Top 10 portrait painters - and a commissions checklist

I've just read an excellent and informative article identifying the Top Ten Portrait Painters 2015. It's by Annabel Elton, Head of Commissions (i.e. the lady in charge of the Federation of British Artists’ Fine Art Commissions Service) at the Mall Galleries. This article follows on from her earlier LinkedIn Pulse article - Portrait Commissions Are Thriving!

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters placed a record number of commissions last year (a rise of 62% from 2013) despite the onslaught of the photograph, the digital age and the selfie.

The latest article lists the top ten artists generating enquiries at the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of as being (listed alphabetically by surname by me):

• Frances Bell Assoc RP SWA http://www.francesbellpaintings.co.uk - see Self Portrait Part 1, 2 and 3
• Paul Brason RP http://www.paulbrason.co.uk do look at his impeccable drawings as well as his paintings!  His works in the exhibition this year included two wonderful drawings of Mary Rees-Mogg and Eleanora and Sybilla and I'm guessing that these possibly prompted a lot of the enquiries
• Keith Breeden RP http://www.keithbreeden.com
• Anthony Connolly RP  http://www.anthonyconnolly.co.uk
• David Cobley RP NEAC http://www.davidcobley.com - see Professor Martin Daunton
• Phoebe Dickinson http://www.phoebedickinson.com - see Carson on Set at Highclere Castle
• Valeriy Gridnev PS ROI RP http://valeriygridnev.com - see The Framer
• Brendan Kelly RP http://www.brendankellyartist.co.uk - see Fabio 
• Toby Wiggins RP http://www.tobywiggins.co.uk - see Guy Bamford at Dunshay Studio
• Robbie Wraith RP http://www.robbiewraith.com - see Portrait Study

Incidentally none of the artists in the list won any of the prizes at the RP's Annual Exhibition this year!

(Lefy to right) Sir Alan Battersby Paul Brason PPRP

Professor Lord Krebs of Wytham, Principal of Jesus College, Oxford by Keith Breeden RP

Professor Graham Russell, Emeritus Professor of Musculoskeletal Pharmacology by Keith Breeden RP

I've done my list above in alphabetical order by surname whereas Annabel has them in a different order. That's because her heading indicates that.....

The Top Portrait painters this year are Phoebe Dickinson, Robbie Wraith and Keith Breeden. These are the artists who received the most enquiries at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters’ Annual Exhibition at Mall Galleries.

It would be nice to know which are the top artists ranked according to the value of the commissions they subsequently generated!

Personally, I'm all in favour of limited information being released as to who are the really successful artists - in terms of generating commissions or sales for the following reasons:

• competition for commissions in real life is very competitive!
• information like this helps guide up and coming artists as to the type of art which sells well at exhibitions at the Mall Galleries. I'm not suggesting people should copy successful artists - but at least it tells them what the people who come to see the exhibitions like.
• there's nothing like some healthy competition to get:
• member artists to up their game and submit their very best work to annual exhibitions
• prompt selection panels to make sure they select the best work submitted by members - and to not just hang work because it was submitted!

All the artists except Phoebe are members or associate members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters. Above the links in their names are to their pages on the RP website and after their names I've listed their professional signature letters and also listed their websites

(Note: If you click the commissions heading on the left of their RP page it gives a rough fee-guide for a single portrait - related both to size and media - and what it includes and excludes.)

It's a very interesting piece of information - not least for all aspiring portrait painters as it indicates:

• what type of artist attracts commission enquiries via the Fed.
• the fact that you don't have to be a member of one of the Fed. societies to generate enquiries about a commission!

A website checklist for artists doing commissions

I've added the artists' websites to my list - not least because it's my belief that anybody wanting to commission a portrait painter will also look at their website.

Do take a look at their websites. I'm personally convinced that the professionalism of an artist's website makes a big difference to whether or not they get commissions. Try studying their websites and see what conclusions you can draw.

Tell me what you think - do websites matter to commissions?

Here's my suggested checklist for all artists undertaking commissions.

