Tributes to Anthony J Lester (1945-2026)

To mark the passing of art critic, author and prizegiver Anthony J Lester on 19th August 2026, age 81.

I've known Anthony as an art critic and prizegiver and his wife Elizabeth Meek MBE PPRMS PPSWA for nearly 20 years, mostly from us all attending the same PVs at the Mall Galleries. However he's been doing what he was doing for the last 50 years. He was very definitely a constant of the national art society world in the UK and they were together one of the best known couples in it.

I've known for a while about his stage 4 pancreatic cancer for a while - he shared the news on his instagram

I'm borrowing the text from 

• his wife's post yesterday afternoon on her Instagram account; and 
• the Mall Galleries tribute  

except I've bullet pointed his contributions to the art world.

I'll miss seeing that red trilby hat which often came to the PVs too!

ANTHONY J LESTER
1945 - 2026

My beloved wonderful husband Tony, who was my best friend and soul mate, has very sadly passed away after a hard battle against pancreatic cancer. He was the very best and brilliant of men and will be very much missed by those who knew and loved him.

• Art Critic, journalist
• Curator,
• Picture Expert on Antique Roadshow
• Expert on BBC 'Flog it' 
• Radio Broadcaster,
• Author of many books
• Creator of the Anthony J Lester Award, presented at various charity art societies,
• art researcher, and much much more.

This is the post by the Mall Galleries with which he has been much associated over the years

For over forty years Anthony has given massive support to the Federation of British Artists at Mall Galleries.

He curated several exhibitions on behalf of the FBA, including the much-acclaimed Pure Gold: 50 Years of the Federation of British Artists (2011), The Art of a Nation: Irish Works from the Allied Irish Banks and Crawford Art Gallery Collections (2015), and Winners: Award Winning Artists 2020-2022 (2022).

In 2011 he created the Anthony J. Lester Art Critic Award, which he presented at several exhibitions at Mall Galleries, including those of the New English Art Club and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours. Such support resulted in Anthony being made a 

• Companion of the Pastel Society and 
• Fellow of the Royal Society of British Artists. 

In addition to this, he was 

• a long-time Member of the International Association of Art Critics and The Critics’ Circle and 
• a Life Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and 
• Life Member of Chelsea Arts Club.

What I hadn't realised, until researching this post, was quite how many catalogues for both art societies and artists he'd compiled and written. 

This tribute also goes on to mention something I didn't know.

Anthony was introduced to Elizabeth Meek at the Mall Galleries in 2004. He was organising and selecting the works for Not the Turner Prize, a £20,000 award for painting, while Elizabeth was arranging the annual exhibition of the Society of Women Artists. Their relation blossomed and in 2008 they married. Elizabeth introduced him to colourful hats ranging from blue to red to pink to yellow, and zany, multi-coloured shirts. The couple certainly stood out from the crowd and were frequently spotted at the gallery’s Private Views. 

Commnts from those who knew him

I am so sorry to hear this Liz. He was such a lovely man and a great support to artists. His generosity, kindness and enthusiasm will be much missed. Sending you love. X Harriet Mead PSWLA

He was always so generous in chatting to artists at Mall Galleries PV’s, I always enjoyed talking to both Anthony and Elizabeth.
The Art World will miss him, what a wonderful, colourful character he was. Felicity Flutter RI

I am so sorry to hear this. He was so well loved and respected and did so much for artists. I send my love and thoughts. Lilias August RI

 

A final thought - I'm passing on

A few years back Antony and Elizabeth "retired" and went to live on the coast in Sussex.

However, on meeting them at subsequent PVs, I learned from them an invaluable tip about the wisdom of keeping a place in London.

You want to be living somewhere with very good hospitals within very easy reach as you get older and your health starts to cause concern.

Anthony was supported by the Royal Marsden Hospital at the end. I'll let him have the final word.

I am being treated at the Royal Marsden Hospital and cannot praise the consultants, doctors and nurses enough for their professionalism and kindness. My message to everyone is enjoy every day - it's precious.

