Call for Entries: The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2027

The Call for Entries for the 128th Exhibition by the Pastel Society in January 2027 has been published on the Mall Galleries website. 

Artists working in pastel and contemporary dry media are invited to submit their work for the Pastel Society Annual Exhibition 2027

This post summarises what you need to know. 

• Submissions are ONLINE ONLY and 
• open from 17 August to 20 November 2026

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

• included in the catalogue
• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a LOT of visitors
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards (see below)if you want to become a member, you first need to get exhibited via the open entry
• may well sell - but ONLY if you pay attention to what I have to tell you below about pricing and sales!!

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2027 | Key Facts and Dates

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, London
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 27th January - Saturday 6th February 2027
Private View (invite only): Wednesday 27th January 2027 - 5pm to 8pm, official opening at 6:30pm

Submissions: ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 20 November 2026
Notification of selection: Friday 4th December 2026, 12 noon
Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 16th January 2027 10am to 5pmCollection of unsold work: Thursday 11 February 2027 10am to 5pm
Awards and Prizes - see listing near the end of this post

One of the walls in the Pastel Society's Annual Exhibition in 2026

Call for Entries

What you read below is most - but not all - the terms and conditions of entry and information about what and artist must and must not do. 

It's down to you to read the Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions

Find out more about how to enter:

London is the best city for art! (Time Out Survey)

London has been declared to be the best city in the world for art galleries - according to Time Out’s latest guide to the planet’s top places for culture.

This conclusion arises out of a survey of more than 24,000 people around the world about culture in their cities.

An impressive 81.1 percent of surveyed Londoners said that the city does art galleries better than it does anything else. London was a clear gold medal winner in the category, scoring much higher than Paris (which came second with 67.9 percent) and New York (third with 67.7 percent).

Of course, one of the main reasons for this is that so many are free to access - which is a very significant bonus for both residents and visitors alike.

In addition, 88.4 percent of London’s residents backed London’s museum venues. That put us third, only behind Paris and Madrid. 

Below is a summary of Time's Out View - based on its survey - of:

• the top 50 art galleries in London
• the top 25 museums in London.
  

I really out to get back to doing my twice a year overview of what's on where at the major art galleries....

The Top 50 Art Galleries in London

This is the Time Out Guide to The 50 best art galleries in London

Frankly, I don't think they're in any order of "best". 

• Rather this is a collection of what they think are the best. 
• I guarantee that the majority of Time Out Readers will not have heard of the majority of them - which makes it a very odd list in that sense.
• It also excludes rather a lot of very active art galleries which are well worth a visit - mainly because they forgot to say.....

There is a VERY STRONG Contemporary Art bias

Hence they EXCLUDE:

• any of the long running and very respectable art galleries (eg Cork Street and associated area) which a lot of artists would give their eye teeth to get into
• anything to do with art societies - which is sad, because it basically indicates that anything associated with an art society is of no interest. Which is very far from the truth.

As such I'll tell you which I think are the best!

Plus all the ones I have never visited

They are listed in a very odd order - so I have reordered into my particular order of preference

The Sainsbury Wing is now effectively the main entrance to the National Gallery
- and all temporary exhibitions

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

Review: Episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year Series 11 (2026) - HMS Wellington & the South Bank

There are no pods in this week's episode 5 of Landscape Artist of the Year - because all the artists are created their art while rocking and swaying to the waves of the River Thames with their easels on the decks of HMS Wellington.

LAOTY 2025 - Episode 5 Artists with their paintings

This review follows the same format of my other reviews and considers.

• the location and weather
• the artists' profiles
• themes arising during the episode
• who was shortlisted and who won

See my review of Episode 1 for how these reviews and my commentary works.

At the end, in the Reference Section, you can see listings for all previous reviews of this series and most of the previous LAOTY series - which ALL have lots of tips on my Art on Television page.

 

Episode 5: HMS Wellington and the South Bank

Location and Weather

A drone image of HMS Wellington - on the right
and the brutalist architecture of the South Bank Centre (National Theatre etc) on the left

The artists were based for the day on HMS Wellington which is a historic Royal Navy Grimsby Class Sloop moored on the Victoria Embankment - which runs between the Palace of Westminster and Blackfriars Bridge - near Temple Tube Station.

