tuesday 20 March 2018, 11am – 8pm.
The RBA is a society where membership is often seen as a complement to membership of other national art societies. Indeed this was its original intention.
A group of painters met at Lincoln’s Inn Fields on May 21st 1823, to form the ‘Society of British Artists’, whose manifesto stated, ‘This organisation was not formed to rival existing societies but that every Member was to be at liberty to assist and support any other society.’
Below you can find
  • a review of the metrics associated with the 300th exhibition in 2017
  • a summary of how to enter the next annual exhibition.
You can also follow my summary of the Calls for Entries for the various exhibitions of the national art societies in the UK on my blog PAGE UK Art Societies: Open Exhibitions.

Paintings and prints in the North Gallery

Exhibition Metrics for 2017


Below you can find information about the 2017 exhibition which is worth looking at if you are considering entering the 2018 exhibition
  • This is a LARGE exhibition. 510 artworks were exhibited in 2017 in the open exhibition across the three galleries (i.e. excluding the work by past Presidents and members, NADFAS RBA Scholars and the National Students At Exhibition).
  • Of these 510 artworks 
    • 383 artworks (75%) by 86 members and 
    • 127 artworks (25%) were by 100 non-members
    • of the open artists,16 were members of other national societies (most of which are based at the Mall Galleries). Which leaves 84 which have no affiliation. 
You can find out more about the 2017 exhibition as follows:
For the 2018 exhibition I'd personally like to see:
  • more scrutiny of the originality (as in 'Has it been exhibited before?') and quality of work by members 
  • a bigger percentage of artwork coming from the open entry (i.e. nearer one third would be a good first step) 
After all the open entry is the future lifeblood of the RBA and the society needs to attract both good artwork and good artists who will be active supporters of the work of the RBA in future.

PLUS I think artists need reminding that having their artwork shown at the annual exhibition is the route to membership of the RBA
Before you may apply to become a Candidate it is essential that you have had several pieces of work accepted and shown at 3-4 of our annual exhibitions so members are aware of the quality of your work.RBA website - Election to Membership of The Royal Society of British Artists

Call for Entries


In summary, this is an OPEN EXHIBITION. Both members of the RBA and other artists are invited to submit artwork for consideration.
  • There is no constraint on type of artwork or medium - which creates the potential for this exhibition to be very interesting (However, typically this is an exhibition which tends to display paintings, drawings, sculpture and prints) 
  • All entries are via digital submission 
  • The deadline for entries is 12 noon on Friday 8th December 2017 
  • The entry fee is £15 per work payable at the time of submitting (£10 per work for artists aged 35 or under). 
Details of how artists can apply via the open entry process are set out below.
RBA in 2017 - Paintings and prints in the North Gallery
Founded in 1823, the RBA seeks submissions of work displaying the highest standards of skill, expression and concept of draughtsmanship. Artists are invited to submit works for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of British Artists at their Annual Exhibition 2018.

Who can Submit?


Any artist - over the age of 18 - living anywhere in the world can submit artwork to this exhibition.


What you can submit?


  • Number: You can submit a maximum of six works, three of which can be original framed prints - of which a maximum of four will be selected and hung.
  • Type: not specified or constrained
  • Media: Any medium including sculpture and original prints.
  • Dry: Paintings should be completely dry at the time of delivery.
  • Size: Works should not be larger than 2.4m along the longest dimension.
  • Price: The minimum price is £300 (framed prints: £180, unframed prints: £120).
  • Exhibitions: Work must not have been exhibited previously.
  • For Sale: All work must be for sale. 
    • The price of works must include commission of 45%+VAT 
    • If foundry fees are applicable, the commission is 33.3%+VAT
To my mind the minimum prices are just about right. There are a lot of sales at the lower end of the price bracket and pricing needs to be realistic to maximise sales from those who are not wealthy but susceptible to a spontaneous purchase!

I very much approve of the notion that work must not have been previously exhibited. People want to come to an exhibition to see new work not work being recycled via various exhibitions.