Mark Dalessio wins £35,000 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026

American/French artist Marc Dalessio has won the £35,000 Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2026. He was presented with at an Awards Ceremony at the National Portrait Gallery in London on Tuesday night.

Marc Dalassio with his award-winning portrait 

Jean-Denis, 2025 © Marc Dalessio

With a notably restrained and economical use of paint, Marc Dalessio’s Jean-Denis achieves a striking immediacy, where every mark carries weight. The judges enjoyed the subtle sliver of white from the sitter’s shirt that becomes a focal point, activating the composition. The portrait offers an empathetic depiction of its subject, conveying a timeless presence that feels both regal and understated.

The Judges Comments  

For the record, all my guesses of who would win what were CORRECT!

The two youngest award winners
- just before they announced the prizes!

Below you can see 

• photos of the artists with their portraits which were taken Tuesday evening.
• Plus a photo of them receiving their award. Apologies for the side on view. I usually pick a better spot.

[I was hoping for access to the NPG ones being taken by the photographer who was in prime position - but for some unfathomable reason, rather than being available Wednesday morning (as they always used to be) they're not likely to be available until the end of the week.
So these are the only photos of the Awards Ceremony online so far!!]

Below are the profiles of the artists and the portraits which won the prizes. 

Words about the painting and what the Judges thought are from the press release - hence quotes.

V&A Illustration Awards 2026: Last Call for Entries

This is about the Call for Entries for the biennial V&A Illustration Awards - in 2026. Below are the basic facts of what you need to know - plus the link to where you can read more. Deadline for entry is 12.00 GMT on 5 January 2026.

The V&A Illustration Awards is a free, biennial competition celebrating excellence in illustration and contemporary practice, and judged by a panel of prominent illustrators and industry experts.

The Awards aim to reflect the contemporary UK illustration scene, welcoming published work by UK residents or those resident anywhere in the world working for UK clients. 

Illustration: Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year 2024 Benjamin Phillips, 

Alte Zachen / Old Things by Ziggy Hanaor (© Cicada Books, B. Phillips 2022)

 

The Prizes

The prize money has increased for 2026, 

• each of the five category winners will receive £3,500 
• five runners-up will get £1000. 
• The overall winner, the Moira Gemmill Illustrator of the Year, receives 
• an additional £5,500 (making a total of £9,000) and 
• their work will become part of the V&A’s collections. 

Winners and runners-up for each category will be announced in summer 2026. Their work will be displayed in a dedicated, curated display within the V&A.

The Awards are generously supported by the Linder Foundation and the Moira Gemmell Memorial fund.

What you need to know

What are the categories for entries?

In 2026, there are five categories. There are no "designated briefs" for entries in any category.

The five categories are:

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!

Calling all UK Art Teachers

Art Teachers are invited by the the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI) to submit watercolour artworks by their students aged between 11 and 18 for the RI Coronation Award which celebrates excellence in your artists painting in watercolour and water-based media.

The RI Coronation Award

This is the third year of the RI Coronation Award, introduced in 2024 at the first annual exhibition following the coronation of King Charles III.

What you need to know

• This is the link to the page on the RI website providing information.
• Entries to last year's competition came from schools all over the UK
• The competition is open to school students only - aged between 11 and 18
• All artwork submissions must be in watercolour or water-soluble media (eg inks, acrylic)
• The deadline for entries is 22 December 2025.
• The Winner and two runners-up will be announced in February 2026.

For full details you need to write to ricoronationaward@gmail.com

The prizes are as follows:

• a materials bursary of £800 to the winning school
• art materials (voucher) to the value of £100 to the First Prize Winner
• art materials (voucher) to the value of £50 to each of the two Runners-Up
• Certificates of Merit will also be awarded to up to a further ten entrants who the judges consider worthy of recognition.

The three prizewinners will 

• have reproductions of their paintings exhibited at the 214th Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours at the Mall Galleries in London, March 25th until April 11th 2026.
• will also be invited to have their prizes presented to them by the President of the RI and her guest speaker at the Private View of the Exhibition, which will be held at the Mall Galleries, London on Tuesday March 24th 2026 at 6.30 pm.