An iconic feature on the River Thames since 1948, HMS WELLINGTON provides a unique and charming venue with unrivalled views of the Thames riverscape that includes Big Ben and the London Eye to the West, and the Shard and the City of London to the East.

Group #1 seemed to be around about the middle of the ship

Group #2 seemed to be a slightly different place - towards the bow

HMS Wellington can be hired out in part or as a whole for the day.

 

HMS Wellington - moored at the Victoria Embankment

The location is one I know extremely well - having spent 

• three years working for KPMG at Puddle Dock (next to Blackfriars Bridge) and 
• four years working for my professional institute which used to be located nearby, adjacent to Embankment Gardens. 
• This stretch of the Thames is in between the two. 

Plus I have walked along the South Bank - from Embankment to Tate Modern - at least twice a year for the last 20 years.

The set-up minus pods on the deck of HMS Wellington
The only people with shelter are those who brought their own umbrellas

The view of the South Bank across the River Thames included everything from the Shard to the East (left) to the London Eye to the west (right).

It's probably the most panoramic landscape they've ever had in an urban environment. That is a genuine first.

Interestingly, you normally find the artists on the other side of the river painting the City of London - as I have done. This is also because, if you locate on the North bank of the Thames you're looking into the sun all day - which can be very wearing. I'd be interested to hear how the artists found it on the day. I was surprised not to see more sunglasses! (of which more later).

The weather was dry and very sunny in the morning, lots of high cloud in the afternoon and VERY windy rather a lot of the time. (At least they didn't have a rain problem)

On HMS Wellington

• the artists were located along the side of the ship - on the fore deck - at the mercy of the wind and experiencing wash from the other boats and the rising tide
• the wildcards were all under an awning in "steerage"!

We were on a boat! Out in the elements, buffeted by the wind, swaying with the rising tide, we emerged after a long day ruddy-cheeked & still smiling thanks to the team @storyvaultfilms Nicola Tremain

"Isn't TV Art Mad" Tai Shan Shierenberg 

The Artists on HMS Wellington

Episode 5 artists are listed BELOW in the alphabetical order of their surnames.

• including a synopsis of their background
• Links to their websites (if they have one) are embedded in their names.
• Social media platforms are also referenced - but typically only one

Call for Entries: The RA Summer Exhibition 2026

This is for all artists interested in submitting their art to this year's Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.

The entry opens this Wednesday and the number of entries is limited!

First, a preamble before we get on the details of the Call for Entries.

I've always been quite ambivalent about the Summer Exhibition held by the Royal Academy of Arts each year. Which has not stopped me analysing and writing a LOT about it. See the end of this post for links to past exhibitions - and some very useful information for would-be exhibitors.

I think it is a very worthy cause, insofar as receipts help fund the free art education provided to students at the RA Schools.

On the one hand, I think it includes quite a lot of utter rubbish. 

However, it also includes art with incredible impact that you might not otherwise see - and that's not just by the member RAs.

However it is ABSOLUTELY HUGE and I now find it to be exhausting. 

• Probably my age (I'm now 71 and have osteoarthritis) to some extent, 
• but also something to do with the numbers visiting, the noise and the lack of seats in what is a VERY large exhibition (well over 1,000 artworks - some of which are large). 
• In the end it becomes a complete sensory overload. I'm pleased to say I can cope with other smaller exhibitions very much better - so not just me being older!

Of late I've stopped visiting - but I do watch the videos AND I do look at the online exhibition!

Partly because I refuse to subscribe to the RA any more - which I did for years and years and years - because frankly I don't find the annual subscription cost (currently £148) in the context of what's on offer to be persuasive any more. 

That and the fact they took away the Chesterfields in the Friends Room. After a long visit viewing art you want a comfy seat - and Fortnum & Masons over the road now fulfils that need at a much reduced cost!

Call for Entries

Entry opens for the 2026 exhibition on Wednesday 7th January 2026. 

Hence why I'm writing this now - as you will see if you read on.