Does your personal website or agent:

• use your name for the URL?
• indicate your art education?
• describe how you work and your preferred approach to commissions?
• list people who have sat for commissions?
• say which media you work in for commissions - and include examples for all such media on your website?
• provide indicative fees for size and type of media?
• state what your fee includes and excludes?

FBA/Mall Galleries Commission Service

I'm a big fan of Annabel whose job is basically to help anybody who wants to commission a portrait. She helps them find the right artist and then makes sure that the commission process runs smoothly. You can contact her via this page

The 2016 Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

For those interested in exhibiting at the next annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters......

• This is where you can find how to exhibit
• The key dates are as follows:

• Online submission opens: Monday 2 November 2015, 12 noon
• Online submission closes: Friday 29 January 2016, 12 noon
• Pre-selection notification: Friday 12 February, 12 noon [Log in to see if your work has been pre-selected]
• Receiving Day (if pre-selected): Saturday 27 February, 10am – 5pm
• Acceptance notification: Tuesday 1 March, 12 noon
• Unaccepted collection: Thursday 3 March, 10am – 5pm
• Exhibition open: Thursday 5 May, 10am – 5pm (open until 7pm on Tuesdays)
• Exhibition closes: Friday 20 May, 5pm
• Unsold collection: Thursday 26 May, 10am – 5pm

BP Portrait Award Exhibition 2015 - video and analysis

I've uploaded my video of my walk round the BP Portrait Award 2015 exhibition to YouTube. I do this every year - with the kind permission of the National Portrait Gallery. (You can see more of my videos of past BP Portrait exhibitions in the BP Portrait and Travel Awards playlist on my Making A Mark Videos Channel on YouTube)

The video of the portraits in the exhibition is very relevant to:

• appreciating the different sizes of portraits which is not so evident when looking at file images on websites
• all those interested in the exhibition who cannot physically get to see it - particularly for prospective future entrants. This is even more relevant this year given the big increase in international entries which followed the initial submission process converting to digital. See:
• BP Portrait Award 2015 entry goes digital and 
• How to enter the £30000 BP Portrait Award 2015

As always I very much recommend seeing the exhibition in person if you possibly can. I've seen the images on the web, on video and in person at the exhibition in the National Portrait Gallery - and you really can never beat the personal experience for a proper appreciation of the works of the selected artists.

Plus I've also done an in-depth analysis of all 55 portraits in the exhibition - it involved counting!

I'd suggest those wanting to enter a future exhibition take a look at the analysis as well as the video.



As per usual please excuse the somewhat jerky movements associated with me walking and filming at the same time.

If you've got a 27" iMac like me then you can watch it full screen. You just need to alter the HD settings for the 1080HD setting - which you need to do in YouTube (click the cog wheel which says HD)

At the beginning are stills of the NPG and the entrance on the night of the awards ceremony. At the end are stills of the three prizewinners.

As you can see from the video, the exhibition as well as attracting more entries than ever before has also got more variation than usual in terms of subject and style of portrait.

I thought it might be interesting to see if I could explore that further......

BP Portrait Award 2015 - Analysis of size and type of portrait

I went back to see the exhibition when in town recently and counted the different sorts of portraits as I thought it might be quite interesting to see what's most popular. The implication is that those which are less frequent may very possibly have less competition. Which is a thought worth pondering on for those who want to enter the competition in 2016.

My analysis had three factors and 9 variables.



The first factor is size - and on a very approximate basis I counted portraits as large, medium and small sizes.  This is not scientific. It's very much a "you know when you see it" calculation. There are:

• 24 large portraits
• 14 medium size portraits
• 17 small portraits

The next factor relates to number of people in the portrait i.e. whether the portrait is a singleton or a double.  There are:

• 44 portraits of individuals
• 11 portraits of two people

The third factor relates to type of portrait.

• 15 complete figures (although two had no face)
• 16 portraits of the torso - including hands
• 2 portraits of the upper torso (minus hands)
• 21 portraits of the head only

I would add that most of the artists who have been selected for the exhibition before paint portraits of at least the torso and always include hands.  That's a big hint! :)

Let's see how this stacks up in terms of prizewinners.

