Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2025

There's a new look to the Annual Exhibition of the ROI  - which is an annual exhibition that features a variety of oil paintings by both established and emerging artists, the majority of whom are members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.

The theme of this year's ROI Exhibition is "Home"

I visited last Wednesday for the PV and Awards Ceremony and then again on Saturday afternoon to finish my photographs and it gradually dawned on me that it felt and looked different - and then slowly I realised why that might be.

The Demographic Change

It took a while to work it out - and then I realised, almost all the "old guard" who I've been seeing in the Annual Exhibitions for the last 20 years have almost all gone. 

Of those still alive, relatively few are still painting and exhibiting. 

It feels like the overall demographic of ROI members has really changed - so there are now many more younger artists and many more female artists.

• Older members have been replaced 
• by much younger artists who have done their bit as open artists and 
• who have now progressed to becoming members and 
• in turn, some of them are now officers of the ROI in their middle age. 

I'm now older than most of the people running the show - which feels very different for me too!

I remember well walking around the ROI annual exhibition in 2010 with Adebanji Alade PROI while we discussed how we could make even more of an impression than he was already and become a member!

Last Wednesday, I saw him deliver the most electrifying tub thumping awards ceremony I've seen in years - as President of the ROI. It feels like maybe the engine room has had an overhaul and there's a new drive to reinforce and develop the ROI. 

While on the wall next to the cafe, very sadly, there's a record of a number of the stalwart member exhibitors of the past who have died in the last year. The last year we lost so many in one year was 2022. These included:

• Fred Beckett FROI (1933-2025) who was an ex President of the ROI and the Wapping Group; 
• John McCombs ROI (1943-2025) who never grew tired of painting the Pennine village of Delph and 
• Brian Ryder (1944-2025) -  whose landscapes I always looked forward to seeing and who never ever had a painting rejected by the ROI.  I found these "bon mots" on his website - which I'm sure some of you will value

1. Art is not what we see but what you can make others see.
2. Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.
3. A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, and some fantasy. When you always make your meaning plain you end up boring people.
4. Painting is easy when you don’t know how, but very difficult when you do.”

So it felt a bit like you do on New Year's Eve - it's goodbye to the old guard and hello to all the new much younger painters hoping to become members as well as those who have been around a few years and are now running the show!

Interestingly most of those new artists are ones I first came across online. 

 It was good to see that Greg Mason has now become a member and taken over the role of looking after the website and social media  (PS You may remember Greg from Landscape Artist of the Year - when he abandoned the chosen view and still made it to the Final! (His blog post / My Blog post. For the unitiated, I have a memory like an elephant and an archive which services it well!!)

This is his video tour of the exhibition

Pricing your art for Open Exhibitions - a review of a sample of exhibition metrics for 2024

This is all about how to sell the art that gets selected for an open exhibition by a national art society.

One of the ways in which artists can promote their art is by being selected for an open exhibition by a national art society. 

However, they help their profiles enormously and enhance their case for membership of a national art society if they can also demonstrate that their artwork is not only good enough to exhibit - but it also sells!

I personally find it very frustrating every time I visit an exhibition is to see good art which is overpriced - and which I know will not sell.

None of what I say applies to any artist who is not dependent on their artwork selling to have a normal life. If you have independent means, you can price however you like.

By way of contrast, what I say is crucial to the understanding of those artists who "need to know" how to achieve sales i.e. study the marketplace, what's on offer and what the price competition looks like.

UPDATE 31 December 2024: This post has now been UPDATED with reference to artists who sold more than one artwork - providing summary details of the type of art and prices of sold artwork.

Why artists get prices for their art wrong

Artists are very invested in their art. They often price in an unsound way which reflects motivations which have nothing whatsoever to do with selling art. 

The reasons for getting the price wrong are:

• thinking too much about the hours and effort put into a painting and not enough about whether that's marketable
• not visiting an annual open exhibition in advance of submitting an entry
• not observing the prices of the work which has sold - when your research can be done online
• not looking at last year's exhibition online - and noting the price bands where there are few sales
• not reading this blog! I've been banging on and on about the need to tailor prices to the marketplace for specific art galleries. 
• specifically in relation to the FBA Societies at the Mall Galleries
• specifically in relation to pricing just below and not just above important threshold prices i.e. the level at which people start thinking "No" rather than "Yes" 

Bottom line, your art is only worth an "inflated price" if you can find somewhere where it will sell at that price. Otherwise it's just numbers on a label and a painting which will be returned to you unsold.

I can by the way spot all the artists who have been reading this blog and have adjusted their prices and are now selling again after a fairly rough marketplace in recent times. :) 

While writing this post, I also noticed an awful lot of artists who used to sell well on a regular basis who are no longer doing so. Time maybe to review their strategy for getting their artwork sold?