The overall process - from beginning to end - is MUCH MORE COMPLICATED than anything else you apply for so you need to get it right.

The RA have been doing this for a long time and have LOTS of information for you - and you do need to read it. 

Marks of Reflection" Exhibition by the PAOTY 2025 Semi Finalists

Yesterday evening, I attended the Private View of  at the excellent "Marks of Reflection" Exhibition by the PAOTY 2025 Semi Finalists - all organised and paid for by the artists.

Semi Finalists at the Private View

(L toR) Edie Baund - who loves orange and had some excellent advice from old friend Duncan Shoosmith (paint lots of portraits in 3 hours!)

Paulina Kwietiewsska - who paints a lot of children on commission;

Katie Jones - who had a nasty accident and broke her leg straight after the Final

Courtenay Bae - whose painting is behind

and Chloe Barnes - who won!

The exhibition is a combination of some (but not all) the artwork submitted or produced in the show. Plus additional artworks by individual artists.

You can find the photographs I took of the exhibition on my Making A Mark Facebook Page in this photo album Marks of Reflection (PAOTY 2025 semi finalists)

My pics 

• start with the winner 
• then some gallery views, 
• plus collections of pics by semi finalists finishing with the Finalists and the rest of Chloe's art and two past PAOTY winners! 

Well worth a view and you're guaranteed to meet at least one of the artists.

You can read the Cass Arts Interview with each of the semi-finalists here

Exhibition details:

• Artists include: Chloe Barnes, Courtney Bae, Edie Bound, Katie Jones, Lauren Ross, Paulina Kwietniewska, Uthman Wahaab.
• Dates: The exhibition is on until Sunday 21st December (11am - 6pm) 
• Venue: 67 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 7PT - which is a hop skip and jump due east of the BBC HQ and a few minutes walk north from Oxford Circus tube.
• Entry: Free

It is by the way a very nice "white box" gallery on two floors with excellent lighting. I'd certainly recommend any small group looking for a space for an exhibition to give it a visit.

Open Call for Entries: Royal Society of British Artists - Annual Exhibition 2026

You have two months to prepare an entry for the Annual Open Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). Online entries close on Friday 9 January 2026 (12 noon).

Find out how to enter the RBA Annual Exhibition 2026

This post explains:

• why this is a good exhibition for artists submitting via the open entry
• why the last two exhibitions have been very disappointing in terms of sales - particularly for member artists - but have lots of scope to "come back" and do as well as they have done in earlier years
• how to enter

Why submit to this open entry?

This is a good exhibition for non-members to try and get selected for, because of the variety of media, subject matter and styles which are acceptable to the RBA

This is probably the most eclectic of all the art societies belonging to the Federation of British Artists BA Exhibitions - whose home is at the Mall Galleries. My comment in this post Artwork I liked at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2025

It also has an excellent range of prizes, many of which open artists are eligible to win.

However, there are always a LOT of entries and this exhibition gets more open entries than some of the top flight art competitions in the UK (

Those who enter have a good chance of being exhibited as the RBA aims to split the artworks hung in the exhibition 50:50 between RBA members/associates and the open artists. 

Why the last two RBA exhibitions have been disappointing 

These were my blog posts about the 2025 exhibition

• Review: Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition 2025 (3 March 2025)
• Artwork I liked at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2025 (5 March 2025)
• RBA Annual Exhibition 2025 METRICS: Analysis of art sales & Recommendations about pricing (2nd April 2025) I suggest all members of the Selection Panel read - or re-read this post before they start selecting artwork for the 2026 exhibition. There's a lot of pointers as to where they are underselling the artists that exhibit.

The artwork selected comes from 3,843 submitted images. To give you a sense of what that represents it's bigger than the entry for some major art competitions. 

Mostly it was good work, although it certainly included artwork I personally would have edited out at the selection stage.

I start from the basic premise that major art exhibitions are for selling art as well as showing it. As in people want to recoup their expenses and generate income for an artist.

The reality is that the last two exhibitions have have had VERY LOW SALES

• 2025: 63 artworks sold (just 11% of the artwork hung) which is VERY LOW
• 2024: 52 sold from 491 hung (10%) last year - but only just (11%!!)

