Final Call for Online Entries: RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

The deadline for ONLINE ENTRIES for the 2026 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers is Friday 28th August 6pm (GMT)

The Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers is the world’s foremost organisation dedicated to the centuries-old tradition of miniature art. 

What is Miniature Art

Although miniature art was considerably bigger when the society was first created, the current state of play is highlighted in this introduction to the art form by Anthony Lester (which comes from one of my earlier blog posts).

With a maximum size of 6 x 4 inches (15.24 x 10.16 cm), the painting of miniatures demands self-discipline, for where large pictures give some latitude in composition, miniatures are unforgiving of the least mistake; a tolerance of even a millimetre is hardly permitted. 

The Gold Bowl Award winning work in 2025

plus the "Honourable Mentions"

which I had the honour of judging 

with London art critic Tabish Khan

(bottom row second from left came home with me and now hangs in my hall!)

RMS Annual Exhibition 2026

Below is a quick summary of arrangements for

• the exhibition
• online entries
• submission of selected artwork by non-members

Review: Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers Annual Exhibition 2025

This week I'm visiting the Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS) Annual Exhibition 2025 at the Bankside Gallery three times. 

• Monday night: to judge the Gold Memorial Bowl (the top award) with London art critic Tabish Khan 
• Tuesday afternoon: to attend the PV and Awards Ceremony - and meet up with artists and friends
• Sunday afternoon: to collect the artwork I bought on Monday night!

It's always a pleasure to visit this exhibition as this is an art society with some very enthusiastic members who absolutely love meeting people who like miniature art.

View of the entrance to the RMS Annual Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery

The exhibition is:

• AT: The Bankside Gallery Thames Riverside, 48 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH
• UNTIL: Saturday 22nd November 2025
• HOURS: 11am - 6pm

I highly RECOMMEND this exhibition to

• anybody who is interested in miniature art - whether these are paintings, drawings or sculpture in a variety of media
• all those art collectors who, like me, are fast running out of space for new artwork

You can see my photographs of the artwork displayed in the cases in a dedicated album Royal Society of Miniature Painters - Annual Exhibition 2025 (58 items) on my Making A Mark Facebook Page. Taken while the glass cover was still up, these provide a reasonable view of the artwork without compromising copyright.

This year it also includes a memorial exhibit of 12 miniature paintings by the late Bill Mundy RMS HS MAA MASF who died in July this year.

Portraits by the late Bill Mundy (1936-2025)

Demonstrations

The RMS have always been excellent at providing demonstrations at their exhibitions of the materials and techniques used to produce their exquisitely small artworks. The remaining ones will be taking place between 12 and 5pm 

Thursday 20th Nov - Linda Kracht watercolour on vellum & Michael Coe watercolour on vellum
• Friday 21st Nov - Peter Hayton, watercolour on paper & Christina Hopkinson watercolour on Kelmscott vellum
• Saturday 22nd Nov - Claire Russell, Verre églomisé – gold leaf on glass & Jenny Musker VPRMS watercolour on polymin

How to paint miniature portraits - is a post is about the art materials, equipment and set-up used by an experienced miniature artist which I wrote a few years ago after watching one demonstration in an RMS Exhibition! 

The Exhibition

Things I noticed this year included the following

• there seem to be fewer landscapes - particularly those involving the countryside. Which is a pity as I am a great fan of those painted by Roz Pierson.  Maybe I could highlight that other exhibitions where I have analysed sales, I've also noted that landscapes sell extremely well as a subject!

Review: Annual Exhibition 2024 of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers

The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers (RMS) is back at what now seems to be its NEW home at the Bankside Gallery on the South Bank of the Thames - next to Tate Modern. 

Its "Art in Miniature" Annual Exhibition 2024 opened last week and continues until Saturday 6th July.

As we return to the Bankside Gallery with its extra space and friendly staff, I hope our artists and visitors will also be able embrace the summer weather and popular location again.