2024 Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics by FBA Societies

Below you will find charts of sales at the 2024 annual exhibitions of the art societies who belong to the Federation of British Artists based at the Mall Galleries i.e.

• Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
• Royal Institute of Oil Painters
• Royal Society of British Artists
• New English Art Club
• Royal Society of Portrait Painters
• Pastel Society
• Royal Society of Marine Artists
• Society of Wildlife Artists

Each chart is the exact same size - which helps make each comparable with the others. However the numbers of sales by members/associate members and those selected via the open entry are

• identified by price range in which they sold 
• with a coloured column each for member artists and open entry artists
• with an additional total column for all sales in each price range

UPDATE 31.12.24.: I'm also adding in - under each chart - the names of artists who sold well (as in 2 or more sales) in the 2024 exhibitions. It is possible to identify the TYPE of art which can sells well. Of which more in the future....

Who are the buyers at the Mall Galleries?

I started characterising buyers at the Mall Galleries as being essentially "middle class, middle aged and middle income" some years ago. 

• They typically like buying artwork priced at less than £1,500 - and they like it even more if it is priced at less than a £1,000. 
• You should bear this in mind as you review the charts and commentary below and as you check the profiles of the price ranges of artwork sold in the charts below

Essentially annual exhibitions at the Mall Galleries are about affordable art for most of those who visit, view and buy art.

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours

They exhibited 450 artworks and sold 87 paintings (19%).

• members sold 47
• open entrants sold 40
• The top priced painting was £3,250

No open artist sold a painting for more than £1,000. 

There were a LOT of sales priced under £1000 with specific hot prices such as £650 and £450. Interestingly

• open artists dominated the below £500 category
• members dominated the £501-£1000 category

Unsurprisingly, watercolours are considered to be more affordable artwork - so long as artists produce suitable sizes and prices for them to be considered affordable. When they do, they sell like hot cakes!

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours
Annual Exhibition Sales Metrics - number sold by price range and type of artist

Artists who did well include:

• Member: Matthew Phinn RI RSMA - 2 x landscape paintings @ £1,700 and £550
• Member: Paul Talbot-Greaves RI - all landscape paintings 2 x £400 and 3 x £750
• Member: Hannah Woodman RI - two watercolour and gouache landscape paintings @£3,250 and £1,950
• Member: Geoffrey Wynne RI - all landscape paintings priced under £2000, sold 4 including 3 at £850
• Open Entry: Miranda Brookes - sold two landscapes at £650 each
• Open Entry: Sandra Doyle - sold two botanical art paintings (£750 and £425), which she could have sold again and again!
• Open Entry: Julia Groves - 2 x flower paintings @ £870 each
• Open Entry: Kate Osbourne - sold 2 x watercolour and gouache paintings about allotments @ £395 each
• Open Entry: Jian Yuan Ong - sold 2 @£400

Note the theme re subject matter?

SEE ALSO: RI Annual Exhibition 2023: Analysis of art sales metrics and pricing artwork for the future

Royal Institute of Oil Painters

Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Oil Painters

You've got less than a week left to submit an entry to the Annual Exhibition 2024  of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the Mall Galleries which opens on 28th November 2024.
I'd normally writing about this in August - but as regular readers will know I was on a lengthy break for various reasons.

So the first thing I need to tell you is that the deadline for online entries - to to submit your digital image of your artwork / form / fees ONLINE only - is Friday 4 October, 12 noon 

The ROI Annual Exhibition typically exhibits around 300 artworks by both members and those selected via the open entry. 

The ROI is the only major British art society that promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard exclusively in oil paint.

This blog post covers this Open Exhibition - and:

• who can enter
• what you can enter
• how to enter

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2023

You can find the official and FULL Call for Entries here on

• the Mall Galleries website
• the ROI website
• the portal to the entry screen

Plus this is the link to the Full Details, Entry Terms & Conditions

Below is a Summary of the different aspects of the Call for Entry - plus MY COMMENTARY.

I would love to see more artists having the chance to exhibit alongside us at this prestigious event. When I had my first chance, I was over the moon and just being associated with this society has really boosted my career in the most positive ways.
Adebanji Alade - President

WHO can Enter

Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2023. ROI Exhibition Page

• The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18
• It is also open to international entries - you don't even have to be live or work in the UK. 
• However International Artists need to make sure they read the Mall Galleries/FBA Notice about the need to register for VAT to get your artwork through Customs and into the UK!  
• You might also find my webpage about International Art Shipping: How to ship / export art to other countries useful.

What you can enter

Portraits of people in oils
at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 (East Gallery)

SUBJECT MATTER

Artists may submit work on any subject matter.

