View Monet and Renoir painting side by side

Room 41 in the National Gallery in London currently has two very famous paintings hanging next to one another. They are the two paintings created of La Grenouillère by Claud Monet and Pierre Renoir.

Monet and Renoir - Painting Side by Side

The National Gallery has a link to this exhibit - which continues until 22 September 2026 and is free to all visitors before the Renoir painting moves to a new exhibition (see end for more details)
 

The panorama of boats, bathers and people at La Grenouillère
(Left) Bathers at La Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
(Right) La Grenouillère by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1841-1919

I've seen them hung like this before. However what is extremely helpful this time is the diagram which demonstrates how close they were to one another - but looking in different directions.

The two viewpoints of the small island on the River Seine
from the pier of the floating restaurant
Monet in orange and Renoir in grey

They are in effect stood a few feet apart and looking across each other's viewpoint.

Note how if you study the diagram and then look at the paintings next to one another, they are almost a panorama of the scene in front of both men. eg 

• Renoir includes the small island 
• while Monet crops just to the left of the island

The diagram is adapted from one contained in a book called Modernity and Modernism French Painting in the Nineteenth Century Yale University Press 1993 (available online for a low price)

Here are the two paintings in isolation. 

For those who can't get to the London, I've also included the descriptions of the two paintings in the exhibit.

Bathers at La Grenouillère by Claud Monet (1840-1926)
oil on canvas
National Gallery, London

Painted quickly on the spot, this picture has a cursory quality. Adopting an unusual viewpoint and a high horizon, Monet draws the viewer's eye to the river and the boats in the foreground. A wooden pontoon cuts across the middle of canvas, breaking the traditional rules of composition. Rapid dabs of colour suggest bathers and strollers. Avoiding a literal transcription of reality, in this seminal work Monet captures the essence - the impression of a landscape.

La Grenouillère by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

         oil on canvas

on loan from the National Museum Stockholm

Renoir chooses a different viewpoint, to the right of Monet's. He includes the little round islet known as the *camembert' and, to the far right, a floating restaurant. Unlike Monet, Renoir focuses his attention on the fashionable crowd in the centre, populating his canvas with delightful details: a child plays with a boat, while a dog snoozes in the shadow. "La Grenouillère was a perpetual party, and what an assortment of people!" he later recalled.

Two exhibitions of note are coming up - which relate in a way to these two paintings.

Two NEW Exhibitions in London

Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2026

North, West and East Galleries at the Mall Galleries - 16 Sep 2026 - 26 Sep 2026 - 10am to 5pm 

The RSMA paint scenes associated with seas and tidal rivers. This particular scene would not have been possible as the Seine is only tidal to Rouen.

(note: the Royal Society of Marine Artists website is not secure i.e. http:// rather than https:// and I never link to insecure websites)

Renoir and Love

Explore the sun-dappled gardens and swirling dance halls of Paris through 40 paintings, brought together from collections across the world.

National Gallery, London

Dates: 3 October 2026 – 31 January 2027

Standard admission

• £20 (off-peak, Sunday-Thursday)
• £25 (Friday and Saturday, and all days in the first two weeks)
• Under 18s go free

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

Observations about Wayne Thiebaud at the Courtauld Gallery

The major revelation of this exhibition is how Thiebaud's painting is as luscious as his subject matter. Many images of his work o date appear to flatten the profound surface textures contained in his paintings - but his brush marks are fully loaded and aim to impress.

I love Wayne Thiebaud's artwork on a lot of different levels and will always recommend that people go to see exhibitions of his artwork. 

Could be because I'm a bit of a foodie! Mostly it's because of how he visualises and draws and paints. 

Close up of "Pie Rows"

Wayne Thiebaud, Pie Rows, 1961, 

Oil on canvas, 46 x 66cm, 

Collection of the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation. 

© Wayne Thiebaud/VAGA at ARS, NY and DACS, London 2025.

Image: Katherine Tyrrell (Making A Mark)

I got my review "knickers in a twist" trying to think about HOW to review the first ever exhibition of his work at the Courtauld Gallery in London after I first saw it last month - mainly because it was right in the middle of an exhibition opening blitz.  (I think I did five in just over a week).

Partly because I couldn't find my notes from the PV! (Then I finally remembered - they were digital! Thank you Apple Notes!)

Mainly because I've not written a whole lot before about why I like his work so much. There again there are these posts.... 