This is in the context of a society which, in the recent past, has generated in excess of £100K in sales at its annual exhibition (as another FBA Society did recently).

Moreover, in 2025, 60% of the artwork SOLD was generated by the Open Artists (selected via the Open Call to exhibit with the members of the RBA).

My thinking is this is because:

• open artists tend to submit smaller and more affordable artworks - priced to sell (I will allow myself to think some have been reading my blog posts which have provided clear signposts as to what sells!)
• member artists are sometimes self-indulgent and submit large works which have little chance of selling - and too many don't read my blog posts about the exhibition metrics!
• the Selection Panel sometimes seems to be 
• too indulgent to its members in terms of what they what they want to exhibit and 
• thinking too little about the business of making money from the exhibition - to fund their contribution of the costs of running the Mall Galleries.

A guide to price brackets at the last RBA Exhibition

I should emphasise that it's not just my opinion it was the members who were mainly responsible for the overall level of low sales. It's a FACT.

• There were 554 artworks hung in the show (which in my opinion is about 200 too many) split between:
• 275 artworks by members
• 279 artworks by open entry artists
• In terms of the number of artworks which sold
• 60% were by open artists
• 40% were by RBA Members and Associates

Most sales were, as I constantly reiterate, BELOW £1,500

Most sales in this RBA show were also by OPEN ARTISTS

This sort of performance is a function of:

• artwork submitted for exhibition
• the critical faculties of those selecting the work that gets on the wall.

Selection for 2026

In relation to the 2026 Annual Exhibition (26 February - 12 March), I'm really hoping that the panel of selectors will get their critical and business faculties in gear and become more discriminating by aiming to:

• RADICALLY REDUCE the number of artworks they select (i.e. the more they hang, the less they sell). 
• BE MUCH MORE RIGOROUS IN THEIR SELECTION - in relation to BOTH members and open entries - about preferring artwork that will sell rather than artwork which will just hang on a wall for 10 days and do very little for art, the artist or the RBA wanting to generate funds to run future exhibitions.  After all, this is what commercial galleries need to do all the time if they are to stay in business.

The key is to select the best and not just everything you like the look of it. 

artwork at the entry to the West Gallery in 2025

How to Enter

Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of British Artists at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2026. More details below.

Entries for PASTEL SOCIETY's 127th Annual Exhibition 2026 - closing soon

You have just under three weeks left to get a submission into the Annual Exhibition 2026 of The Pastel Society.

I've been trying to get round to this post for a while, which makes it much later than usual. However you still have time to start and finish a new work, or review what you did last year that you are proud of and submit that to the exhibition.

Benefits of Exhibiting with The Pastel Society

This is an OPEN ART EXHIBITION. If you submit and are selected for the exhibition your artwork will be

• included in the catalogue
• seen by visitors to the Mall Galleries - and it gets a lot of visitors
• viewed online via the Mall Galleries website and that of the Pastel Society - before, during and after the Exhibition
• eligible for a number of prizes & awards - and some have significant cash awards (see below)

Pastel Society | Annual Exhibition 2026 | Key Facts

What drew me to the Pastel Society was the thought of being surrounding by other people fascinated by dry media in particular
Curtis Holder

Venue: Mall Galleries, The Mall, LondonDates:
Exhibition Dates: Wednesday 21st January - Saturday 7th February 2026
Private View (invite only): Tuesday 20th January 2026 - 5pm to 8pm, official opening at 6:30pm

Submissions: ONLINE ONLY and open until 12 noon Friday 14 November 2025

Notification of selection: Friday 28th November 2025, 12 noon
Receiving Day (if selected): Saturday 10th January 2026, 10am to 5pm

Collection of unsold work: Thursday 12 February 202610am to 5pm

Awards and Prizes - see listing near the end of this post

Call for Entries

Find out more about how to enter:

• Open Calls - Pastel Society on the Mall Galleries website
• and BELOW.....

Who is eligible to enter?

• This is an OPEN exhibition and is not limited to work by members.
• There is also no restriction of where you live. It's open to artists in the UK, EU, and outside the EU
• Any artist over 18 may submit.