ORIGINAL ARTWORK NOT PREVIOUSLY SEEN

Basically NEW to the Mall Galleries and less than 3 years old.

ALL artwork submitted MUST

• have been completed within the last three years and 
• must NOT have been previously exhibited at the Mall Galleries (i.e. if you've submitted it to one of the other art societies that exhibits at the Mall Galleries - and it was selected for exhibition you cannot submit it to this exhibition)

ACCEPTABLE MEDIA

I declare victory for common sense!  Last year and the year before in my Call for entries posts, I had a go at the ROI and the Mall Galleries for what was clearly confusing advice as to eligible media - which IMO bordered on being in conflict with mandatory regulations re marketing - and this year it has been sorted!!

I'm really pleased to acknowledge that the ROI is truly exclusive to entries in oil paint.

The definition of acceptable media is now as follows (with my choice of highlighting for what is now EXCLUDED!)

Oils. The ROI promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard in oil paint.

Water-soluble oil paint is acceptable if framed as an oil, so as not to spoil the general appearance of the exhibition.

Acrylic is no longer accepted

Most of the selected works have always been in oil paint i.e. high 90% so this shouldn't be an issue for the look of the exhibition

However this change may well affect all those artists submitting via the open entry in acrylic who will now need to find alternative exhibitions to enter - or start painting in oils.

NUMBER OF ENTRIES

Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters - Annual Exhibition 2023

The Annual Exhibition 2023 of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters continues at the Mall Galleries until 16th December - and this is my review of it.

This review is going to focus on:

• The overall "look" and content of the exhibition - what I noticed about what had changed
• Paintings which jumped out at me - in a good way!
• Observations on framing and pricing

East Gallery + Private View

I've paid two visits to the exhibition. The first to the Private View when it was great to see a lot of artists I've not seen in a very long time. The second was last Friday when I got the chance to actually take photographs of the artwork in the three galleries without huge numbers of people in front of them!

I've loaded my photographs into three albums on my Making A Mark Facebook Page:

• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - West Gallery (57 items)
• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - East Gallery (21 items)
• ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - North Gallery (16 items)

Unfortunately, Facebook appears to be suffering from malfunctions this week, as I'm unable to annotate all the images in the West Gallery album (as yet). 

I've tried to include all the various prizewinners - which you can read more about in this Mall Galleries post about Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2023 | Award Winners

This review is late in being published because I'm currently in the process of personal priorities related to dealing with matters related to my late Mother's Estate.

Look and Content

I've looked back at past ROI Exhibitions before making the comments below. As always it was well hung. 

Size of paintings

To me, it seems as if the exhibition lacks the number of large feature paintings - which draw attention and anchor a wall - as it normally has. 

I think the current economic context may have influenced artists to submit smaller work in the hope that it sells.

In doing so, they would be following the very well trodden path that I saw in very many exhibitions post between 2008 and 2010 during the banking crisis. 

Once you know that larger more expensive paintings are simply not selling, there's a considerable incentive to reduce your expenses in terms of shipping and framing and submit the size of works which might suit buyers pocketbooks better.

EXCEPT this then means the exhibition loses impact.

If I may be so bold as to suggest, I'd like to see all member artists sending in at least one large painting and then the rest can be any size they like. Large paintings are there to capture attention and make the viewer appreciate the expertise involved. They also help create a positive impresssion with visitors - so long as the paintings are good.

Colour

The paintings also lack colour to some extent. There's a lot of dark / grey / muted / neutral paintings. Looked at one their own - by one artist - this is not an issue. Looked at in a large exhibition, it begins to be noticeable. However I did feel the North Gallery was rather muted this year.

ROI Annual Exhibition 2023 - North Gallery

Take as another example the end wall in the West Gallery - devoted to the theme of Urban Life. 

Quite a subdued neutral wall - only the vegetation stands out!

I came away on the Friday feeling a little wintery and underwhelmed. Which is not to say that there's not a lot of excellent paintings in this exhibition.  

The Paintings which jumped out at me

Given the above comments I've decided to focus on some of the paintings which jumped out at me - in a nice way!

I typically walk around an exhibition about three times. 

• first time round, I'm just looking at the art and not at the labels (who painted it etc.) or whether it's won a prize - just looking to get a general impression and see what jumps out at me
• second time round, I'm looking to see if the things which appealed the first time still appeal - and this time I look at the labels and pay particular attention to who painted them
• third time I'm collecting data on who has sold - and for how much!

So here's my top 10 - in no particular order

That said, I thought this was by far the best painting in the show. I'm not normally a fan of hyperrealistic artwork but there's such a lot to admire in this one. I was really surprised to see that it had not won a prize - particularly given the emerging status of the artist.

Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2023

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters invite entries to its Annual Exhibition 2023 at the Mall Galleries which opens on 29th November 2023. This blog post covers this Open Exhibition and:

• who can enter
• what you can enter
• how to enter

It also covers what, in my opinion are two serious mistakes.

The deadline for entries is 12 noon on Friday 6 October to submit your artwork / form / fees ONLINE only.  

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2023

You can find the official and FULL Call for Entries here on

• the Mall Galleries website
• the ROI website

There's not been a lot of marketing of this Call for Entries by either the ROI or Mall Galleries - I only spotted it this week!

Below is a Summary of the different aspects of the Call for Entry 

- plus MY COMMENTARY. 

(UPDATE: I should add that I emailed the President of the ROI before I published and he's written back to say that the ROI Council will consider the points made for the future.)

View of the East Gallery at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

WHO can Enter

Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the ROI Annual Exhibition 2023. ROI Exhibition Page

• The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18
• It is also open to international entries - you don't even have to be live or work in the UK. However International Artists need to make sure they read the Mall Galleries/FBA Notice about the need to register for VAT to get your artwork through Customs and into the UK! (See the last bullet point under Sales in the Call for Entries re the need to register for VAT). You might also find my page about International Art Shipping: How to ship / export art to other countries useful.

View of North Gallery - ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

WHAT you can enter

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters was founded in 1882 and is the only major British art society that promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard exclusively in oil paint. ROI Exhibition Page

Acceptable media: Oils. Acrylic and water-soluble oil paint is acceptable if framed as an oil, so as not to spoil the general appearance of the exhibition. 

The ROI have a problem with the wording of the Call for Entries (and website). I explicitly noted the problem with the Call for Entries and the two statements above last year. I warn about issues once and, if not addressed, the following year I spell out why it needs to be addressed - which is what I'm doing this year.

The two statements above are ambiguous, contradictory and misleading which means they are very unlikely to be compliant with The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code)

A Call for Entries is a direct marketing communication. I'm not sure many art societies are aware of this, but it applies to ALL marketing communications on the Internet, print publications, advertisements and promotional material - including websites. Compliance is also NOT optional!

The UK Code of Non-broadcast Advertising and Direct & Promotional Marketing (CAP Code) is the rule book for non-broadcast advertisements, sales promotions and direct marketing communications (marketing communications). (CAP Code)

In my opinion, the ROI really MUST review the use of the word 'exclusively' on the ROI website (and Mall Galleries website). All that needs to happen is either:

• EITHER: delete the word "exclusively" and have another think about how to describe the ROI and acceptable media
• OR: delete non-oil paints from eligible media since it's impossible to be "exclusively in oil paint" - and then accept other paints e.g. acrylic which are NOT oil paints! ( i.e. a frame does not change a media!!)
• AND make sure all communications comply with the CAP Code in every respect.

Number and percentage of works - by medium

- in the ROI Annual Exhibitions 2014-2019

The number of works exhibited each year typically varies between 270 and just over 300. 

I RECOMMEND that artists submit artworks in oil paint only via the Open Entry.

In relation to other matters there are various requirements

• Age: All artwork must have been completed within the last three years 
• Previous Exhibitions: Artwork must not have been previously shown at Mall Galleries.
• Presentation: 
• Paintings should be completely dry at the time of delivery
• Wide mounts between painting and frame, as in watercolours, are not acceptable.
• Glazed work is not encouraged.
• Unframed work can be accepted if on a well-presented box canvas.
• Works that are poorly presented or differ significantly from the photograph entered will not be exhibited.
• Exhibition Theme: 
• This year’s mini theme is ‘Urban Life’, which can be interpreted widely. 
• Artists are encouraged to contribute a work on the theme, however it is not compulsory.
• Number of artwork submitted: A maximum of six works may be submitted
• Number / size of artwork selected: 
• A maximum of three works may be selected.
• The combined measurement of works accepted will not exceed 8 feet maximum per artist.
• For Sale: 
• Work must be for sale, unless portraits.
• The minimum sale price is £500.
• All prices must allow for the deduction of commission @45% plus VAT %20% on the commission sum and the cost of the frame and shipping (there and back if unsold).

I'm very concerned that the minimum price has been raised to £500 for a number of reasons. I can only assume this is the product of some misplaced notion that eliminating very affordable art will increase sales and income. This is wrong. If anything the emphasis should be on making artwork more affordable.

Key Pricing Points - based on analysis of actual data:

Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

This exhibition is on for longer than most of the annual exhibitions of the art societies based at the Mall Galleries. The Annual Exhibition 2022 of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters opened at the Mall Galleries on 24th November and closes on 10th December.