This year the prize has been generously sponsored by The Borg Scott Charity

[NOTE:  Oddly, I had difficulty finding a link to this award on the RI website (it's under Exhibitions). A link to the Call for Entries on the front page - for both the Open Exhibition - and this competition would be useful. The website currently looks as if it could do with an early spring clean and update! I got my information from the recent post on their Instagram account]

REVIEW: 80th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists

The quality of most of the 395 artworks in the 80th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists is very high. 

View of some of the artwork in RSMA Annual Exhibition in the East Gallery

You can view all the artwork online - however there is nothing quite like seeing it on the wall

If you can't get to London (and I know many have issues re. time and/or expense), the next best thing is to see it on the wall in my photographs of the entire exhibition which I've been posting on Facebook ever since my visit last week. You can see them here 

• RSMA Annual Exhibition 2025 - East Gallery
  RSMA Annual Exhibition 2025 - North Gallery
• RMSA Annual Exhibition 2025 - West Gallery
• Demonstrations by Roger Dellar, Andrew Hird and and Srirangam Mohankumar

A view which highlights some of the 3D artwork in the East Gallery

My post last week RSMA Annual Exhibition 2025 - Award winners and Catalogue references the catalogue and awardwinners.

Note: I'm afraid I am not linking to the RSMA website as it is insecure (i.e. http prefix only and no security certificate) and it's my policy to not link to sites which may present risks to readers. Hopefully they will get this sorted before my next post about them

Review of the RSMA 80th Annual Exhibition

I always sit and write my comments in the catalogue after doing my first tour round the exhibition - and then add in more comments later after I've been around again. 

However this time I nearly did not get a catalogue for free. Long gone are the days when the people behind the desk at the Mall Galleries are permanent staff who are the same on every visit who greet me because we've known each other for ages. People who know that I both review the exhibition and "drum up" both visitors to the exhibition and entrants for the call for entries in the following year.

Many of the artists who exhibit in exhibitions I review do so because they have heard about those exhibitions from me - and they tell me!  I don't often boast but I have a very long and robust track record of "growing competitive exhibitions" over the last 20 years of blogging MAM. As well as the FBA Shows at the Mall Galleries, these range from the BP Portrait Award - where the entrants grew exponentially and internationally following my comprehensive coverage of it to the RHS Botanical Art Show - which has moved out of the Horticultural Halls and now exhibits at the Saatchi Gallery for several weeks each summer.  

Those running the FBA Exhibitions know that my blog often provides the only decent length review they get. I have had thanks from many Presidents over the year online and in person for the profile I give to the societies. I don't need thanks - I would do it anyway. But it's always nice to be recognised for a constructive contribution - even if it is sometimes is critical of some aspect of a society/exhibition/arrangements. At the end you can find links to past reviews.

But apparently the people at the desk think I need to pay for a catalogue. Yes, I was miffed. Hence the delay in this review because I knew I was going to say something and a little distance seemed judicious....

ANYWAY.... back to the exhibition and the comments in my catalogue

The end wall in the West Gallery

I thought it a very well hung exhibition for the most part. It was helped of course by having 57 fewer artworks in the show compared to last year. 

From my perspective, so long as you don't select lots of large artwork, 400 artworks should be the figure most societies should aim to hang. Less if you want big artwork - of which there was also a lot less in this exhibition.

Mezzanine wall of smaller artworks

However, the main thing I noticed this year is that this an exhibition which is much more "marine" and much less about "boats." So lots of:

• seascapes
• waves and wave formations - by the men and not just the women!
• nature  and wildlife - animals, fish and plants associated with the sea

Although it appears not everybody is happy. This was one comment on the RSMA Facebook Page where my photos were shared.

RSMA Annual Exhibition 2025 - Award winners and Catalogue

I'm very pleased to report that one of the art societies at the Mall Galleries - the Royal Society of Marine Artists - has opened its annual exhibition - with ALL relevant information online.