I highly RECOMMEND it to anybody who is interested in miniature art - whether these are paintings, drawings or sculpture in a variety of media.

Especially for those collectors who, like me, are fast running out of space for new artwork!

The society is also promoting artwork by Young Artists - and their exhibits included some impressive artwork.

What is Miniature Art

Although miniature art was considerably bigger when the society was first created, the current state of play is highlighted in this introduction to the art form by Anthony Lester (which comes from one of my earlier blog posts).

With a maximum size of 6 x 4 inches (15.24 x 10.16 cm), the painting of miniatures demands self-discipline, for where large pictures give some latitude in composition, miniatures are unforgiving of the least mistake; a tolerance of even a millimetre is hardly permitted. 

 

A Right Royal Connection

The major Royal update since last year is three fold:

Firstly - the continuation of the Royal Patronage of the Royal Miniature Society by His Majesty King Charles III was announced in May 2024. 

That much anticipated letter back in early May this year from Buckingham Palace informing us that his Majesty King Charles lll would be continuing as our Patron was wonderful news. The RMS is deeply honoured and proud to continue its long association with the Royal Family. RMS Catalogue

Secondly - the President Ray Winder and Executive Secretary Claire Hucker attended a Buckingham Palace Garden Party in May to celebrate the Creative Industries. Ray had his interest in miniatures rekindled in 2013 when he visited the Annual Exhibition for the first time and a decade later he is now both the President and the winner of this year's top award.

Ray Winder with his sculpture which won the Gold Memooral Bowl Award

Thirdly - the opening of the RMS exhibition to the public coincided with the announcement that the Honorary President Elizabeth Meek (who was the RMS President from 2004-2013) was responsible for the official miniature portrait of King Charles which now forms part of the brand new Royal Family Order which is worn by female members of the Royal Family on State Occasions. As it had been the previous evening when Queen Camilla wore it for the first time at the reception of the Japanese Royal Family. 

(More about this in a subsequent post)

Elizabeth Meek - pictured with press coverage of the new Royal Family Order
and her miniature portrait of King Charles III
- which she's been keeping very quiet about for the last year!

Review of the Annual Exhibition

• The exhibition is open daily from 11-6pm until 6pm on Saturday 8th July.
• Entry is free and the essential exhibition catalogue is £3.
• Nearest tubes and rail stations are at 
• Blackfriars Railway and Tube Station and - Thameslink, District and Circle Lines
• St Paul's (across the Millenium Bridge) - Central Line

I don't think they'll be moving any time soon. This space suits them perfectly - especially as it's a hop skip and short jump from the very modern Blackfriars Station with its great connections via Thameslink trains to stations north and south of London.

This is a review of the exhibition, however for those who cannot get to London to see it you can see all the artwork

• on the RMS website (grouped by artist):
• Member Submissions  - Miniature Art 1 and Miniature Art 2 and Sculptures
• Non-members (31 artists selected) - page 1 
• Young Miniaturists
• on the Bankside Gallery website - good quality images of all the artwork

You can also download the printed catalogue as a pdf

If I sit and think about what's changed with this exhibition......

Overall this exhibition leans firmly towards more traditional subject matter. 

However, in general, the theme seems to broadly revolving around change from the more traditional subject matter and media of the past to more contemporary themes.

• I think I'm seeing fewer portraits - which in some ways is sad as this is what miniature art is best known for - and also this is what generates most commissions. Older more experienced members are still setting very high standards for the quality of portraiture.
• the subject matter is broadening. There's much less of the "twee" ilk and much more which echoes both ancient and contemporary art. I think this might be in part because 
• more younger artists are getting involved with miniature art
• a greater awareness of the history of miniature art in the past
• the media used to produce miniature 3D artwork is changing and broadening. The sculpture is increasingly becoming more interesting.