What media is acceptable for entries?

• All types of pastel including: soft pastel, hard pastel, oil pastel, ink pastel, water-based pastel, conté crayons or sticks, sanguine, and other dry mediums that are similar in their application including charcoal, chalk, and pencil.
• Mixed media and three-dimensional works are welcome where pastel or another dry media is the primary medium.
• HOWEVER.....

ALL work that is submitted must have a full description of the media used and any process which has been employed in the finished work beyond drawing and painting, e.g. printing, photography. 

Please note that failure to do this may result in unnecessary rejection on the grounds that work deserves to be judged on a like for like basis and because any buyer should be made aware of what they are buying.

Bottom line - no sleight of hand! This exhibition emphasises the use of dry media and the expertise of the artist in using it.

 

What can you enter?

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

The Call for Entries for the HSFK Portrait Award 2026 has been published.

Artists aged 18 and over are invited to submit entries of painted portraits to this prestigious annual competition and exhibition which is run by and held at the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The deadline for entries is 22.00 (GMT) on Tuesday 6th January 2026

Those which are shortlisted will be displayed in the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery held between 25 June and 7 October 2026. 

Very many artists who have succeeded in being selected for this exhibition in the last two decades started out by reviewing my summary of the call for entries! I know because they told me when I met them at the Awards Ceremonies and the press views (2008-2025).

The highly successful competition aims to encourage artists over the age of 18 to focus upon, and develop, the theme of portraiture in their work. Since its inception, the competition has attracted over 40,000 entries from more than 100 countries, and the exhibition has been seen by over 6 million people.  

Summary of Key Information about the Call for Entries

Note: Anybody who thinks I'm going to repeat four totally unmemorable names every time I write about this competition is mistaken. There was a reason the BP was called the BP!!  Hence I refer to this competition as The Portrait Award or The HSFK Portrait Award. 

I am going to start as I did last year - by highlighting the many good reasons why all aspiring portrait artists should enter this competition.

This post, written in 2023, tells you why you should enter WHY enter The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery (London)

Why enter The Portrait Award at the National Portrait Gallery?

Just getting selected - of itself a very valuable addition to any portrait painter's CV - means 

• your portrait painting will hang in an exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 25 June - 7 October 2026
• you are also eligible to win one of the prizes! You could also win one of the valuable prizes
• first prize is £35,000
• second prize is £12,000
• third prize is £10,000
• the Young Artist's Prize (for artists aged between 18 and 30) £9,000
• i.e. no increase from last year.

All selected artists aged between 18 and 30 will automatically be considered for both the Young Artist Award and the Portrait Award, but an individual cannot win both. 

The aim of the Young Artist Award is to profile their talent and support the development of their practice. I met a number of young artists at the exhibition last year.

Rachit Khandelwal (b.2004) with Finlay Trevor (b.2003) both exhibited in 2025 

and were both art students in Scotland 

(at the Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh School of Art respectively)

The portrait is Finlay's Quest for The Mackintosh Man (2024)

Note that those shortlisted for prizes MUST attend the Awards Ceremony on the evening of Tuesday 23 June 2026.

PLUS, there is the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Artist Commission worth £14,000 

• ALL ARTISTS chosen to exhibit in 2026 and 2027’s Portrait Award exhibitions will be considered for the bi-annual Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Artist Commission, which has a value of £14,000. 
• This will be announced in 2027.

Now you have a better appreciation of the incentives - on to the practical matters......

National Gallery is selling its legendary red leather benches!!!

One of the joys when I visit the National Gallery is to walk around various of the galleries and then finally to sink into one of the amazing red leather benches.  Proper seats which allow you to rest as opposed to hard benches with no backs which give you aches in both your bottom and back.

Very sadly, this is a joy about to be lost as all the red leather benches have all been sent to an auction house to be sold tomorrow (14th October starting at 1pm - details below)!

