Thursday, September 10, 2026

Another Excellent "Wildlife Artist of the Year" Exhibition (2026)

I've attended - and reviewed - many Wildlife Artist of the Year (WAY) exhibitions, organised by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and held  at the Mall Galleries each year. 

There's lots to read below of interest to all aspiring and established wildlife artists.
  • Why visit this exhibition
  • Note for aspiring and participating artists
  • How to view the exhibition - in person and online
  • Some facts about the exhibition
  • How to view the exhibition - including links to my past reviews of this exhibition going back to 2008
TOMORROW I'm publishing a post about the Category winners.

Feature Wall in WAY 2026

However I deliberately missed the PV on Tuesday and visited on Wednesday. I found out from those who were there that it was, as I expected, absolutely packed out with people who love wildlife and wildlife art and were keen to buy good art - and it was very hot! Which is why I tend to duck PVs these days as my internal thermostat is out of whack at the moment.

The view from the stairs - lots and lots of visitors

When I got there on Wednesday morning, apart from an awful lot of red dots, I also saw an awful lot of people who were studying the artwork with enthusiasm. 

As well they might as there was lots of excellent artwork to look at.

I took a lot of photos - of all the artwork - and have uploaded most of these to an album on my Facebook Page - Wildlife Artist of the Year 2026

Below is a review of the exhibition

If I can work out the category winners I'll do another post about those. (If somebody at DSWF can send me the details that would be much appreciated. I'd assumed they'd be on the website.)

Why visit this exhibition?

The end wall
- it took a long time for me to get a clear view of this
because of the number of visitors!

For me, what is unique about this exhibition is that very many of the wildlife artists selected for the exhibition tend to be those who have "gone the extra mile" in terms of capturing innate characteristics of their subject 

Cat Crawl 
Pastel, 47cm x 40cm
Lisa Gleim AAPLF, AFC, ASMA, AWAM, CGA, IAPS/MC, PSA, SAA, SPSM

This one for example, positively jumped off the wall at me, given the acute observation of primal cat behaviour when it comes to hunting - as every domestic cat owner will recognise. That and the fact I love pastel artwork!

and/or finding a new way to convey the essence of their subject.

Three oil paintings by Stefano Zagaglia
Winner of WAY 2026
(the winning painting is on the right)
Scale: all the paintings are 100 cm x 100 cm
note the plugs bottom left for scale

I think I probably see more innovation and novel ways of representing subject matter at this exhibition than any other. It just happens to be wildlife.

Santos
Paper art 56 × 83 cm 
Sarah Lake (WAY Winner 2024)

I'd characterise it as "a fresh eye".

An example. This year there is an exhibit where I could not see anything going on - until I leant down and realised that all the specimens were embossed on white paper which had been placed inside a glass specimen case.

This is what the accompanying label had to say.

Wild bees and pollinating insects are disappearing due to urbanisation and farming practices. Trophies of learning and culture to the Victorians, insects are still undervalued today for their true worth in Earth's ecosystems. This artwork, displayed like a specimen box, at first glance may look empty, empty, but symbolises how precious and important they are, and reminds us not to allono memory (Jane Veveris Callan - You Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone)

You Don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone
Embossing on paper
25 x 6 × 25 cm x 1.2 kg
Jane Veveris Callan 

Those who capture behaviour or movement also seem to do well.

Cheetah Full Stride
laminated birch wood,  8 × 66 × 27 cm x 1kg
(who has EIGHT commissions for this sculpture)

Bottom line is that what you don't tend to see at this exhibition are examples of "same old, same old". Anybody submitting any of the latter each year and being disappointed if they get rejected should really pay much closer attention to what got selected. Note below how you can SEE the exhibition in person or online.

In addition, its purpose is:

50% of every artwork sale supports DSWF’s mission to fight wildlife crime and protect endangered species.

  • primarily about raising funds for animal conservation. The commission of 50% of the sales of all works of art helps fund the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation's wildlife conservation projects across Africa and Asia.
  • providing a platform for some of the very best artists specialising in wildlife.
  • Lastly, it also highlights excellence each year via its category winners.
There are two parallel exhibitions running alongside it related to guest artists which I'm not going to reference, but worth a walk round.

Plus an opportunity for visitors to buy art by selected artists at a very affordable price. The good ones go very fast. I came home with one of them by one of the highly commended artists.

Note for Aspiring and Participating Artists

One of the things I remember very well about this exhibition when I first started covering it is that David Shepherd wanted sales. This was NOT an exhibition to be regarded in any way by artists as getting selected was the big thing even if you didn't sell.

I'll repeat. He wanted sales. So some artists were apparently told that they'd like to accept the artwork for WAY but the price made that impossible, and after some negotiation, the artwork would get in priced at a level that David Shepherd thought much more likely to attract a buyer.

I'm not sure if anybody is doing this any more - because some of the prices I saw were (my polite technical term) "VERY SILLY". As in I'd want documentary proof that they sell for that much before accepting a work - because wall space needs to earn its keep!

Whereas I saw ample evidence of LOTS of buyers wanting to buy the cheetah sculpted by David Sykes (see image above). His label intimates that this is a limited edition - and he has sold EIGHT of them so far. Now he's still only made less than half what some of the artworks are priced at - but he's going to get more artwork out which will attract comment and generate further interest in his work - and that matters too!

It may be that some artists really do sell for very high prices. In which case they really need to make sure their collectors turn up and buy! I personally was less impressed with the work. As in I either didn't like it or I didn't like it by a multiple of work I liked more. I'm not going to name names. You can review for yourself.

Some Facts

The Competition

There were over 1,700 entries for this competition - from all over the globe. 

Of these just 147 finalist artworks were selected for the exhibition. Which means LESS THAN 1% of the artworks entered were successful. 

Most artists only get one artwork selected. Some very good artists might get three selected eg Sarah Lake who won in 2024 has three of her cut paper artworks selected and the winner of the overall prize also had three selected

A number of the artists also live outside the UK - such as this year's winner Stefano Zagaglia

TOMORROW - The Category Winners

I've now got the information about the Category Winners from WAY. My post  about them will be published tomorrow. I know some but not all - and hope I've got photos.

The categories are:

  • Abstract World - Non-figurative expression of issues facing wildlife.
  • Animal Behaviour - Capturing unique interactions and moments in the wild.
  • Earth’s Wild Beauty - The awe and majesty of the natural world.
  • Environmental Artivism - Challenging the world to act through wildlife art.
  • Facing Extinction - The fight of nature’s last few.
  • Into The Blue - A deep dive into wild waters.
  • Wings - Dedicated to species that can take to the skies.
Plus a Youth Exclusive category (for artists aged 15-19 years)

There is also an Overall Winner and a Runner Up.

View the Exhibition - three options

You can see the exhibition in person....
  • Date: 8–12 September 2026
  • Time: Open daily from 10am–5pm. Friday until 8pm
  • Entry: Free – donations to DSWF welcome
  • Location: Mall Galleries, London SW1
The catalogue is £15.


Or you can see my photos of the artwork hung in the show - in my album of photos of Wildlife Artist of the Year 2026 on my Making A Mark Facebook Page

More about Wildlife Artist of the Year in previous years

You can read about previous exhibitions and see my photos of artwork in these exhibitions.

EXHIBITIONS AT THE MALL GALLERIES
ONLINE ONLY EXHIBITIONS
EXHIBITIONS AT THE MALL GALLERIES

Posted by Making A Mark on Thursday, September 10, 2026
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