You have 4 DAYS LEFT to submit an entry to the OPEN Annual Exhibition 2026 of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours.
Alongside the work of its elected members, leading figures in contemporary watercolour and water-based media, the RI welcomes both emerging and established artists who push the boundaries of the medium through traditional and experimental approaches.
Why enter this exhibition?
- This is the biggest exhibition dedicated to paintings in water colours in the UK.
- around 50% of the artworks are from the Open Submission
- displays a wide diversity in approaches to paintings using watercolour media and subject matter - from traditional to the more contemporary.
- although more contemporary artwork has a lower profile in the show and tends to favour acrylic and mixed media.
- relatively little of what I tend to term the "can't draw, can't paint, won't sell" school of painting which lacks application to both concept and craft
To be more precise, last year:
- more than a third paint landscapes or cityscapes
- just under 20% painted portraits and human figures
- 14% painted still life and interiors
- less than 10% painted Marine and Coastal OR Wildlife and Animals OR other topics.
- very few people created abstract paintings
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This is worth a study - in terms of what subjects get painted in
what media (from my review of the 2025 exhibition - see link above) |
Call for Entries for RI Annual Exhibition 2026
The deadline for entries for the
214th Exhibition
of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours is
2pm on Friday 23 January 2026
- Information about how to enter starts on the Mall Galleries website
- Submission is via the OESS website
- There is a single-stage virtual judging process for ALL submitted works.
- Selected works should be delivered to Mall Galleries, London, for inclusion in the exhibition by Saturday 16th March (10am-5pm)
- The Annual Exhibition opens on 25 March and closes on 11 April 2026