One of the red leather benches from the National Gallery

Sir Gabriele Finaldi, the Director of the National Gallery has decided they have to go and all the red leather benches are consigned to auction at Bellmans Fine Art Auctioneers

• The benches will be sold as part of the furniture section of our Antiques & Interiors Auction on 14th October. (View Catalogue). Designed by Gordon Bower & Partners for the National Gallery in 1986 and made by Arthur Brett & Sons, Norwich, Englad c. 1988.
  

In May 2025, the Gallery marked the end of its Bicentenary year with the reopening of the refurbished Sainsbury Wing and a complete rehang of its collection. As part of these projects, the decision was made to replace some of the benches in the National Gallery - out with the old and in with the new. And here at Bellmans, having received the consignment directly from The National Gallery themselves, it is most definitely (and is typically the way with auctions) in with the old!

Included in our October Antiques & Interiors Auction on 13th-14th October are five large double-sided round ended gallery benches (lots 1200, 1240, 1260, 1280 and 1360) The National Gallery comes to Bellmans (09 October 2025) 

I gather there's been an outcry about this. Interestingly there are no press releases about the removal of the much loved red benches or any sort of coherent explanation of why they are being removed.

It made the Telegraph. According to that article it's about "fears they could attract pests". Which is very odd given the condition survey by the auctioneers indicates no pest damage and they've been used in the Gallery for the last 40 years when they were recreated from the original 1890s benches.

The headline and image in The Telegraph about the sale of the red benches

Methinks a Director who likes new architectural developments disliked the red leather benches as too associated with the past and not the present or the future.

The London Visitors blog "Ian Visits" investigated and found that 

In a response to the initial outcry about what initially looked like the sale of old Victorian benches, the National Gallery said that “The eleven benches which are being sold by Bellmans Auctioneers are replicas of the original Gallery benches, made in the 1980-90’s. These replicas are not fire safe and are difficult to clean, which causes risks to the Collection from pests – both key factors in our decision to replace them.

The question is whether they will replace them with identical benches which are fire safe and easier to clean.

Apparently the fire safety standards for furniture in public buildings (BS 7176) are higher than those required for private homes (BS 5852). 

• Museums are required to meet the "Low Hazard" requirements (and that's "low hazard" as in fires less likely to damage people than the higher grades of hazard) . Interestingly it appears it ONLY relates to what's called "Contract Furniture" of the type which might be moved between rooms of different types. 
• It strikes me that it is entirely possible that when they were remade - to replace the originals - in the 1980s that non-traditional and more flammable materials were used which now makes them a potential hazard. 

However I'd hazard a guess that if there was a fire inside the gallery, it would be the artwork which presented the greatest hazard and which would go up much faster than any of the sofas. 

Are they planning to replace the national art collection in order to render it safe?

One small bright light on the distant horizon - because you can be sure they're not being replaced like for like right now - is that the Gallery announced.

We have detailed photography and designs in the Archive, should we wish to have them remade in future.

However I find it very odd that the National Gallery should be 

• so keen to pursue fire regulations 
• while at the same time ignoring the Financial Regulations relating to direct debits and annual subscriptions. see BEWARE National Gallery Members!!!

Major Disability Concerns

Speaking personally, I find the way in which art galleries and museums in general ignore the needs of disable people to be completely reprehensible - of not illegal. 

How come they need to provide disabled toilets and not seating suitable for those (like me) with severe osteoarthritis who have difficulty getting up and down without an arm. 

As one other commentator put it (my bold)

For all the online stir around the new, minimal design choice versus the familiar favourites, it is a lack of accessibility in the new seating that concerns Kent, among others.

‘The old chairs were excellent for people with mobility issues or back pain because they had both arm and back rests, but the new ones are unusable. This is hostile furniture, it is designed to make you move on,’ she says. ‘Ironically, the rhetoric around museums today is all about accessibility, and yet the modern, international museum aesthetic of hard, uninviting spaces is so hostile to anyone with a disability or mobility issues.’ Wallpaper

Several people responded to the points raised by Kent to share personal experiences of accessing museum spaces with disabilities and mobility impairments.

Review: Contemporary British Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2025

Contemporary British Portrait Painters have grown since they were founded in 2018 - and now have an annual exhibition.  This is a review of this year's exhibition - but also the way in which members of the group work together which impresses me so much.

