Monday, January 15, 2018

Last Call - Annual Open Exhibition 2018 of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The deadline for the Call for digital entries for the next annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters is Friday 19 January 2018, 12 noon.

This is an OPEN exhibition which any serious portrait painter should think very seriously about entering due to the high quality of the non-members exhibits and the scope to attract commissions for future portraits.

RP Annual Exhibition 2017 - Threadneedle Space
The RP seeks submissions of new and traditional artistic models and perspectives in portraiture
Below you can find:
  • a review of the chances of getting exhibited
  • reasons why you SHOULD enter the exhibition if you are a serious portrait painter
  • details about the exhibition
  • details of the prizes
  • summary of the call for entries

Exhibition Metrics


Things you need to know - based on the works hung in the 2017 exhibition
  • about half the portraits exhibited are by artists who are non-members
  • only about 5% of the works submitted were selected for display in the exhibition - 102 artworks by 89 non-members were selected from 1,963 entries submitted by non-members
  • your work needs to be very good to get selected. You are competing with the top portrait painters who are not members for a place in this exhibition - because of its reputation as a shop front for commissions
As usual there are plenty of good non-member paintings in the exhibition. (my comment in last year's review of the exhibition)

Portrait drawings and fine art prints in last year's exhibition

Reasons why you should enter the RP's annual exhibition


For those wondering why they should submit an entry to this exhibition, take a look at the following.

Entry is digital

You only need to go to the expense of framing and transport if invited to progress to the second stage of selection.

The Importance of Exhibitions to Portrait Commissions

Some significant prizes

A prestigious exhibition and an Online Exhibition

  • This is a very prestigious exhibition and is run in all three galleries at the Mall Galleries on the Mall in London.
  • The exhibition is also put online so it can be seen all over the world 

A changing exhibition

Why it compares favourably to the BP Portrait


2018 Annual OPEN Exhibition


  • Venue: Mall Galleries - across all three galleries due to its size.
  • Dates: Thursday 10th May 2018 and closes at 5pm on Friday 25th May 2018. 
  • Hours: Open to the public every day from 10am - 5pm 
Wall in the Main Gallery (2017)

2018 Prizes


The prizes include:
  • The Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture: £10,000 plus the Society’s Gold Medal awarded for the most distinguished portrait in the Society’s annual exhibition
  • The de Laszlo Foundation Award: £3,000 plus a Silver Medal for the most outstanding portrait by an artist aged 35 years or under
  • NEW The RP Award: a new £2,000 prize for portraiture 
    • All works shown in the Annual Exhibition will be eligible. 
    • winner will be the artist whose work best represents the year's chosen theme - ‘Friends’. 
    • The judges will be looking for the most interesting and engaging interpretation of the idea of ‘Friends’ within the parameters of portraiture. 
  • The Prince of Wales's Award for Portrait Drawing: £2,000 and framed certificate for a portrait in any recognised drawing medium
  • The Burke’s Peerage Foundation Award: £2,000 and framed certificate for the most classically inspired portrait in the exhibition
  • The Smallwood Architects Prize: £1,000 for a portrait in which architectural or interior features play an important part

Below you can find 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.

Call for Entries


This is an OPEN EXHIBITION.  Artists are invited to submit works for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at their Annual Exhibition 2018.
  • All entries are via digital submission 
  • The deadline for entries is 12 noon on Friday 19th January 2018
  • 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.

Who can Submit?


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

Some of the portraits exhibited in the North Gallery last year


What you can submit

  • Media: any medium including original prints but excluding sculpture and photography.
  • Number: a maximum of three works (of which a maximum of three will be selected)
  • Dry: Paintings MUST be completely dry at the time of delivery.
  • Size: Works should not be larger than 2.4m along the longest dimension.
  • Exhibitions: Work must not have been exhibited previously.
  • For Sale: All work must be for sale. 
  • Price & VAT
    • The minimum price is £300 (Works can NFS - not for sale).
    • The price of works must include commission of 45%+VAT irrespective of whether the artist is registered for VAT
    • Artists from outside the UK may need to register for VAT, please check with HM Revenue and Customs: https://www.gov.uk

RP Annual Exhibition 2017 - Main Gallery (Private View)

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:
Some of the portraits exhibited last year

The RP Exhibition 2018


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

How to Submit


The process works as follows
  • Read the generic terms and conditions - general and specific 
  • Read the specific entry requirements for this exhibition
  • Register for digital submission - if you have never entered before
  • Login to the Open Exhibition Entry website
  • Submit your entry online prior to the deadline of 12 noon on Friday 19th January 2018
    • You need to complete the form, pay the fee and upload images of work 
    • Images must be in JPEG format and under 5MB
  • Pre-selection is based on online entries and associated digital images 
  • Notification of Pre-selection: Friday 26 January, 12 noon 
  • Deliver pre-selected entries ONLY to Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD for final selection on Saturday 24 February, 10am to 5pm
  • Final selection - in front of a Panel of Members of the RP
  • Notification of Acceptance Tuesday 27 February, 12 noon 
  • Collect work not accepted for exhibition from Mall Galleries, 17 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5BD on Thursday 1 March, 10am to 5pm
  • Collect unsold work: Thursday 31 May, 10am to 5pm

The selectors' decisions are final and no feedback is offered.

More about Past Annual Exhibitions


2017
2009-2016

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