This is a review of what I found when I visited in the first week. I've previously written about the prizewinners in Prizewinners at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

Annual Exhibition 2022

This exhibition comprises 285 paintings which are hung in the three galleries at the Mall Galleries. (This compares to 304 in 2019 which was the last ROI exhibition I went to and is the second lowest total since 2014)

The first thing is that I've uploaded my photos of the exhibition to my Facebook Page - by gallery - as follows:

• West Gallery
• East Gallery
• North Gallery
  

Part of the hang in the East Gallery

Part of the West Gallery

I've highlighted paintings I liked and/or was intrigued by through photographs of the  individual paintings.

You will appreciate that I've reviewed such exhibitions many times - although I've missed the last two ROI Annual Exhibitions due the pandemic and shielding prior to surgery. (I got as far as the hospital a year ago today - before being sent home again!)

So I'm splitting this review into two halves

• what I noticed
• what I liked.

It's always interesting to do a review a little while after a visit to see if you still think the same as what you noted at the time.....

What I noticed

Themes for my commentary are as follows

• Groups of artworks by members
• Changing Times (Theme)
• Young Artists
• Small = Affordable?
• Framing
• Media
• Sales

Groups of artworks by Members

I liked the grouping of artwork by members with very distinctive styles. It makes for a more impactful presentation.

Prizewinners at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

I'm very pleased to see that both the website of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the Mall Galleries have lists of the Prizewinners at the Annual Exhibition 2022 - currently on display at the Mall Galleries until 10th December 2022

You can view them via the following links 

• ROI 2022 Annual Exhibition – Prize winners | ROI website
• Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2022 | Award Winners | Mall Galleries

I've uploaded my photos of the prizewinners to a folder on my Facebook Page. 

AND Alastair also handed me a list of the prizewinners when he saw me having a cup of tea.  The Mall Galleries are back to producing a listing for each exhibition!

I use it as a checklist when going round trying to spot the prizewinners!

I've written about the exhibition in The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022 & Events and will be writing further about what I thought about the exhibition and the artwork I liked in another post this week.

Prizes and Awards

Here's the list - split into types of awards. 

• Links to the artists' websites are embedded in their names. 
• I've also taken the first paragraph of their "About" page to provide a description of the artist underneath. (As in it's a good prompt to make other artists go and look and see what they say when introducing themselves!)

Cash Awards

I've listed the awards in order of cash value.

The Phyllis Roberts Award

An award of £2,000 for an artist aged 30 or under.

• Kayoon Anderson, Self Portrait with James, 100 x 75 cm

Kayoon was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1997. She studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and painting at Siena Art Institute before returning to England to specialise in portraiture at Heatherley School of Art. She currently works as a figurative painter in London. She looks to Italian and Korean art as influences in her painting practice.

(Some of you may recall Kayoon was the Heat Winner of Episode 1 of Portrait Artist of the Year 2020. She also painted Clive Myrie for Portrait Artist of the Week.)

Self Portrait with James, 100 x 75 cm
Kayoon Anderson

I remember thinking when I took a look at this that it struck me as being very angular and architectural. Small wonder!

Somebody was very critical of this painting on my post about the prizewinners on Facebook. So, in return, I offered my opinion of his comment. In my experience, sniping is almost always associated with people whose paintings were not selected for exhibition - but I can only speculate....

The Alan Gourlay Memorial Award

In memory of Past President Akan Gourlay, an annual prize of £1,000, awarded for a painting of outstanding merit.

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022 & Events

This week the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters opens to the public at the Mall Galleries on Thursday, 24th November 2022. 

I haven't been to one since 2019 - so am really looking forward to going this year. This is after the ROI experienced the worst luck possible of having both its 2020 and 2021 exhibitions clobbered by you know what - plus I was avoiding exhibitions pre-surgery last year.

That said, I'm still not attending Private Views (I'm still averse to large crowds indoors), so I'm not going to be visiting until Friday at the earliest so thought I'd take the opportunity today to highlight below

• the Online Exhibition - which you can view now
• the many Events - including painting with the ROI members - being held during the Exhibition

ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

Venue: Mall Galleries
Dates: 24 November 2022 to 10 December 2022
Hours: 10am to 5pm
Admission: £5, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries, ROI Friends, under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.

ROI Online Exhibition

You can view the ROI Online Exhibition of all the artwork selected for the exhibition in 2022 on the Mall Galleries website.

