SGFA 105th Annual Exhibition + scope for a VERY BIG exhibition about Drawing at the Mall Galleries

It's interesting to see how many of the national art societies who are not members of the Federation of British Artists are now holding their annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries.

To date we have:

• SBA - Society of Botanical Artists - regular exhibitor in the whole gallery on a biennial basis (next exhibition in 2027)
• SGFA - Society of Graphic Fine Art - regular exhibitor West and North Gallery (exhibition on at present - until 14 March
• SWA - Society of Women Artists - long term regular exhibitor on annual basis - next exhibition 23-27 June 2026
• UKCPS - UK Colour Pencil Society (for their 25th anniversary show only - next week 17 -25 March 2026

One wonders whether - at some point - some might become additional members of the Federation of British Artists. 

The Society of Graphic Fine Art - currently exhibiting this week - are a case in point.

The Society of Graphic Fine Art

It's other colloquial name is "The Drawing Society"although I think its lost sight of its drawing purpose in the narrative at the beginning of the current exhibition page on the Mall Galleries website (i.e. the word drawing is absent)

The Society of Graphic Fine Art ...exists to promote and exhibit original works of high quality in colour or black or white. This includes both traditional and contemporary media, which includes pencil, pen, watercolour, oils, charcoal, pastel and any of the forms of original printmaking.

I suggest the second paragraph needs to come first

A national society based in the UK, the Society of Graphic Fine Art is the only society dedicated to excellence in drawing and draughtsmanship, demonstrated by hand.

This art society was founded over 100 years ago in 1919 and now has 160 elected members who are professional standard artists from all areas of the art world who work in all drawing and printmaking media.  (I used to be one of them until I decided to not belong to any society while writing reviews of exhibitions.)

The Society was formed by students and teachers in the etching class at the London Central School of Arts. They wanted to establish a society that would

‘uphold and maintain the interests of all those forms of art that do not use colour as a form of expression’

which was another way of saying that drawing counts and, in one form or another, always will.

Their first exhibition in 1921 was supported by the RA and their first President was Sir Frank Brangwyn RA RE, the renowned muralist, painter, architect, illustrator and designer,

Current focus

Drawing excellence and draughtsmanship is still the focus of the society and its exhibition

The main criterion of membership, regardless of media discipline, is drawing excellence.

Nowadays, in addition to black and white work and traditional drawing skills, the society encourages the use of colour and non-figurative art.

105th Annual Exhibition of the Society of Graphic Fine Art

The entrance to the exhibition at the Mall Galleries

I visited the annual exhibition on Monday.

SGFA Exhibition: West and North Galleries of the Mall Galleries

Dates: 9 Mar 2026 - 14 Mar 2026 
Hours: 

Admission: FREE

I've uploaded my photographs of the artwork I saw to Facebook Albums

• West Gallery
• North Gallery

What I noticed:

• many of the artworks are smaller than in the exhibitions of other societies - in part because of the emphasis on printmaking
• there are fewer larger or feature artworks. 

West Gallery: The end wall - looking rather muted compared to other exhibitions
Larger work has impact here and draws people over.

• there's a lot of monochrome artwork - which can look fabulous when all together, however some artworks can tend to get lost when hung alongside more vibrant coloured artwork.

Overall, it felt subdued. I looked back at my previous reviews and the impression I have is that previous exhibitions have had more "wow" - for want of a better word.

That's not to say the artwork is lacking - there is some excellent artwork. I think maybe what I'm underwhelmed by is the hang - which I thought was variable in quality.

For example, those walls which had a very clear theme read well 

• the mezzanine wall worked well because the overall theme was plants - and that one I remember - particularly Sandra Doyle's drawing in graphite and watercolour top left!.
• the animals and birds wall in the North Gallery also read extremely well

Messanine wall - plant theme

wall in North Gallery - animals and birds theme

Some of the framing was a tad distracting. Maybe scope for a clearer steer on what sort of frames to use if you want to sell your art?

I'm also not a fan of very dark artwork. I find it a total switchoff. Too much gets tedious. But that's me - others who love the noir may love it.

Hanging is so important to how an exhibition is received. I have both:

• an excellent visual memory
• 20 years of experience of reviewing exhibitions at the Mall Galleries.

Hence I know when I cannot remember the exhibition well in visual terms, that is usually a very good sign that something isn't working. 

Quite what it is I still haven't put my finger on but I've certainly seen better exhibitions by the SGFA.

Thoughts for the future

I think this is an exhibition which could benefit from combining with another society (in a third gallery (East or North) to create a much bigger exhibition focused on DRAWING!

Possible options are:

• Urban Sketchers London - a very active group (which I helped to found!) with a very clear manifesto about drawing on location - and not from photographs. They have
• Monthly Sketchwalks in different locations in London
• Annual Exhibitions (and I have helped hang them in the past!) 
• a lot of members

"Let's Draw London" 2026
The List of 2026 Sketchwalks in London

• Hesketh Hubbard Art Society - founded in 1930, also based at the Mall Galleries, also a member of the Federation of British Artists
• focuses on life drawing from life models
• The Society meets at Mall Galleries once a week, either on Mondays or Fridays, where members may choose to work from three models: the 'quick' 15 / 30 minute nude poses, the two-hour 'long' nude pose and the two-hour clothed portrait pose.

Concern about the perceived decline of drawing skills amongst British artists is not a purely modern phenomenon. So in 1930, the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society was founded by the Royal Society of British Artists with the aim of offering both amateur and professional artists the opportunity to work regularly from life models.
Simon Whittle - President

Just a thought. I'd absolutely love to see the whole of the Mall Galleries with exhibits entirely focused on drawing!