Don't forget - the exhibition continues until 5pm tomorrow 5th July!

the hang was beautifully balanced - in terms of colour, subjects and size

First, apologies for the late review. I've been preoccupied with various personal matters this week, which had to take priority. 

However I did manage to get my pics of the exhibition onto Facebook very fast - You can see my photographs in this Facebook Album Contemporary British Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2025 (39 items ).  I also recommended people visit the exhibition which continues

• downstairs at The Department Store, 248 Ferndale Road, Brixton SW9 8FR.
• until 5pm on Saturday 5th July

Review of the Group

This is one of the friendliest and most co-operative art societies I know - which gives the exhibition and its Private View a really positive and relaxed atmosphere. It's always a pleasure to be there on PV night.

While there are a few particularly key people organising behind the scenes - notably the Chair Sarah Jane Moon and the Exhibition Curator Lucy Stopford, there are a range of people playing key support roles within what is very much a team. What's more they've got all the angles covered - which is more than I can say for some!

The Team

         Left to right: Wendy Barratt, Catalogue; Sarah Jane Moon, Chair; Peter Davis, Graphics; Lucy Stopford, Exhibition Lead; Liesel Thomas; Peter James Field, Communications Lead ; Jonathan Chan, social media; Martyn Burdon, Development Officer; 

Clive Bryant, Secretary & Treasurer.

The CBPP are 

• intentionally run as a non-profit collective (you are expected to contribute) and 
• take no commission from the sales by individual artists at their exhibitions.  
• everybody has to apply - there are no invitations.

I think this is maybe because the age profile is maybe younger than some societies. Which is not to say people are inexperienced. Far from it. Their members include 

• a number of BP / HSF Portrait Award winners 
• plus regular exhibitors who haven't won just yet and/or have painted portrait commissions for the National Portrait Gallery
• a number of PAOTY competition winners. 
• As well as people who have won top prizes for portraiture internationally.

A very large portrait of a Philippine fisherman by Tim Benson
who is one of this year's HSF Portrait Award winners
(and we found out which one next week!)

Frances Bell with her self portrait "Yellow Trainers"
which won the Draper Grand Prize and People's Choice 
at the Portrait Society of America's "The Art of the Portrait Conference" 
(see other International Portrait Prize winners)

It's about championing one another and being supportive.

Together we aim to amplify a broader range of voices and practices Catalogue

What's really very positive and inclusive is that 

• classically trained people are embraced 
• just as much as those who have developed their own styles and techniques. 

There's none of that rather sniffy "trained in Florence - not what we're looking for" which we get with PAOTY.

It's also very inclusive in terms of the background and life choices of its members. In other words it's very much NOT an an anglo saxon white society where people mainly paint commissions for institutions. 

Which is not to say they don't. Just that you won't see them in the CBPP exhibition.

Indeed I'd go so far as to say they are more focused as to who and what they are looking for in terms of new members than some other societies. 

They're not really after people who can paint a portrait per se so much as artists who need to create portraits on a regular basis in order to express themselves and how they view the world - and develop their practice.  Their members include:

Beyond The Prize

Beyond The Prize is a NEW and different sort of contemporary figurative art exhibition. It's all about 160 new artwork produced by over one hundred recent award-winning artists artists - and it opens at the Mall Galleries on Wednesday 16th April.

Bringing together the best emerging and established artists from art societies across the UK, the exhibition celebrates the impact of prizes and awards on their work, and their work on the world.

• The aim of the exhibition is to provide them with a showcase for their new works and to highlight figurative art as a thriving, contemporary art form. 
• The artists and artwork have been guest curated by Tabish Khan - an art critic who specialises in London's art scene. He is the visual arts editor for Londonist, a trustee of ArtCan, (a non-profit arts organisation that supports artists through profile raising activities and exhibitions), Discerning Eye, and is a member of The Critics’ Circle.

The exhibition is presented by the Federation of British Artists, a collective of leading art societies based at Mall Galleries. It is through the exhibitions and initiatives of the Federation - led by artists, for all - that more than £100,000 worth of prizes and awards, bursaries, residencies and scholarships are awarded to artists annually. Featured in this exhibition are many of these winners, plus award-winning artists from the Royal West of England Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, and Wales Contemporary.