You can also view the ROI Catalogue on ISSUU. This includes images of artwork by members and the complete listing of all the artworks and artists - with media and prices - in the exhibition

Landscape paintings by members of the ROI in the Exhibition Catalogue 2022
(Left clockwise: Andrew King, Julia Hawkins, Tom Stevenson; Right: Nicholas Verrall)

It was very sad to see from the catalogue that the ROI has lost five members in the last year - in alphabetical order

• Brian Bennett ROI
• Fred Cuming RA NEAC Hon RGA Hon ROI (1930-2022)
• Derek Daniels AROI (1912-2022)
• Neville Fleetwood (1932-2021)
• Ken Howard OBE Hon RBA PPNEAC RA ROI (1932-2022)

ROI Events at the Annual Exhibition 2022

Some of these events involve painting and hence require some planning ahead of time - so best to highlight BEFORE the exhibition!

CALL FOR ENTRIES: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters invite entries to the OPEN Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in November 2022. The deadline for entries is Friday 9th September 2022 so you've still got time to be get organised and get your entry in. 

This year’s theme is ‘Changing Times’, which can be interpreted widely. 

The last Private View of the ROI I went to - in 2018

I always like to give people a point of reference for entries in terms of images of the last exhibition

So I've spent this morning looking for my photos of last years exhibition - only to realise that the ROI has been really, really unlucky in that its annual exhibition is held late in the year and got caught by pandemic scares / lockdowns in both 2020 and 2021. I was being very cautious well before lockdowns, so I've not seen an ROI Exhibition since 2019!

However there is a video tour of the 2021 exhibition - which was hung - and the catalogue is available on Issuu

and a video of the 2020 exhibition - which is an hour and half long - see below

Peter Graham ROI talks about eighty of the works in this year’s show, including paintings by long-established ROI members as well as pieces by non-member artists selected from open submission.

Call for Entries - ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

You can find the official and FULL Call for Entries here on

• the Mall Galleries website
• the ROI website

Below is as a summary ONLY.

Interestingly I note the new website indicates on its home page that

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters was founded in 1882 and is the only major British art Society that promotes and exhibits work of the highest standard exclusively in oil paint.

However I note that the Call for Entries still states "Acrylic and water-soluble oil paint is acceptable if framed as an oil, so as not to spoil the general appearance of the exhibition." so I think maybe somebody needs to review the use of the word 'exclusively' on the ROI website.

Who can enter

• The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18.
• It is also open to international entries - you don't even have to be live or work in the UK. However International Artists need to make sure they read the Mall galleries/FBA Notice notice about the need to register for VAT to get your artwork through Customs and into the UK! You might also find my page about International Art Shipping: How to ship / export art to other countries useful.

What sort of artwork can you enter

• Eligible media includes: oil. Acrylic paint or water based oils are eligible if framed like an oil painting. Below is a table I constructed from reviewing the works selected for hanging in previous exhibitions. Over 90% of artwork has been in oil in the last six hing exhibitions between 2014-2019.

Number and percentage of works - by medium - in the ROI Annual Exhibitions 2014-2019

• Size: The combined measurement of works accepted will not exceed 8 feet maximum per artist
• Age: Work must have been completed within the last three years 
• Previous Exhibitions: it must not have been previously shown at Mall Galleries.
• In terms of presentation there are some very specific guidelines 
• Wide mounts between painting and frame, as in watercolours, are not acceptable.
• Glazed work is not encouraged.
• Unframed work can be accepted if on a well-presented box canvas.
• For sale: Work MUST be for sale
• the minimum sale price is £300. 
• Note that any prices must allow for the deduction of commission @45% plus VAT %20% on the commission sum - so for a work priced at £500 you will receive £230 after the deduction of commission (£225) plus VAT on commission (£45). The price also needs to cover the cost of the frame and shipping (there and back if unsold). 

This year’s theme is ‘Changing Times’, which can be interpreted widely. Artists are encouraged to contribute a work on the theme, however it is not compulsory. If a work is on the theme, please elaborate on how in the artwork description box.

How to enter

All work must be submitted online - and pre-selection also takes place online.

If you make it through the pre-selection from digital images, you're then invited to take/send your artwork to the Mall Galleries for final selection for hanging in the exhibition - in front of a panel of ROI members.

This is the process you need to follow:

VIDEO: Visit David Curtis in his studio.

Visit the renowned painter David Curtis in his studio / man cave / comfort zone!

Courtesy of a video of David Curtis  set-up and shot presumably by a relative - who chose to do it in portrait format - in his studio in the village of Misson in the north of Nottinghamshire and just east of Doncaster where he was born. This was done as an added extra to the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 2020. 

His compact studio is not very big and is based in an old barn which dates back to 1660 and used to be the village slaughterhouse  - and then the coffin-maker's shop!!