Sculpture - mainly by members

A group exhibit of miniature artwork in 3D by Dana Kerr (Young Artist)
won the The Bidder and Borne Sculptors Gravers Award

• I'm seeing novel techniques being used for miniature art - which are rooted in very traditional techniques. For example, the use of gold leaf and verre eglomise techniques - which involves painting artwork backwards from the front backwards (see the article on this topic Technique In Verre Eglomise by Claire Russell RMS MASF MPSGS. Her group of animal portraits using gold leaf was outstanding.

Winner of the Elizabeth Meek Award and the Peter Charles Booth Memorial Award
Images of Geckos, Lizards and Dragons by Claire Russell

I'll pop a link in this post to the awards when they go up on the website. It's very much oriented towards social media site listing at present.

My recommendations for the next exhibition

In general, the display cabinets and artwork are well displayed - but for one thing.

 

I have to confess that I felt like I was fighting more with the lighting this year. Some of the lights were angled straight down rather than set up at an angle. As a result I was getting terrific glare off the glass from some of the lights above the display. That's hard on the eyes and required constant readjustment to avoid the glare and deters lingering long looking at the exhibit.

TIP: Check the positions of all lights above cases to to reduce glare on the glass to a minimum. I think maybe if the light is set at an oblique angle rather than straight down it would reduce glare as some display cabinets were more affected than others and it seemed to relate to the angle of the light.

TIP: Non-members need to think more carefully when naming the images they submit as these carry over into the exhibition online and some of the names which came up on the website when an artwork was clicked were less than helpful!

HOWEVER, I note that the RMS already has a page on its website titled Renaming Art Files and Sending Via Email in order to address this issue. Full marks for prompt attention to detail!

REFERENCE

Website - https://royal-miniature-society.org.uk/

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/royalminiature/

Twitter / X - https://x.com/royalminiature

Review: Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Annual Exhibition 2023

Last week I visited the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers (RMS) at what looks like becoming their NEW home at the Bankside Gallery on the South bank of the Thames - next to Tate Modern.

RMS Display Cabinets at the Bankside Gallery

Reasons for the move to the Bankside Gallery are at the end. I'd suggest they are worth noting by any other art societies who've previously hired the Mall Galleries for their exhibitions.

For those not familiar with miniature art Anthony Lester provides a good explanation

With a maximum size of 6 x 4 inches (15.24 x 10.16 cm), the painting of miniatures demands self-discipline, for where large pictures give some latitude in composition, miniatures are unforgiving of the least mistake; a tolerance of even a millimetre is hardly permitted. Apart from their quality and beauty, they have much appeal because of their size and, with stunning works available from a few hundred pounds, affordability is an enticement too.

More helpful information and tips are provided on the RMS website 

 

RMS Annual Exhibition

The exhibition is open daily from 11-6pm until 6pm on Saturday 8th July. 

Entry is free and the essential exhibition catalogue is £3.

Nearest tubes and rail stations are at Blackfriars Railway and Tube Station and St Paul's (across the Millenium Bridge)

The RMS Annual Exhibition at the Bankside Gallery

I have to say I think the Bankside Gallery suits the RMS annual exhibition very well.  

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

View as you enter the Gallery

Overall, initial impressions were good and the artwork all looked excellent on display. I gather the consensus at the Private View (which I missed due to being at a Press View at Compton Varney - of which more tomorrow) was that there were lots of excellent reasons to make this the Society's "new home" and I have to concur that seems like a very sensible decision.

Hopefully, next year they'll be back at the Bankside Gallery - but maybe not so close to the Annual Exhibition of the Hilliard Society which always takes place in June in Wells, in Somerset. These are the two premier miniature exhibitions in the UK and it would be great to get a bit more space between their exhibition dates. I hope some suitable arrangement can be negotiated with the Bankside Gallery

The last annual exhibition I saw in person was in 2019 - after which there were dislocations due to the pandemic and issues with exhibiting at the Mall Galleries.

To me, the standard of artwork seems to be:

• as good as ever in terms of the quality of the artwork on display, much of which is excellent
• still leaning more towards what I'd call "traditional" subject matter. I liked those that were 'very traditional' and more contemporary.