Generic Information about submitting to the Annual Exhibition 2018


This is the standard information relevant to any exhibition at the Mall Galleries by a society which is a member of the Federation of British Artists. The General Terms and Conditions are universal. The ones which are specific to this exhibition are in "What you can submit" above

You can find Information about the exhibition on the Mall Galleries Website

The Call for Entries Terms and Conditions are applicable to ALL FBA exhibitions at the Mall Galleries. These cover:

The RBA Exhibition 2018

Digital Submission and Detailed Entry requirements - specific to this exhibition is located at http://mallgalleries.oess.uk.

With respect to the RBA Annual Exhibition you need to use:

How to Submit

The process works as follows
  • Read the general terms and conditions
  • Read the specific entry requirements
  • Register for digital submission - if you have never entered before
  • Login to the Open Exhibition Entry webesite
  • Submit your entry online prior to the deadline of 12 noon on Friday 8th December
    • You need to complete the form, pay the fee and upload images of work 
    • [Note: Images must be in JPEG format and under 5MB]
  • Pre-selection is based on online entries and associated digital images 
  • Notification of Pre-selection (15 December 2017)
  • Deliver pre-selected entries ONLY to Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD for final selection on Saturday 20th January (10am - 5pm)
  • Final selection - in front of a Panel of Members of the RI
  • Notification of Acceptance 23rd January 2018 - check this page to see if your entry number is listed 
  • Collect work not accepted for exhibition from Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD on Thursday 25th January, 10am - 5pm
  • The selectors' decisions are final and no feedback is offered.
  • Collect unsold work:  Friday 6th April, 10am - 5pm

Special Note for Artists living/working outside the UK  

  • Artists from outside the UK may need to register for VAT, please check with HM Revenue and Customs: https://www.gov.uk
  • Artists sending work from abroad should use a picture carrier. 
Artists who are not resident in the UK but are resident in the EU, if your work is sold at the exhibition you have a responsibility to register and account for UK VAT with H.M. Revenue & Customs. Artists without a UK residence (known as 'NETPs' - non-established taxable persons) can find further details on 'NETP' status and how to register for VAT at http://www.hmrc.gov.uk, (HM Revenue & Customs Reference: Notice 700/1, Mar 2014) under the heading 'Should I be registered for VAT?'. Please note: the registration process can take up to 4 weeks. Please address any questions you may have to the VAT Helpline on tel. no. 0845 010 9000 or, if your call is from outside the UK, +44 2920501 261

Prizes & Awards (subject to final confirmation)


There are some new prizes this year - highlighting sculpture and prints.

The list of prizes on the websites are very mixed. Below I've categorised them between cash, art supplies and the opportunity to be published.

Monetary Prizes

  • The de Laszlo Foundation Prize: The de Laszlo Medal and £1,500 will be awarded to the artist aged 35 or under for the best art work from life
  • NEW The Stuart Southall Print Prize: £250
  • The Gordon Hulson Memorial Prize for Draughtsmanship, Variety & Exploration: £200
  • NEW The Nathan David Award for Sculpture: £150
  • The Edward Wesson Award for Watercolour Painting: £100
  • The Geoffrey Vivis Memorial Award: £100

Art Supplies

The art supplies awards are very handsome!
  • The Michael Harding Awards: Two awards of £500 worth of Michael Harding art materials, and 10 painting starter sets
  • The Winsor & Newton Painting Award: Art materials to the value of £500
  • Hahnemuhle Fine Art UK Award: A prize of artist paper, worth £250
  • Frinton Frames Award: £200 of picture framing at Frinton Frames bespoke handfinished picture frame makers

Publication Awards

  • The Artist Magazine Award: The winner will be interviewed in The Artist magazine, print and digital editions
  • The Dry Red Press Award: The winning work will be published as a greeting card in the Dry Red Press 'Prize Winners' range, with royalties from the sale of the cards going to the artist

Posted by Making A Mark on Wednesday, November 22, 2017
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