David paints in both oil and watercolour and likes to work plein air as well as in his studio. He David highlights in the video how he likes to have:

• a specifc place in his studio for his watercolour painting where he still uses his 1960s drawing board
• his corner for oils - including his palette (He lists all the paints he uses)
  

David Curtis's oil palette in his studio

• the artwork around the studio
  
• his writing section; and 
• his computer section and bookcase
• AND what he gets out of working in his studio
  

He's not averse to showing you the view and the painting alongside it on his website, Facebook Page and Instagram account. You can see pics of him at work on his website 

Some of the pics on his website
- but the main pics are on the Gallery Pages

I've seen and admired his paintings hung in very many exhibitions over the years at the Mall Galleries - and I really appreciate this opportunity to see inside his studio. In effect, it's a story of his life as an artist.  Maybe somebody else needs to come and paint David in his studio - rather in the way a number have sketched and painted him at work when painting plein air?

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Royal Society Marine Artists (@royalsocietymarine)

 

More about David Curtis

David Curtis VPROI, RSMA is a  

• Council member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and 
• Vice-President of the Royal Society of Marine Artists
• and has an outstanding list of achievements, exhibitions, collections etc on his website.
  

He has also written four highly regarded books about painting and been involved in a number of art instruction videos.  He's a very knowledgeable and thoughtful artist and instructor as well as an excellent artist whose paintings are much loved by very many people.

• website: https://www.djcurtis.co.uk/
• Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/davidcurtisartist 
• Instagram https://www.instagram.com/davidcurtisartist/
  

Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2020

The Call for Entries for entries to the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters in November 2020 has opened and closes on Friday 2nd October (12 noon).

Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at their Annual Exhibition 2020.

The ROI seeks work in oils and is the only national art society devoted exclusively to oil painting.

This post highlights the following:

• Exhibition - a summary of venue and number of paintings to be exhibited
• Summary of the Call for Entries process
• who can enter
• what you can enter 
• how to enter
• the timetable
• a summary of the prizes and selection process

At the end are links to all the blog posts I've written in previous years about the exhibition, who won prizes and who got selected - and links to their websites!  These also provide visual evidence of what type of paintings got selected for this exhibition in the past.

Entrance to the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters at the Mall Galleries

Exhibition - a summary of venue and number of paintings to be exhibited

Around 300 paintings - from member artists and those whose work was selected from the open entry will be hung at the Mall Galleries in London in November. 

Around 750 artists will submit nearly 2,000 paintings of which just over 100 will be chosen. Exhibiting artists typically average between 1 and 1.5 paintings in the exhibition 

The exhibition DATES are Wednesday 25 November until Sunday 6 December (when it closes at 1pm). That's 12 days in total (plus the Private View day). Hours are 10am - 5pm but the exhibition closes at 1pm on the last day .

PLEASE NOTE: At present there is nothing on the Mall Galleries website to indicate when it is reopening.  I do know they are planning to reschedule some of the exhibition dates for those which have not been held. It's unclear whether there is a knock-on effect for any who have dates scheduled for later in the year.

SUMMARY: CALL FOR ENTRIES - Process and Key Points

What follows is a summary of the KEY POINTS

• Submit artwork in oils - framed or as box canvases but not matted or glazed (95% of artwork in the exhibition will be Oils only)
• The deadline for submissions is Friday 2 October (12 noon)
• "Reflections" is the special theme for 2020
• Entry for the 2020 competition is Digital ONLY.
• Selection for the exhibition will also be Digital Only 

To make the process of submitting and selecting work simpler and safer, the Society will select works for exhibition from online only this year.

• Images must be in JPEG format and under 5MB
• Submission fee which includes Free Admission to the exhibition (normally £4)
• £18 per work at the time of submitting
• £12 per work for artists aged 35 or under
• Make sure you read ALL the Terms and Conditions if you don't want to be disqualified

This is the Call for Entries Page

I RECOMMEND that:

• You review the images from past exhibitions (see blog posts reviewing past exhibitions at the end of this post)
• Have a go and enter two of your best works. The cost relative to the achievement and the experience is negligible. In excess of two works is probably not cost effective - so long as you're really good at knowing which are your best works. 
• You note this exhibition is particularly supportive of Young Artists and all those oil painters under the age of 35 should feel encouraged to apply

Who can enter

• The competition is open to all artists over the age of 18.
• It is also open to international entries - you don't even have to be live or work in the UK. However
• International Artists: make sure you read the Mall galleries/FBA Notice notice about the need to register for VAT to get your artwork through Customs and into the UK! You might also find my page about International Art Shipping: How to ship / export art to other countries useful.

What you can enter

• Eligible media includes: oil. Acrylic paint or water based oils are eligible if framed like an oil painting.