Royal Society of Marine Artists - cover of Catalogue of the Annual Exhibition 2025
at the Mall Galleries

I spent the first few years of reviewing annual exhibitions by FBA Societies asking Presidents and officers why they didn't have all relevant information online at the start of the exhibition e.g.

• prizewinners - as soon as they are announced
• events during the exhibition - before they happen
• how to see the the catalogue - for those who could not visit - or might be tempted to (see below)
• how to buy the artwork - for those who could not visit

A lot of progress has been made in the years since - notably all the artwork now being online before the exhibition and also available for sale - but it's still irritating to see when marketing opportunities are lost for both art society and artists.

Hence, it's a real pleasure to go to the Mall Galleries website this morning and find everything I want to see on the RSMA page - BEFORE I visit the exhibition of the Royal Society of Marine Artists today!

A review of the exhibition will follow either tomorrow or at the weekend.

The Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2025 is at the Mall Galleries between 17th and 27th September 2025 (10am to 5pm)

• Admission £6, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries and under 25s. Concessions available.
• No booking required.
• You can see - and buy - all the artwork online here
• You can view the Events Programme
• You can view the artwork of all the award winners online - see below
• You can see entries for all the artwork selected in the catalogue - see below.

and so.....

Award Winners at the Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition

You can find the images of the artwork and the names of the artists that won prizes 

• on the Mall Galleries website - Click the "View Award Winners" button on this page
• in the catalogue - see below

The latter means that some of the award winners must have been chosen some time in advance because of the time required to set up and print a catalogue.

Catalogue of the RSMA Annual Exhibition 2025

You can buy the catalogue or read the e-catalogue without visiting the exhibition.

Most of the FBA societies now use Issuu to provide a very pleasing e-catalogue online for viewing all the pages in the catalogue - including the lists of all all the artwork. 

Examples of work by non members

The online catalogue is particularly useful for those thinking of applying in future as it gives you a good sense of 

• not only some of the artwork by non members - and the media used 
• but also the pricing by non members who were selected (ie those artists without RSMA after their name in the list of artworks at the end).

I noted that it seems many artists people have become more realistic in pricing of late - but I'll look at this in more detail in a subsequent post about sales.

One more thing....security!

One more thing which does still need fixing!

The website of the Royal Society of Marine Artists is INSECURE.

As in its prefix is http rather than https - meaning 

• Google will look down its nose at it and will not give it a high ranking in its search listings 
• it's not a great idea to link to it.

Or as Google's AI Overview puts it

You need the https prefix to encrypt your communication with a website, using the secure protocol Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) to protect your data from eavesdropping and tampering. This security is provided by an SSL certificate and ensures your information, such as passwords and payment details, remains private between your browser and the server. In addition to user trust and data integrity, search engines like Google prioritize HTTPS-secured sites, which can also improve your website's search engine ranking.

By and large I usually make it a rule now never to look at http websites.

Best to stick to the Mall Galleries website for the exhibition where you can now find all you need to know - until RSMA invests in a new website!

The Turner Prize Shortlist 2025 begs a question

Today is Turner's 250th Birthday. Two days ago, the artists shortlisted for Turner Prize 2025 shortlist were announced.

What is The Turner Prize?

What the Tate says - other than in this year's press release - is

The Turner Prize is awarded to a British artist. 'British' can mean an artist working primarily in Britain or an artist born in Britain working globally. The prize focuses on their recent developments in British art rather than a lifetime's achievement.

Very many well known artists - or ones who have gone on to become very well known - have won The Turner Prize in the past. You can see a list here.

The award in 2025 is £55,000

• £25,000 goes to the winner and 
• £10,000 each goes to the other shortlisted artists.

In the past, the prize has been criticised for having criteria which are unfocused i.e. how do they get from the vast range of contemporary art development in the UK to those artists who are shortlisted for this prize.

Can one determine purpose from those shortlisted this year?

One of the world’s best-known prizes for the visual arts, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.