• my obit post An appreciation of Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - 2021) after he died age 101 on Christmas Day in 2021.
• More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at" (2019)

For me this is a bit of a click and salivate post! In all honesty written entirely for me - for looking at from time to time - rather than sharing with any of you - but you can look too! ;)

• and finally Wayne Thiebaud working on etchings (video) (2019) age 99!

So here goes....

Wayne Thiebaud at the Courtauld Gallery

This is very much a "one time only in your lifetime" sort of exhibition!

• It's not just the first ever exhibition of Wayne Thiebaud's still like artworks at the Courtauld. 
• This is the first ever serious museum exhibition of his iconic and vibrant still lifes of post-war American subjects anywhere in the UK. 
• AND it's taken over 60 years to get them here. It's probably going to be at least that many years before they come back again.

View of three of Wayne Thiebaud's works
- with "Cakes" in the middle and "Three Machines" on the right
Image: Katherine Tyrrell (Making A Mark)

We've occasionally seen examples of his paintings in the UK - but never a solo show and never of the subject matter for which he is famed and never so many!

This is what some of the newspaper reviews have said.
 

The New York Times called him “the Edward Hopper of the dinette tabletop”

I'm going to get the basics out of the way first.

Wayne Thiebaud: American Still Life - a landmark exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery

An exhibition of artwork by Wayne Thiebaud (1920-2021) is coming to the Courtauld Gallery this October. 

I've just booked my ticket to the Wayne Thiebaud - American Still Life Exhibition at the Courtauld Gallery - opening 10th October to 18th January 2025. 

I'm a big fan of Wayne Thiebaud - not least because I used to love drawing food, foodstuff  and meals. I never quite graduated to cakes but I do love looking at the display in the windows of great cake shops! 

This is the blog post I wrote when he died in 2021 - An appreciation of Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - 2021). I'll be writing more about him nearer the time of thre exhibition.

Wayne Thiebaud - American Still Life Exhibition

In summary he is one of the greatest and most original American artists of the 20th century. He is famous for being focused in particular on post-war modern American subjects - typically as still life objects. 

Cakes by Wayne Thiebaud (1920-1021)

This exhibition at The Courtauld Gallery will be the first ever museum show of his work in the UK. It will present Thiebaud’s remarkable, vibrant and lushly painted still-lifes of quintessentially post-war American subjects, from diner food and deli counters to gumball dispensers and pinball machines. These are the paintings with which Thiebaud made his name in the USA in the early 1960s.

The exhibition will feature rarely lent works from major museum collections in the USA as well as the Wayne Thiebaud Foundation.

These are my two books about Wayne Thiebaud - which I periodically salivate over.

For me he's an artist who is a luscious realist of the everyday - until you get up close and realise his artwork is also abstracted from reality and the artist relishes the media he used. More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at" (Making A Mark September 2019)

Thiebaud - delicious metropolis, the desserts and urban scenes of Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne Thiebaud 100 
the book produced to celebrate the 100th birthday of
"one of America's most loved and respected artists"

A second exhibition Wayne Thiebaud: Delights, will focus on the artists's eponymous 1965 portfolio of prints to appreciate Thiebaud as a draughtsman and printmaker.

In 1964, Wayne Thiebaud created a portfolio of 17 prints, entitled Delights, in which he returned to the favoured still-life motifs found in his paintings and which made his name in the early 1960s: ice cream cones, rows of cakes, gumball machines and many of the other objects of everyday American life. However, these subjects look very different rendered in print, on a small scale and in black and white. As Thiebaud told his publisher, ‘When you change something, you change everything.’ Thiebaud was keen to experiment with different techniques and media, and Delights was his first foray into printmaking, a technique he returned to throughout his long career.

Previous blog posts

• An appreciation of Wayne Thiebaud (1920 - 2021)
• More Wayne Thibaud: "This for you is my world to look at"
• Wayne Thiebaud working on etchings (video)

Cedric Morris at Philip Mould Gallery

I gather that a number of people have now been to see "Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End" at the Philip Mould Gallery at 18-19 Pall Mall (immediately opposite the Reform Club!) until 18th June 2025 - and liked it very much!

Garden to Canvas - Cedric Morris and Benton End

I saw it on Tuesday morning this week. The oil paintings are well worth viewing in terms of an artist who loved his plants and loved painting them. They also have enormous impact.