TIP: I think I think all those thinking about entering ought to take a long hard look at the statistics - and then paint in oils ONLY! i.e. 95% of the elected artworks are oil paintings 

Number and percentage of works - by medium - in the ROI Annual Exhibitions 2014-2019

• Presentation:
• Wide mounts between painting and frame, as in watercolours, are not acceptable.
• Glazed work is not encouraged.
• Unframed work can be accepted if on a well-presented box canvas.
• Paintings should be completely dry at the time of delivery.
• Size: NEW The combined measurement of works accepted will not exceed 8 feet maximum per artist.
• Age: Work must have been completed in the last three years and NOT exhibited in London previously.
• For Sale: All work must be for sale (except for portraits). Minimum sale price: £300
• Number: Maximum of six works submitted. (Maximum of four works selected)

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that anybody proposing to enter work for the exhibition -- whether member or open entrant has a READ of my Review: ROI Annual Exhibition 2018 + commentary on pricing

You'll see why when you read it - assuming you'd like to boost your income! However I'll give you a clue....

nearly 75% of the sales relate to small and small/medium works which are selling for under £2,000 - with most selling for less than £1,000

 

Selection

Entries are reviewed and assessed by The Selection Committee. This comprises artist members of the Society and membership is rotated annually - which means the tastes influencing who gets chosen will also change on an annual basis and your submission may find favour this year!

Part of the themed display on "London" at ROI 2019.

Special theme in 2020

The ROI has a mini-theme (i.e. optional only) for its show each year and then hangs artwork relating to the theme as a special display within the show.  It worked really well last year when the theme was London - as I think it always does when the topic is very precise.

In 2020, the theme will be ‘Reflections’. The ROI states this can be interpreted literally or otherwise, 

“giving the artist an opportunity to create a site-specific painting or perhaps a piece that has a more contemplative focus” (Tim Benson, ROI President).

Threadneedle Gallery at last year's show

Prizes & Awards

There are many prizes and awards available to win - and winning prizes enhances your CV re getting a Gallery!

These are listed below. I've categorised them according to the type of prize.

ROI Cash Prizes

• The Phyllis Roberts Award - An award of £2,000 for an artist aged 30 or under
• The Alan Gourley Memorial Award - An annual prize of £1,000, awarded for a painting of outstanding merit
• The Stanley Grimm Prize - Two awards totalling £700 (first prize £400, second prize £300), to the painters whose work receive the most votes from visitors to the exhibition
• The Menena Joy Schwabe Memorial Award - An award of £250 for an outstanding oil painter
• The Tony Merrick Memorial Prize - An award of £250 in memory of the late Tony Merrick ROI (1948-2018)
• The ROI Emerging Artist Prize - A prize of £250 and the opportunity to spend a day with one of the Institute's members, for an artist aged 30 or under at the time of submission
• The Small Painting Prize - An award of £250, open to members and non-members, for the best small painting on display (maximum dimension of 12 inches / 30.5 cm, excluding frame)

Art Materials Prizes

• Winsor & Newton Young Artist Awards (for artists aged 30 or under) -
• First Prize: £1,000 Winsor & Newton Fine Art Materials
• Second Prize: £600 Winsor & Newton Fine Art Materials
• Third Prize: £400 Winsor & Newton Fine Art Materials
• Winsor & Newton Non-Member Award - £150 worth of Winsor & Newton Fine Art Materials
• L. Cornelissen & Son - An award of a contemporary version of a Victorian Oil Painter's equipment
• Frank Herring Easel Award - An award of a versatile easel

Publication & Other Awards

• The Le Clerc Fowle Medal - In memory of Anne Le Clerc Fowle, presented annually for an outstanding group of paintings
• The Artist Magazine Award - The winning artist will be featured in a forthcoming issue of The Artist magazine, print and digital editions
• The Dry Red Press Award - The winning work will be published as a greeting card by Dry Red Press in their 'Prize Winners' range

Previous Exhibitions

You can find links to my previous reviews of exhibitions below.

• 2019 - Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2019
• 2018 
• 126th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters AND
• Review: ROI Annual Exhibition 2018 + commentary on pricing
• 2017 - Review - Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2017
• 2016 - Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters 124th Annual Exhibition 2016
• 2015 
• ROI Exhibition: Young Oil Painter Awards and
• Review: Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters 2015
• 2014 - Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters - Annual Exhibition 2014.
• 2013 - Review - 2013 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
• 2012 - Royal Institute of Oil Painters - Annual Exhibition 2012
• 2011 - Review: 124th Annual Exhibition of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters
• 2010 
• Review: Royal Institute of Oil Painters - 123rd Annual Exhibition 2010 and
• Winsor and Newton Oil Painter Awards
• 2009 - Exhibition Review - Royal Institute of Oil Painters
• 2008 - The Royal Institute of Oil Painters - 121st Annual ExhibitionLinks for oil painters

PLUS

• Top tips for travelling artists - oil painters 15 Aug 2011
• The Best Books about Oil Painting