Sales and Commissions

The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers goes virtual for its 2020 exhibition

The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS) is an art society which normally exhibits at the Mall Galleries - but this year they've decided to go online.

It appears they won't be exhibiting at the Mall Galleries in 2020 and instead are having an online exhibition in place of their normal 2020 Exhibition.  

I'm not quite sure why this is - but note that of the exhibitions which have been relisted at the Mall Galleries there's no doubling up (i.e. two art societies exhibiting at the same time).  It's also very reliant on its members attending to help with the exhibition in the North Galleries and I'm guessing social distancing requirements and age may well have played a part of the decision to go virtual.

Anyway, for whatever reason, you can see their online exhibition here

• this is the exhibition of miniature paintings (note the dimensions relate to the image and not the frame)
• this is the exhibition of miniature sculpture

Reference

You can find out more about previous exhibitions and previous prizewinners in the posts below

• Review: Annual Exhibition 2019 of the Royal Miniature Society
• Annual Exhibition by the Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers
• Review: Annual Exhibition 2015 - Royal Society of Miniature Artists, Sculptors and Gravers
• Review: Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Annual Exhibition 2014
• Review: Annual Exhibition 2013 of The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers
• Review: 2012 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters
• REVIEW: Miniature Art Society Annual Exhibition 2011
• REVIEW: Miniature Art Society - Annual Exhibition
• The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers - Annual Exhibition 2008
• The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers - Annual Exhibition

Review: Annual Exhibition 2019 of the Royal Miniature Society

Yesterday, I finally got to visit the 2019 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019 at the Mall Galleries yesterday. 

As with the ROI Exhibition this was one I had planned to visit more than a week earlier. My ankle had other ideas!

It was good to see the display cases back in the North Gallery and to see old favourites as well as new work.

The display cases for the Miniature Artwork in the North Gallery at the Mall Galleries.

You can:

• find out more about the exhibition venue on the Mall Galleries web page Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019. The exhibition is due to close at 1pm on Sunday 8th December but otherwise is open 10am to 5pm.
• see details and photographs of the awards on the Award Winners 2019 page on the RMS website. These give you a really good sense of the wide variety of subject matter and styles that are entered for the exhibition and that win awards.
• see my photos of the exhibition in this Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019 album on my (public) Making A Mark Facebook Page

Do also take a look at and/or follow the RMS Twitter and RMS Instagram Accounts

Past and present - old and new

The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers is a very old art society having been founded in 1896. Its Patron is HRH The Prince of Wales - who also awards one of the prizes.

The old.....

The Society's Aims are to Esteem, Protect and Practise the traditional 16th Century art of miniature work, emphasizing the infinite patience needed for its fine techniques.

Miniature painting of course has a very long tradition. The exhibition always pays respects to its history. This time it had images of its founder and also a memorial display by one of its eminent past members.

I was looking at the names of exhibitors and it struck me that some of the artists that I used to view are no longer with us while others are completely new.  Maybe it's just that I'm getting older myself - but I'm not quite sure we ever get really used to seeing art which is not quite what it used to be - and then not seeing any art at all.....

...and the new 

However the other side of the coin is that new miniature artists are emerging all the time - in part because this exhibition encourages artists to try miniature art.

One of the benefits of this exhibition is that it is always very good about having a miniature artist working in the gallery on most days of the exhibition (although there won't be one there on Sunday as it's a half day).  You can see how they work, view stages of a completed work and take a look at the brushes and media they use for their stippling.

Media used by Michael Coe - Schminke watercolours are stippled on vellum

Today at the @mallgalleries #london the @royalminiature has a demonstration by the talented @tommulliner_art The excellent exhibition runs until 8th December pic.twitter.com/ye04qspQW5

— Laura Critchlow (@lauracritchlow) 30 November 2019

One such artist who is new to miniature art is Dorian Radu who this year won The Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers Gold Memorial Bowl award for his painting of The Cigar Aficianado

The Cigar Aficianado by Doria Radu

Jade (acrylic on board) by Raoof Haghighi 

What's interesting is that both Dorian and Raoof Haghighi are artists I first met in relation to other open art competitions. Dorian participated in Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year 2019 and Raoof has been selected more than once for the BP Portrait Award.