They are:

• Nnena Kalu, 
• Rene Matić, 
• Mohammed Sami and 
• Zadie Xa.

Nnena Kalu, Conversations, Walker Art Gallery, installation view.
Courtesy of the Artist and Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.
Photo credit: Pete Carr.

the unveiling of the short list often occasions a fierce debate about the artists’ relative merits and sometimes about the very definition of art. 

My initial inclination is to think somebody is trying to make a point. Which is all art needs to have a message. 

I don't think it does. I think art can be very many things. What it emphatically does not ALWAYS need to be is something with "a message" - and yet this is what jurors always seem to like.

In 2025, art seems to have become something which can only be celebrated if the artist is marginalised in some way - in terms of heritage or gender or ethnicity. Maybe this is connected to the fact that this year the Turner Prize is associated with Bradford as the City of Culture - and one might expect some sort of respect for the diverse communities that live in Bradford. 

But should it reflect just one city or the nation as a whole?

Of very great and increasing concern to me is that art favoured by jurors often seems NOT to connect in any way with vast numbers of the British public.
In turn, this can then be exploited by extreme right wing political parties which leads to increasing numbers of people voting for them. That way lies fascism and all that goes with that - as we are seeing playing out right now in the USA. That is very much NOT the way I want to see the UK go.

I'm also left wondering if the jurors selected their four shortlisted artists before or after this headline from the Evening Standard - Visitor numbers plunge at London art museums as Tate galleries lose 2.7 million in five years (25th March 2025) - which really shocked me! (There will be another blog post on this topic and why numbers have dropped - which is pertinent to my comments above).

But who decides?

It seems to me that which artistic developments get noticed rather depends on who is judging the prize - and which organisations they are associated with. 

This year the members of the Turner Prize 2025 jury are:

Beyond The Prize

Beyond The Prize is a NEW and different sort of contemporary figurative art exhibition. It's all about 160 new artwork produced by over one hundred recent award-winning artists artists - and it opens at the Mall Galleries on Wednesday 16th April.

Bringing together the best emerging and established artists from art societies across the UK, the exhibition celebrates the impact of prizes and awards on their work, and their work on the world.

• The aim of the exhibition is to provide them with a showcase for their new works and to highlight figurative art as a thriving, contemporary art form. 
• The artists and artwork have been guest curated by Tabish Khan - an art critic who specialises in London's art scene. He is the visual arts editor for Londonist, a trustee of ArtCan, (a non-profit arts organisation that supports artists through profile raising activities and exhibitions), Discerning Eye, and is a member of The Critics’ Circle.

The exhibition is presented by the Federation of British Artists, a collective of leading art societies based at Mall Galleries. It is through the exhibitions and initiatives of the Federation - led by artists, for all - that more than £100,000 worth of prizes and awards, bursaries, residencies and scholarships are awarded to artists annually. Featured in this exhibition are many of these winners, plus award-winning artists from the Royal West of England Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, and Wales Contemporary.

The artwork is already available to see - and buy - online. 

The exhibition is accompanied by an online series, featuring interviews with many of the exhibitors about their journey to the prize and beyond.  This includes their responses to the question:

"What impact do you think art has on the world, now, and in the future?"

There are also a number of events - listed after the details of the exhibition below.

The Artists in the Exhibition

The exhibition includes both emerging and established artists. Exhibitors are 

• award-winning artists from the annual open exhibitions of the art societies within the Federation of British Artists in 2023 and 2024, 
• plus winners of the gallery’s bursaries, residencies and scholarships over the same period.
• plus award-winning artists from the Royal West of England Academy, Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, and Wales Contemporary.

If this exhibition continues beyond this year, it provides an enormous incentive for:

• artists to submit great artwork to FBA Exhibitions with a view to winning a prize
• a high standard of judging in relation to who wins prizes.

You can see the names of the artists in the online exhibition

However, very oddly, none of the listings provide any reference to the prize they won. Which I thought was the whole point of the show - to demonstrate that these are prizewinners!