Benton End - his house and garden were also home to the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing established in 1937, which Lucian Freud joined in 1939.

Guest-curated by James Horner, Head Gardener at Benton End, the exhibition brings together works that have played a key role in the revival of Morris’s historic Suffolk garden.

Benton End, a sixteenth-century house near Hadleigh, was the home of Morris and his lifelong partner Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). From this remarkable setting, the pair ran the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing – a place where art, horticulture, and community thrived side by side. With its free-flowing spirit, open-minded ethos, and rejection of academic conventions, Benton End became a haven for creative freedom. Many artists, including a young Lucian Freud, acknowledged that it was here where their true artistic identities first took root.

The works to revive the garden have been ongoing for some time and there's about another year to go. We have mentally made a date to visit Benton End - now a subsidiary of the Garden Museum - in Spring 2026 when hopefully the garden renovation will be complete and the irises will have returned and blooming again. Plus also see where Lucian Freud started out on his artistic career.

More oil paintings of flowers from the garden of Cedric Morris at Benton End

I'm putting an album of my photographs of the paintings in the gallery on Facebook and will come back and insert a link when I've done that

However I highly RECOMMEND that you download the excellent catalogue from the website and salivate over the paintings and the story of Cedric Morris in front of your computer.

CLICK HERE to download the exhibition handbook

See also 

• Benton End House & Gardens – Garden Museum
• Facebook - Benton End
• Instagram - Benton End

PS You can also see drawings and paintings by some early 20th century artists in the display in the basement - including 

• a wonderful painting of Tenerife by Cedric Morris (who will have been there for the plants!)
• a drawing by Augustus John. A snip at ££38,500

Artwork I liked at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2025

I promised another post about the art I liked in the Annual Exhibition 2025 of the Royal Society of British Artists.

This is probably the most electic of all the art societies belonging to the Federation of British Artists BA Exhibitions - whose home is at the Mall Galleries. 

This is because their media spans drawings and paintings in every media, all manner of fine art hand pulled prints, and sculpture in various media.

As a result, if frequently gets large and imposing works which are absolutely impossible to ignore.

"Capital at Risk: Drawing the City of London (pen and ink, 1.5m x 2.5m) by Louis Pohl
and
"Effects of Lockdown" (cardboard, 170x45x45cm) by James Lake

Two such this year that I found absolutely unmissable in the East Gallery (above) were:

• Louis Pohl's very large and incredibly impressive pen and ink drawing of "Capital at Risk: Drawing the City of London (1.5m x 2.5m) 
• James Lake's Cardboard sculpture of "Effects of Lockdown" (170x45x45cm)

I work with cardboard for its immediacy, ease of availability and low environmental impact. My disability and dyslexia have also influenced my choice of material and the way I create my sculptures. For over twenty years I have created life-size three-dimensional portraits of people.

There is just so much to look at in Louis's drawing - in terms of both realism and allegory and just sheer expertise in the use of pen and ink for drawing people! I was extremely surprised that it did not get a prize for the ambition and the story-telling. As in "truly gobsmacked"!

By way of contrast, James Lake's sculpture won The Nathan David Award for Sculpture.

I also spotted a style I recognised straight away in the East Gallery - although I've not seen it in some time. It's very memorable.

"The Sky" by Ana Schmidt 
Acrylic 73x 65cm

"The Sky" by figurative artist Ana Schmidt reminded me a lot of the much larger painting she created which  won the £20000 Columbia Threadneedle Award 2018 for contemporary figurative and representational art. She is amazing at painting urban landscapes with huge sheets of water or puddles which reflect the sky.

In the North Gallery, there were two paintings which both immediately captured my attention.

Van Gogh at the National Gallery - some practical pointers you'll wish you knew before you went

This is about the Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers Exhibition at the National Gallery - from a different perspective.

I'm not going to review the exhibition per se - instead I'm highlighting 

• PRACTICAL ISSUES for those wanting to visit it.
• Plus a little bit about the exhibition - and other reviews
• AT THE END: For those who want to know more about Van Gogh and his drawings and paintings: a LONG list of previous blog posts I've written about Van Gogh on this blog over nearly two decades.

The Practical Issues

The View of the Sunflowers

FACT: Everybody wants to see this exhibition. 