For those artists who are skilled in working in detail, miniature art can add another dimension to their artistic portfolio.

Why I'm not reviewing the ROI and RMS Exhibitions - yet!

The short answer is that it's very definitely not for the want of wanting to travel into London to see the annual exhibitions of:

• The Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI)
• Royal Society of Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Gravers (RMS)

at the Mall Galleries this week and next - until 1pm on Sunday 8th December.

The longer answer is I've been kiboshed by my duff ankle yet again. Earlier this month a Consultant Radiologist at Barts Hospital gave my ankle an ultrasound and announced I had three bits of bone floating free in my right ankle.  I looked at the picture - they looked rather big and rather sharp to me. They probably account for why I keep suffering from extreme pain and immobility i.e. I have to stop walking. I knew from the last lot of scans in 2016 that I had one bone fragment in my ankle due to my osteoarthritis (it had broken off). It would seem that the increasing rate of problems with my ankle is almost certainly due to the increased number of slivers of bone which are in places they shouldn't be.

Being on my feet for much of the evening at the PV of a new exhibition last week finished off my ankle for this week. Hence why I have not yet visited these two exhibitions which I always love to visit.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Shopping this morning was OK for the first half and not OK for the second half - which suggests that a trip into the Mall Galleries might have to wait a bit longer still. I hope to get there at some point next week.

More about the 2019 Annual Exhibitions

Mall Galleries pages with details of each exhibition are below

• Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2019 27 November 2019 to 8 December 2019
• Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019 28 November 2019 to 8 December 2019
• both are open 10am to 5pm (closes 1pm on final day)

Below are some links to those who would like to visit or catch up on who has done will in the prizes and news of demonstrations

Royal Institute of Oil Painters

The Mall Galleries website includes a virtual exhibition of the work in the show. Just scroll down this page to see most of the works in the exhibition.

ROI 2019 prizewinners on the ROI website is a news item about the winners of the prizes at their exhibition - with images of the winning paintings - one of which is pictured above.

White Peonies in a Green Bowl by Linda Alexander ROI SBA
Winner of the The Alan Gourley Memorial Award
Oil on linen, 42cm x 42cm
£2950
(Currently in the ROI Exhibition at the Mall Galleries)

The ROI Art Event Evening will be held on 3 December 2019, 6:00pm to 8:30pm - however the event is now sold out.

Royal Society of Miniature Painters Sculptors and Gravers 2019

This page on the RMS website details the awards made to artists as a result of artwork exhibited in the 2019 Annual Exhibition.

I'm very pleased to see that Dorian Radu, an artist who has been a client of mine is amongst the prizewinners. I thought his painting skills might be well suited to the demands of the RMS - where paintings are limited to not bigger than 4.5" x 6" (11.5 x 15cm) - and recommended their open exhibition to him!



The RMS have member artists demonstrating on the following days.

• Sun. 1st December - Marian Tumelty VPRMS - A composition of natural objects in watercolour on vellum.
• Mon. 2nd December - Paul Eaton VPRMS - Sculpture using investment casting wax to create original sculpture, using low voltage soldering iron and various stainless-steel carving tools
• Tues. 3rd December - Alison Griffin RMS - A Conservatory interior scene in acrylic, on board
• Wed. 4th December - Carole Flanders VPRMS - A Dog in water mixable oils, on paper
• Thurs. 5th December - Michael Coe RMS - Portrait on vellum, in watercolour
• Fri. 6th December - Barbara Valentine RMS - Still Life in watercolour, on ivorine.
• Sat. 7th December - Helen White RMS - Medieval inspired designs in watercolour, on vellum