You have two months to prepare an entry for the Annual Open Exhibition of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). Online entries close on Friday 9 January 2026 (12 noon).
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| Find out how to enter the RBA Annual Exhibition 2026 |
This post explains:
- why this is a good exhibition for artists submitting via the open entry
- why the last two exhibitions have been very disappointing in terms of sales - particularly for member artists - but have lots of scope to "come back" and do as well as they have done in earlier years
- how to enter
Why submit to this open entry?
This is a good exhibition for non-members to try and get selected for, because of the variety of media, subject matter and styles which are acceptable to the RBA
This is probably the most eclectic of all the art societies belonging to the Federation of British Artists BA Exhibitions - whose home is at the Mall Galleries. My comment in this post Artwork I liked at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2025
It also has an excellent range of prizes, many of which open artists are eligible to win.
However, there are always a LOT of entries and this exhibition gets more open entries than some of the top flight art competitions in the UK (
Those who enter have a good chance of being exhibited as the RBA aims to split the artworks hung in the exhibition 50:50 between RBA members/associates and the open artists.
Why the last two RBA exhibitions have been disappointing
These were my blog posts about the 2025 exhibition
The artwork selected comes from 3,843 submitted images. To give you a sense of what that represents it's bigger than the entry for some major art competitions.
Mostly it was good work, although it certainly included artwork I personally would have edited out at the selection stage.
I start from the basic premise that major art exhibitions are for selling art as well as showing it. As in people want to recoup their expenses and generate income for an artist.
The reality is that the last two exhibitions have have had VERY LOW SALES
- 2025: 63 artworks sold (just 11% of the artwork hung) which is VERY LOW
- 2024: 52 sold from 491 hung (10%) last year - but only just (11%!!)
This is in the context of a society which, in the recent past, has generated in excess of £100K in sales at its annual exhibition (as another FBA Society did recently).
Moreover,
in 2025, 60% of the artwork SOLD was generated by the Open Artists (selected via the Open Call to exhibit with the members of the RBA). My thinking is this is because:
- open artists tend to submit smaller and more affordable artworks - priced to sell (I will allow myself to think some have been reading my blog posts which have provided clear signposts as to what sells!)
- member artists are sometimes self-indulgent and submit large works which have little chance of selling - and too many don't read my blog posts about the exhibition metrics!
- the Selection Panel sometimes seems to be
- too indulgent to its members in terms of what they what they want to exhibit and
- thinking too little about the business of making money from the exhibition - to fund their contribution of the costs of running the Mall Galleries.
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| A guide to price brackets at the last RBA Exhibition |
I should emphasise that it's not just my opinion it was the members who were mainly responsible for the overall level of low sales. It's a FACT.
- There were 554 artworks hung in the show (which in my opinion is about 200 too many) split between:
- 275 artworks by members
- 279 artworks by open entry artists
- In terms of the number of artworks which sold
- 60% were by open artists
- 40% were by RBA Members and Associates
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Most sales were, as I constantly reiterate, BELOW £1,500 Most sales in this RBA show were also by OPEN ARTISTS |
This sort of performance is a function of:
- artwork submitted for exhibition
- the critical faculties of those selecting the work that gets on the wall.
Selection for 2026
In relation to the 2026 Annual Exhibition (26 February - 12 March),
I'm really hoping that the panel of selectors will get their critical and business faculties in gear and become more discriminating by aiming to:
- RADICALLY REDUCE the number of artworks they select (i.e. the more they hang, the less they sell).
- BE MUCH MORE RIGOROUS IN THEIR SELECTION - in relation to BOTH members and open entries - about preferring artwork that will sell rather than artwork which will just hang on a wall for 10 days and do very little for art, the artist or the RBA wanting to generate funds to run future exhibitions. After all, this is what commercial galleries need to do all the time if they are to stay in business.
The key is to select the best and not just everything you like the look of it.
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| artwork at the entry to the West Gallery in 2025 |
How to Enter
Artists are invited to submit work for exhibition alongside members of the Royal Society of British Artists at the RBA Annual Exhibition 2026. More details below.