I did ask the Mall Galleries for a copy of the list of the artists - but got an email back from the consultant who is doing their publicity saying she doesn't monitor her email account!!!

I think there are a few aspects which could be improved if this exhibition were to run again!

Artworks in the Exhibition  

There are 160 new artworks in the exhibition. 

Media

• 75 - oil or acrylic
• 26 - waterbased media (watercolour, gouache, pen and ink)
• 25 - mixed media
• 24 - dry media (pastel, charcoal, graphite)
• 6 - scultures
• 4 - prints

Subject matter

I'll be interested to see how these fare in the selling stakes as I know which category tends to generate the most sales - and it isn't Portrait and Figures.

• 61 - Portrait and Figure 
• 39 - Landscape and Cityscape
• 23 - Still life and Interiors
• 16 - Wildlife and Animals
• 11 - "Other" - including "Freemotion embroidery on painted silk"
• 1 - Abstract

Pricing

It's worth commenting on the pricing in advance. There are four approaches to pricing by different groups of artists who I would characterise as follows

• artists who are not willing to compromise their prices and choose to make them not for sale. The exhibition represents a marketing opportunity for commissions.
• artists who have stuck to their normal price range for size and media
• artists have have been optimistic as to who this exhibition might be marketed to, one way and another - who might have got rather ambitious / overly optimistic in their pricing and will very probably be disappointed
• artists who have read my blog posts on pricing for exhibitions at the Mall Galleries.

How to see the Beyond the Prize Exhibition

Antony Williams wins HSF Portrait Award 2024

At the revamped National Portrait Gallery on Tuesday evening, Egg Tempera painter Antony Williams was announced as the winner of the very prestigious £35,000 Portrait Award - now sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills, a law form and long time sponsor of the NPG.

We were all very thankful to return to the formal Awards Ceremony, given the combination of the refurbishment of the National Portrait Gallery and Covid meant we hadn't had an Awards Ceremony since 2015 - and five years is a very long time to wait....

I'll comment on the differences I noticed in a future post - but first the awards....

The HSF Portrait Award opened to the public at the NPG today and continues until 27th October 2024. It is however not where it used to be due to the reconfiguration of the gallery. You'll find it at the far end of Floor 2. It's free to enter.

HSF Portrait Award - First Prize (£35,000): Antony Williams

Antony Williams winning first prize is a testament to all those who are willing to keep trying and to keep entering and who can wait 29 years to win the first prize!

Winner of the Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award 2024

Jacqueline with Still Life by Antony Williams RP NEAC

I, for one, will very much miss seeing Antony's wonderful egg tempera portraits in this competition - I've seen seven of them. He is an absolute master of the egg tempera medium and has won a number of other awards during his career to date. 

Antony is an artist who has previously had his artwork selected to hang in the Portrait Award Exhibition on 10 previous occasions (in 1995, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020) and, notably, won Third Prize in 2017.

I had a chat with him recently and told him that I confidently predicted he would win. He does after all fall very neatly in to the category of one type of winner - who is selected on a regular basis over the years and has previously won either second or third prize - or the Young Artist Award. I simply could not see him being shortlisted for an award this time and not winning (although Michael Gaskell will attest to the fact it does happen!). I have to say I was much more confident that he would win than he was, although that might be because he's had so many entries accepted which have not won! He does know I crunch the numbers though....

As I remarked in my blog post about the Shortlist for The Portrait Award 2024 Antony had become the last of "the regulars" who has been not yet won this Award.

He and I both knew he had won as soon as they began to introduce the second prize winner. As soon as the word "Florence" was said, I knew he'd won it. I have to say he was very calm about it all. I found him in the crowd with my iPhone and was taking pics of him waiting for him to be announced as the winner of the First Prize. Apparently some of those in his party also realised he had won and were a tad more emotional about it!

The next day I got a pic of him with his winning painting of one of his regular models and some of the still life which he paints regularly. I thought it was a really interesting composition. It presents a really interesting interrelationship between the different objects in the picture plane and enhanced the potential for narrative explaining how they came about.