First prizewinner - Annabelle and Guy by Matan Ben Cnann

• double
• large
• full figure

I have been making the point for some time that I think there is a distinct preference for artists who display the ability to paint the complete figure. One of the prizes is a commission......

That said - it's just my opinion.

Of one thing I am absolutely certain..... all the portraits which have WON the BP Portrait Award since 2010 have all included hands

Second Prize - Eliza by Michael Gaskell

• single
• small
• head only

Are these three factors the reason why Michael Gaskell has won second prize four times and yet has never won first prize?

Of one thing I am pretty sure - if you want to win a prize with a small painting of a head it has to be impeccably painted!

Third Prize - My mother and my brother by Borja Buces Renard

• large
• double
• upper torso

More Blog posts about the BP Portrait Award 2015

• Israeli artist Matan Ben Cnaan wins BP Portrait Prize 2015
• Video Interview with Winner of the BP Portrait Award 2015
• Michael Gaskell (2nd Prize BP Portrait 2015) - a video interview
• BP Portrait 2015 - Artists with their paintings
• Shortlist for £30000 BP Portrait Award 2015 announced
• Selected Artists - BP Portrait Award 2015
• Brits lose out in BP Portrait Award 2015
• How to enter the £30000 BP Portrait Award 2015
• BP Portrait Award 2015 entry goes digital

PS. I'm sure you can guess what's under the pixelations in the video - my videos and blog are not rated for adult content and I'm not about to have their status compromised by individuals who like reporting images of naked young ladies!

Old Flo - the end of the story?

Back in 2012 I wrote Henry Moore Sculpture - a very poor precedent for public art about the proposal by the Mayor of my local Council to sell off the Henry Moore statue which Moore had personally gifted to the East End of London after the Second World War.

I cited six reasons why the proposal was a really bad idea in relation to public ownership of art by famous artists - and this work in particular.

"Old Flo" by Henry Moore
in situ on the Stifford Estate

The statue is officially called 'The Draped Seated Woman' but it has been colloquially called 'Old Flo' for a very long time

Old Flo was a symbol of hope and regeneration after the devastation of bombings in the area caused by WWII.

In brief the statue had originally been located on a GLC housing estate called the Stifford Estate.

That was until 1997 when it went 'on a holiday' to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Winner of the Art Fund Museum of the Year in 2014) when the Stifford Estate was demolished.

You can see her enjoying the views in the bracing air up in Yorkshire below!

An Update on Old Flo

Since then four things have happened

1. The London Borough of Bromley tried to assert its ownership of the statue as the residual legatee of GLC property not defined in transfer documents on the demise of the GLC. Hence it applied for an injunction to stop the sale  - for which we thank Bromley! However it then took action to recover what it saw as its its property - in the absence of paperwork which proved LBTH's ownership.  Tower Hamlets response was to stake its claim of ownership.
• New twist in row over ownership of Henry Moore's 'Old Flo'
• Ownership of Moore's Old Flo challenged by Bromley
2. The Electoral Court - meeting at the High Court - removed Lutfur Rahman from the office of Mayor. He was found to have "driven a coach and horses" through local authority law and "engaged in corrupt and illegal practices" to win elections. He was banned from holding political office for five years.  So his decision about the sale of Old Flo became largely redundant. See 
• Lutfur Rahman corruption verdict: Tower Hamlets mayor guilty of corruption and election result is declared void (Evening Standard) 
• Lutfur Rahman played the Islamophobia card to silence his critics. And too many on the left fell for it (The Independent) 
• Tower Hamlets: how a dictatorship flourished in the East End (The Guardian) 
3. A fresh election was run - and a new Mayor was elected - in June 2015. After which point it became clear that a sale would not be pursued.
4. The High Court found that Tower Hamlets did own the Moore statue after all. Last week the High Court determined that Tower Hamlets do own the statue.
• This is a summary of the decision
• This is an online file of the complete Judgement in The London Borough of Tower Hamlets Claimant- and -The London Borough of Bromley (in its capacity as successor to the London ResiduaryBody) (Defendant)

So where will the statue be located in future?