1. Booking is a challenge
2. Queuing to get in is a challenge
3. Navigating the exhibition is a challenge!! Everybody has got a friend or a family member who may be slightly less enthusiastic, doesn't know how to operate in crowded exhibitions and has equal capacity to "get in the way"
4. Getting a cup of tea afterwards is not straightforward!

#1 TIP:  BOOKING - Don't assume you can visit when you want to

This is a VERY popular exhibition which means:

• you can't walk up and buy a ticket
• it's SOLD OUT on very many days and at very many times in the short term future. 
• they're keeping very strict control about how and when tickets are allocated.

The exhibition closes on 19 JANUARY 2025. 

At the moment, tickets are "available" for dates until 8 December 2024 for non-Members. (i.e. at the moment you cannot book for the Christmas Holidays - I'd recommend not visiting at this time in any case.)

EXCEPT the screens indicate they're very nearly booked up for non-Members

November 2024 - almost 100% booked up for all non-members

Tickets are continuing to book up very fast.  

• Mornings are booking up particularly fast (i.e. by the crowd who come to London for the day, see an exhibition, have lunch, do some shopping, go home)
• In general avoid the middle of the day and early afternoon
• If you are flexible, I'd check out the more 'unpopular times'
• In terms of time, allow at least an hour to view the exhibition. If you want to go round twice (which I'd recommend for all serious fans) you need longer
• However you also need to allow at least another hour to get in. (see queuing below)

In terms of times, if you get the option, I'd recommend 

• avoid the middle of the day.
• Note that Sunday does not get booked up as fast as other days.
• Morning is ideal for avoiding all those people who are lingering long from previous entry times

We went Wednesday morning and really enjoyed it. Not overly crowded, no queue and we could spend time looking at each painting. Plenty of seating if needed.

Liz Wyatt

This is the link to BOOKING TICKETS. 

There is a major bonus for all those, like me, who are Friends of the National Gallery.

• it doesn't cost me anything to get in (although the booking process is confusing and the ticket price does not get knocked off until the end when booking)
• I can go more than once. Last weekend I booked to go back on the 10 December early morning
• Tickets are reserved for members

I do NOT recommend booking for 

• children or 
• anybody who is not a dedicated enthuisiast 
• who is also prepared to put up with the booking issues, the queues and the challenges once you get in!

#2 TIP: You'll be in a queue for A VERY LONG TIME

You are NOT going to just walk in just before your entry time.

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

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: The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea

I've visited the exhibition of The Van de Veldes: Greenwich, Art and the Sea twice now. However while referencing it extensively in relation to the Landscape Artist of the Year Commission, I've added the review to my long list of "things to do/blog about" without striking it off the very long list.

So this is my review.

What's the exhibition about?

The exhibition celebrates two two Dutch Golden Age artists Willem van de Velde the Elder and his son, Willem van de Velde the Younger - some 350 years after they came to Greenwich following an economic meltdown in Holland.

a corner of the exhibition showing both drawings and paintings
by both father and son

It highlights:

• their maritime drawings (by father) and paintings ( by son_ and 
• their connections to both 
• the Netherlands, England and its King in general and 
• Greenwich and the Queens House in particular
• how they influenced other painters - including WM Turner.

It also draws upon the largest collection of the Van de Veldes’ artwork in the world. This is held at the The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich which is recognised as a longstanding centre of Van de Velde expertise.

In addition, the Queen’s House at Greenwich became the home of the studio granted to the two artists by Charles II.

Details of the Exhibition

The exhibition is:

• AT: The Queen’s House, Greenwich - which was designed by Inigo Jones and you may recognise from more than a few historical dramas on film and television!
• BETWEEN: 2 March 2023 – 14 January 2024
• Admission: FREE
• Website: www.rmg.co.uk/van-de-velde

The Queen's House, Greenwich - March 2023

London from Greenwich Hill (1672)
attributed to Johannes Vorsterman 
- a dutch painter who also worked for Charles II
The painting is currently in an exhibition at the Guildhall Gallery, City of London
It shows the Queens House on the extreme left
at the time the Van der Veldes arrived in London
(and which I saw the morning before my second visit!)
Note the ships on the River Thames

Who were the Van de Veldes?

To my mind, this exhibition is much more interesting once you know who the Van de Veldes are and something of the historical context for all the sea battles. This helps to make sense of the diversity of artwork - albeit it's all about ships and battles at sea!