Jacqueline with Still Life with Portrait Award Winner 2024 - Antony Williams

Egg Tempera on wooden board;

1222cm x 668cm (48 inches x 26 inches)

The Judges were impressed with Williams confidence and mystery of the egg tempera medium. They felt the composition was nuanced and surprising. The painting sustains your attention, encouraging the viewer to unpack and make sense of the connections between Jacqueline and the still life elements in the background, creating an intriguing and enigmatic portrait.

Still life is in fact one of Antony's main interests and I think most of the paintings I've seen from him in the past in this competition had some element of still life in them. It helps to tell the story of the artist, the model and the place where they are both working. However he does also paint very intricate interlaced paintings of heads as well. His website is well worth a good look (see link embedded in his name at the top) to see why egg tempera is so very different from painting in oils or acrylics.

I've always been attracted to it because of the scope to create optical mixes of colours, and Antony told me about the way he approaches a painting like this. I have to tell you there's a lot more sitting underneath all the various mark-making than you might think!

More about egg tempera

I now know where I went wrong when I did an egg tempera course at the V&A! Below I've listed the egg tempera posts I've written for all those now interested in the media who want to know more - which also references famous paintings in egg tempera

• Egg Tempera Class at the V&A: The support and the drawing
• Egg Tempera Class at the V&A: the pigments and the grinding
• Egg tempera class at the V&A: painting with egg tempera
• plus An egg tempera day - which is about a workshop with another egg tempera painter 

Second Prize (£12,000): Isabella Watling

The second Prize of £12,000 was awarded to Isabella Watling for Zizi. 

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

RBA Rising Stars at the ROSL and three prizewinners!

Rising Stars are those whose profile is in the ascendent!

 
RBA RISING STARS is an exhibition which showcases the extraordinary talent of 41 artists, aged 18-35, including those shortlisted for the Rome Scholarship offered by the Royal Society of British Artists

This post looks at:

• the RBA Rome Scholarship - and what an amazing prize it is
• the RBA Rising Stars Exhibition at the Royal Overseas League in London - which opened yesterday and continues until 7th July 2024.
• the RomeScholarship prizewinners and awards ceremony
• how the Rome Scholarship winner is determined
• Artists selected for the RBA Rising Stars exhibition
• Exhibition details

I'm also uploading images of the artwork in the exhibition to an album on my Facebook Page and will insert a link here when it has been published

I highly recommend a visit to the exhibition for all those interested in applying for the 2025 Rome Scholarship!

President of the RBA, Mick Davies begins the prizegiving at
RBA Rising Stars Exhibition held in the central foyer and stairwell
at the Royal Overseas League HQ in London.

RBA Rome Scholarship

The Rome Scholarship is:

• a prize of £5,000
• a return flight to Rome in September 2024
• Four weeks accommodation at Sala Uno, a highly prestigious gallery and international arts centre in the heart of Rome - Staying in a self-contained apartment, situated within a wonderful and extensive walled garden in the grounds of the gallery
• Studio space which will be available within the galler; and
• 2 meals per day at a local restaurant.

The prize is sponsored by Huaicun Zhang who is an Honorary Member of the RBA.

Huaicun Zhang, sponsor of the Rome Scholarship and prizes 
with Mick Davies, President of the Royal Society of British Artists

This competition is open to artists who live, work or study in the UK and who are aged 35 years or under.

RBA Rising Stars Exhibition at the Royal Overseas League

The RISING STARS 2024 exhibition has opened

• Venue: at the Royal Overseas League, 
• Address: 6 Park Pl, St. James's, London SW1A 1LR
• Dates: until July 7 2024
• Hours: 

The exhibition comprises one artwork from 41 artists.

At the end of this post you can find out more about what else ROSL offers to artists.

RBA Rome Scholarship Prizewinners

On Tuesday night, at the Private View for the Exhibition, the names of the three artists who have been shortlisted for the Rome Scholarship were announced.

This is the process used to progress applications to an awards ceremony and the award of the Rome Scholarship.