The artwork is already available to see - and buy - online. 

The exhibition is accompanied by an online series, featuring interviews with many of the exhibitors about their journey to the prize and beyond.  This includes their responses to the question:

"What impact do you think art has on the world, now, and in the future?"

There are also a number of events - listed after the details of the exhibition below.

The Artists in the Exhibition

The exhibition includes both emerging and established artists. Exhibitors are 

• award-winning artists from the annual open exhibitions of the art societies within the Federation of British Artists in 2023 and 2024, 
• plus winners of the gallery’s bursaries, residencies and scholarships over the same period.
• plus award-winning artists from the Royal West of England Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, and Wales Contemporary.

If this exhibition continues beyond this year, it provides an enormous incentive for:

• artists to submit great artwork to FBA Exhibitions with a view to winning a prize
• a high standard of judging in relation to who wins prizes.

You can see the names of the artists in the online exhibition

However, very oddly, none of the listings provide any reference to the prize they won. Which I thought was the whole point of the show - to demonstrate that these are prizewinners!

I did ask the Mall Galleries for a copy of the list of the artists - but got an email back from the consultant who is doing their publicity saying she doesn't monitor her email account!!!

I think there are a few aspects which could be improved if this exhibition were to run again!

Artworks in the Exhibition  

There are 160 new artworks in the exhibition. 

Media

• 75 - oil or acrylic
• 26 - waterbased media (watercolour, gouache, pen and ink)
• 25 - mixed media
• 24 - dry media (pastel, charcoal, graphite)
• 6 - scultures
• 4 - prints

Subject matter

I'll be interested to see how these fare in the selling stakes as I know which category tends to generate the most sales - and it isn't Portrait and Figures.

• 61 - Portrait and Figure 
• 39 - Landscape and Cityscape
• 23 - Still life and Interiors
• 16 - Wildlife and Animals
• 11 - "Other" - including "Freemotion embroidery on painted silk"
• 1 - Abstract

Pricing

It's worth commenting on the pricing in advance. There are four approaches to pricing by different groups of artists who I would characterise as follows

• artists who are not willing to compromise their prices and choose to make them not for sale. The exhibition represents a marketing opportunity for commissions.
• artists who have stuck to their normal price range for size and media
• artists have have been optimistic as to who this exhibition might be marketed to, one way and another - who might have got rather ambitious / overly optimistic in their pricing and will very probably be disappointed
• artists who have read my blog posts on pricing for exhibitions at the Mall Galleries.

How to see the Beyond the Prize Exhibition

"Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur" at the Wallace Collection

I had a lovely morning yesterday visiting the Wallace Collection and getting to photograph and hear about "Grayson Perry: Delusions of Grandeur".

The exhibition is in the basement of the Wallace Collection and fills three rooms plus two side galleries (where the Portraits of Dogs exhibition was).  I enjoyed it and will probably go again because, oddly, previews are not the best times to digest everything there is to enjoy.

It's both a visual feast and an amazing confection of a variety of media and items  ceramic, sculpture, textile (tapestries and carpets) and works on paper made by Sir Grayson Perry RA in the last three years. Apparently there is more diverse use of media in this exhibition than in any exhibition he has done ever before. It has everything!

Just his use of colour - and he is a master colourist - will mean most people leave the exhibition with a smile on their face.

I'd recommend a visit while recognising it is not an exhibition which will appeal to everybody (see some of the links to reviews at the end)

Heaven's Gate by Sir Grayson Perry RA

As always, everything in the exhibition - with the exception of a few items from the Wallace Collection - has been drawn, designed and created by Grayson Perry - or in the case of things like the the carpets, tapestries and wallpaper, created by others under his very, very specific direction. I heard about what happens if you don't stipulate very exact colours!

Heaven's Gate (wool carpet) in the background
and The Great Beauty (oak,brass and ceramic) on the right

Pots and sculpture form an important part of the exhibition

Drawings - in pen and coloured pencils - and pot

I walked in to the photocall with Grayson Perry - see below.