Willem van de Velde the Elder and Willem van de Velde the Younger were the most important and influential marine painters of the seventeenth century. 

Father and son moved from the Netherlands to England after Het Rampjaar, or "the Disaster Year" of 1672 when the Netherlands were invaded or threatened from all sides and the economy crashed. This in turn severely affected the art market. Vermeer, for example, was unable to sell any of his work. 

The Van de Veldes moved to England at the invitation of Charles II. He awarded them:

• a salary equivalent to that of his ‘Principal Painter’, Sir Peter Lely; and 
• a studio at the Queen’s House - where they worked for the next 20 years.

Together, they became the founders of the English school of marine painting - and established a new genre of painting which persists today.

Both remained in London and are buried at St James, Piccadilly.

Willem van de Velde the Elder (1610 - 1693)

Van de Velde the Elder was the son of a Leiden bargemaster who became the official artist of the Dutch fleet for a period. He was a self-taught draughtsman who pioneered the technique of ‘pen painting’, allowing him to capture a ship’s likeness or a naval battle in astonishing detail. He specialised in documenting the action in a Dutch Sea Battle - of which there were more than a few!

Van de Velde the Elder sat drawing the Battle of Scheveningen

- the last battle of the first Anglo-Dutch War - from a ship at sea

- pen and ink (extract from the drawing below)

The Battle of Scheveningen, 10 August 1653
a pen painting or grissaille by Willem van de Velde the Elder
(the boat he's sat in is shown bottom left of centre)

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.

Just Stop Oil now threatening to slash artworks

The ignorant idiots who've been assaulting artwork around Europe are now reportedly threatening to start slashing paintings - despite the fact the oil in the paintings is nothing to do with the oil they are protesting about.

• Just Stop Oil considers slashing famous artworks as it threatens to 'escalate' protests | Sky News
• Just Stop Oil could slash famous paintings like Suffragettes, says spokesman | Evening Standard

Alex De Koning, a spokesman for Just Stop Oil, said it was "insane" that "more people are outraged" about the activists targeting artwork than the devastating floods in Pakistan, which displaced millions of people.

The 24-year-old - who describes himself as a climate scientist - told Sky News that the protest group may follow in the footsteps of suffragettes who "violently slashed paintings in order to get their messages across".

In 1914, Mary Richardson attacked Diego Velazquez's painting The Rokeby Venus with a meat cleaver in a protest against the arrest of Emmeline Pankhurst.

Later that year, suffragette Anne Hunt entered the National Portrait Gallery and hacked away at a painting of Thomas Carlyle, one of the gallery's trustees. (Sky News)

The most ludicrous excuse is that they're going to act "like the Suffragettes"

Clearly these ignoramuses have never studied history. As my other half pointed out this morning the spokesman 

• neither understands how suffrage was actually achieved 
• nor how to get people on their side.

The FACTS are:

• the movement for women's suffrage started in 1872
• it became a militant campaign in 1906

However over the course of 42 years absolutely nothing was achieved in terms of change in suffrage prior to World War I.

Women got the vote after the First World War only AFTER women had thrown themselves wholeheartedly into the war effort.

• the outbreak of the First World War saw all political activity suspended - including the suffrage movement
• After the War, Lloyd George wanted to recognise the efforts of those who had contributed to the War Effort and in 1918 Lloyd George's Coalition Government passed the Representation of the People Act 1918, enfranchising 
• all men over 21, 
• as well as all women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications.
In 1928 the Conservative government passed the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 equalizing the franchise to all persons, male and female, over the age of 21.

My other half said he did not understand why those protesting did not grasp that aggressive, combative and damaging protests rarely if ever achieve anything. Nor do they achieve public support if they constantly annoy the public at large.

In contrast peaceful non-aggressive protests can be much more successful.

So, he asked, why do the protestors not act voluntarily to do something of positive and public benefit to the community at large - while wearing clothing indicating they are "#Just Stop Oil" Protestors.

I think he's making a great point.

In the meantime I notice that 

• protestors are acquiring criminal records and sentences of 6 months in prison.
• the security at major art galleries and museums has been significantly toughened up since their "attack" efforts started.

National Gallery in Trafalgar Square this month (November 2022)

REFERENCE

• Just Stop Oil is both destructive and IGNORANT!
• Why throw tomato soup at a Van Gogh painting?

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.