So is this the end of the story?  Is "Old Flo" actually returning to Tower Hamlets?

It certainly seems as if there is some incentive to get the statue back and to find a safe place for it to be displayed.

The new Mayor John Biggs has stated

“I am delighted Tower Hamlets has been confirmed as owner of Old Flo. I want to reiterate my intention to reverse the previous mayor’s decision to sell Henry Moore’s sculpture, Draped Seated Woman. I believe that it belongs to the people of east London and should be available locally for public enjoyment.”

... with an emphasis on 'local' and 'people of East London'.

The Museum of London stated

“We feel passionately that Henry Moore intended this important artwork for the people of London and particularly the people of Tower Hamlets, which suffered so badly during the Blitz. The reason we opposed the sale so fervently was because it went against the intentions of the artist, and it risked going out of public view forever, into a private collection and possibly even abroad. Sending Old Flo to Yorkshire was the right thing to do at the time, as she had fallen into disrepair, the estate was bulldozed and she needed looking after, but now she's had her holiday, it’s time for her to come back home.”

Possible venues include the Museum in Docklands, Canary Wharf and the University of London's Queen Mary College in Mile End.

My vote is for the latter - with a location next to the Canal where she could be seen easily by everybody who walks up and down the Regents Canal.

Fake or Fortune (Series 4 - 2015)

Fake or Fortune returned to our BBC1 screens last week with a fascinating programme about three small Lowry paintings. I won't spoil it for those who have not yet watched - but you can see the Lowry programme on BBC iPlayer.  The story about the paints seems to have advanced knowledge of Lowry's work.  I loved the investigation by photography and film!

Tonight it's the turn of Renoir to be investigated - Renoir (BBC iPlayer )

The third programme is about A Mystery Old Master - which starts in a church attended by the Bronte sisters in Yorkshire and ends up Italy

On the website you can view:

• the scientific techniques involved in the investigations
• clips from this series (and previous series)

Fake or Fortune series 4

Fake or Fortune - previous series

You can find out more about the artists covered in previous series 

• Series 1 - Monet, Winslow Homer, Han van Meergeren and Rembrandt van Rijn
• Series 2 - Degas, Turner and van Dyck
• Series 3 - Vuillard, Constable, Chagall and Gainsborough

Unfortunately, these episodes are not still available as BBC unlike other channels does not choose to maintain an archive of past series.

Review: Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015

I visited the Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 Exhibition - run by the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation yesterday - and recommend it to all those who enjoy wildlife art.  Funds raised by the exhibition go to support wildlife conservation projects around the world.

Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 - a view of the end wall of the Main Gallery

I was so 'snookered' by the extreme heat and humidity on the way home yesterday - it was like an oven in London - that I didn't write the blog post last night as planned. Today has been cooler but with very humidity which I'm not a fan of!

The exhibition is at the Mall Galleries until 4pm on Saturday 4th July 2015. It's open every day from 10am and there's a late night on Friday and then it finishes at 4pm on Saturday.

186 artworks have been selected from the 1,000 entries to the competition. A further 38 artworks were selected but not hung

In the Threadneedle Space are small sketches by David Shepherd and large paintings and sculptures by invited artists.

Artwork from invited artists in the Threadneedle SpaceStefano Zagaglia, Adam Binder and Simon Max Bannister

More artwork in the Wildlife Artist of the Year 2015 exhibition at the Mall Galleries 

On the website you can see

• WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year (186 items)
• WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year - Selected not hung (38 items)
• WAY 2015 Wildlife Artist of the Year - Guest Artist (43 items)

On YouTube you can see a video of the exhibition and some of the prizewinners which was made this week - after the Private View and Awards Ceremony on Monday evening.



Below you can find out about:

• the prizewinners - including who won the £10,0000 Wildlife Artis of the Year
• artwork I liked
• an interesting new initiative - which any art society could copy
• some comments on how a good exhibition could be even better