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Sunday, November 09, 2025

After the Mall Galleries - where smaller art societies went next and why they're loving it!

Traditionally, there have always been some smaller and more specialised art societies and groups who exhibited at the Mall Galleries.  In recent years, the nature and cost of the arrangements for renting the galleries has changed significantly. 

As a result of which, these societies started looking elsewhere for places to exhibit.  

Two of these societies are:

and this post is about where they have gone!

Details of their current and opening soon exhibitions in 2025 are at the end of each section about the societies.

Note also that these are two groups of artists which love to give demonstrations during their exhibition! You can find out more on Facebook.

The Wapping Group of Artists 78th Annual Exhibition 

- at 340 Kings Road, Chelsea


Every Wednesday between April and September, whatever the weather, the Wapping Group of Artists meets to paint at venues along the River Thames - anywhere between Henley and the Thames Estuary. 

One wall of the ground wall Gallery.

I thought I'd lost the exhibitions of The Wapping Group of Artists. Except this year I saw notices about the exhibition and decided to visit last Friday when I was in Chelsea for a meeting.

Which is how come I came to visit their 78th Annual Exhibition 2025 at the 340 King's Road Gallery

I chatted to the people running the exhibition about how they liked it - and they were VERY enthusiastic about the new location!
  • rent is much less than the Mall Galleries i.e. £3,000 plus VAT per week for 
    • space over two floors totalling 1,178 Sq Ft
    • see plan of gallery
    • agents are Sloane Stanley who merchandise the space as a "pop-up shop/art gallery"
    • the Wapping Group of Artists could afford to take it for two weeks - which is more days than most of the FBA Societies get at the Mall Galleries!!
  • they're in an excellent location in Chelsea (just before the bend in the King's Road as you go west)
  • their sales have increased since they started exhibiting here - I think they had sold nearly 30 when I was there. It proves that location is everything when it comes to passing trade. 
    • The King's Road is very much a shopping location and those who come shopping here sometimes have bigger purses/wallets than others visiting other locations.
    • That said, all the artworks I saw had very sensible prices - because they are all the size of plein air paintings - and certainly the red dots I saw on the wall indicated some of what had sold and they also had very sensible prices
New member Paul Alcock who was steward for the say
- standing next to the red dots of the sales.

Why you may ask are the red dots on the wall rather than on the wall where the  sold painting is hanging?
  • This is because when you are running your own exhibition, you can let people take their painting away after they bought it. You then hang another "reserve" painting by that artist in its place.  So in effect they refill the gaps in the wall from sales with new artwork from reserve.
  • The arrangement for the exhibition was:
    • 20 members display 6 paintings - but make 2 more available to hold in reserve
    • those who are Candidates for Membership can exhibit 2 paintings and have one in reserve.
It's not an exhibition which has a catalogue so much as a current list of what is on offer.

It also has a table of pics of all the artists in the show - showing them painting plein air "somewhere" along the Thames between Henley and the Estuary

The Exhibition has a table of great photos of each of its members 
- painting plein air on location somewhere near the River Thames

The exhibition has a simple (and very repeatable) approach to the management of the exhibition
  • there is one paid member of staff only who handles all sales - for the duration of the exhibition. 
  • Plus members and candidates staffing the floor and being able to answer questions.
It all sounded an eminently sensible arrangement to me! 


It was also wonderful to see a Group which has been around for a long time, thriving at a new location.

Exhibition Venue: 340, Kings Road, Chelsea, London, SW3 5UR
Dates: 31st October - 11th November (Until Tuesday)  Open daily during exhibitions
Free admission | No booking required

The RMS at the Bankside Gallery


The Annual "Art in Miniature" Exhibition of the RMS showcases (literally) over 500 miniature artworks from contemporary artists worldwide, using traditional 16th century techniques, as well as many new and innovative styles.

The RMS had a similar opinion of the new proposed rents for galleries at the Mall Galleries - and promptly decamped to the Bankside Gallery 

The Gallery is the home of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) and is located right next to Tate Modern. I gather the Gallery is also very happy to have a steady booking on an annual basis from a prestigious art society. (King Charles chooses one of the prizes!)

From the end of the Gallery looking towards the entrance

The RMS and their special cabinets for viewing the miniatures are extremely happy there. I've been to two of their exhibitions which looked so much better than in the North Gallery - and couldn't get over the first time I visited how much better the exhibition looks in the Gallery. It's as if it had been designed for them!

I said the following in my first review in 2023
I have to say I think the Bankside Gallery suits the RMS annual exhibition very well.
  • There is ample space for all the cabinets which display the miniatures so very well.
  • The Gallery's own sketchbook display cabinets could also be used for excellent displays of the miniature sculpture.
  • The lighting is very good - plus there is of course lots of clerestory lighting which also improves the look of the exhibition. (The North Galleries at the Mall have become rather cave-like and claustrophobic of late with only a tiny chink of natural light following "improvements" compared to the previous incarnation)

The Bankside Gallery (immediate due east of the Tate Modern)

See my reviews:


Exhibition Venue: Bankside Gallery, Thames Riverside, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH
Dates: 18-22nd November 2025 Open daily during exhibitions
Hours: 11am - 6pm 
Free admission | No booking required
Demonstrations: every day - with two artists a day

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