Bookmark a list of major art exhibitions in London in 2017

If you'd like one bookmark for a list of art exhibitions in London in 2017 - at the major art museums and galleries:

• TRY my new page Major Art Exhibitions in London in 2017. It includes:
• title and dates of every exhibition plus direct link (embedded in the title) to the online exhibition page
• links to museum websites and maps of locations
• videos introducing (some) exhibitions
• ACCESS it via
• DESKTOP/LAPTOP: the pages listed at the top of the blog - it's inbetween 'Home' and Major UK Art Competitions 2017-18
• SMARTPHONE: put a finger on the yellow 'Home" bar to see the other pages - it's the next page down

Art Museums and Galleries

Major

These are typically museums and galleries which are 

• listed in the top 100 Art Galleries in the World (based on numbers of visitors) by The Art Newspaper's International Survey 2016 (based on 2015 figures)
• and/or listed in the UK's Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (AVLA)

The National Gallery at night from Trafalgar Square

They are:

• British Museum
• National Gallery
• Tate Modern
• Victoria and Albert Museum
• Courtauld Gallery (not listed seperately from Somerset House)
• National Portrait Gallery
• Tate Britain
• Saatchi Gallery (unlisted by AVLA)
• Royal Academy of Arts

Minor

These are typically not listed in the top 100 Art Galleries nor the AVLA listing

• Dulwich Picture Gallery
• Wallace Collection
• Images of Nature Gallery at the Natural History Museum
• Shirley Sherwood Gallery

Fine Art Galleries (commercial)

This section provides me with a space to list art exhibitions at commercial fine art galleries from time to time. - but only the ones which interest me! 

This is NOT an invitation to notify me about exhibitions. Do NOT drown me in marketing spam!

Top 10 Facebook Pages - Art Galleries and Museums

Can you guess:

• which of the TOP art galleries and museums do well on Facebook
• which do much better than their GLOBAL ranking for visitors
• How many followers the top art galleries and museums have achieved on Facebook to date?

I've been quietly watching the various pages of the museums and how they rank on Facebook for years. It's extremely instructive in terms of their marketing and how some of them manage to achieve a virtual ranking online via Facebook that is completely different from their actual ranking for visitors.

Below you can find:

• which TOP art museums and galleries:
• do well on Facebook relative to their global ranking for visitors
• which do much better on Facebook 
• which need to work out why they perform less well
• my suggested explanations for the differences between actual and virtual visitors
• how all this relates to how you as an artist who markets your art online

How Museums and Art Galleries Rank for Visitors and Facebook Likes

This table compares how Facebook Likes compare to the actual number of visitors an art gallery of museum had in 2015.  Below it I add some comments as to the 'quirks' of this data - and another table to show you which are the top 10 museums on Facebook.

[Note: Visitors Figures in 2015 come from the annual survey conducted by The Art Newspaper and associated report; Facebook Figures come from my Insights Page re the other Pages I follow from my Making A Mark Facebook Page]

Museum Visitors in 2015			Museum	Location	No. of Facebook Likes
2015 visitors	World Ranking				Rank on Facebook	Total Page Likes
8,600,000	1		Louvre	Paris	1	2,300,000
6,820,686	2		British Museum	London	5	1,300,000
6,533,106	3		Metropolitan Museum of Art	New York	3	1,800,000
6,002,251	4		Vatican Museums	Vatican City	18	202,500
5,908,254	5		National Gallery	London	8	788,600
5,291,797	6		National Palace Museum	Taipei
4,712,581	7		Tate Modern	London	6	1,000,000
4,104,331	8		National Gallery of Art	Washington DC	7	795,800
6,338,031	9		State Hermitage Museum	St. Petersburg	26	38,900
3,440,000	10		Musee d'Orsay	Paris	9	703,800

Commentary

Some observations on the rankings on Facebook:

• The top three are way ahead of every other museum and art gallery which ranks well for visitors. This suggests diverse strategies for marketing their museums and art galleries in terms of traditional methods and newer methods associated with virtual visitors.
• Yet again the Louvre is way ahead of every other museum - there is a very significant margin on Likes just as there is on Visitors. There has to be an explanation for this that goes beyond the content of the museum. Smart marketing perhaps? It's certainly worth watching how the Louvre posts on Facebook.
• If a country is not Facebook friendly it's unlikely a museum located there will get a lot of likes. Museums and art galleries in parts of the world which might not be so Facebook friendly (eg the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg) are doing less well on Facebook

Which Museums are Missing from the Table?

Museums and art galleries do well in terms of actual visitors are not necessarily the same as those who do well on Facebook.

• I started with the top ten museums and art galleries in terms of the recorded attendance of annual visitors they attract. 
• Missing from this top ten of museums and art galleries I follow are those that are ranked numbers 2, 4 and 10 in terms of Facebook Likes.

So here's the table again - except this time it's based on which art museums and galleries rank in the top 10 for Facebook Likes - and below I highlight some of the key facts indicated by this table.

A&I Artist of the Year 2017 - shortlist, awards and sponsorship

I confess I'm always bemused by the idea that The A&I Artist of the Year 2017 should be chosen in 2016 from work completed by artists in 2016 - and then exhibited right at the beginning of 2017!

However, that's how the Artists & Illustrators Magazine have decided that their Artist of the Year exhibition should work - and that's their prerogative. :)  The upcoming exhibition is their 9th.

Artist of the Year exhibition at the Mall Galleries in January this year

Below you can find out about:

• details of the virtual and real exhibition
• how to vote for Artist of the Year
• who's on my shortlist - with my comments as to why
• a note about the awards on offer and a prompt for art societies when it comes to sponsorship.

Artists & Illustrators Artist of the Year 2017 Exhibition

The exhibition comprises 50 shortlisted artworks from the readers of Artists & illustrators magazine.

You can see

• 50 shortlisted artworks online in a virtual exhibition right now
• in a real exhibition at the Mall Galleries between 23rd - 28th January 2017

Readers now have the opportunity to vote on the one they like the best - and that person will receive the Readers' Choice Award.

Click on the red button on the red button to vote.

If you click on the first image of 'virtual' shortlist you can then go through a slideshow of all the images at a decent size.

Personally speaking I'd have really liked to see the details re size and media on the listing in the slideshow view.  Otherwise it requires having two windows open to check back and to prior to voting.

I saw the Artists of the Year 2016 Exhibition at the Mall Galleries last January and was very impressed by some of the entries - and Ian Hargreaves (see end of the post) was a worthy winner.

My shortlist 

I suspect as always that some will look much better in person than they do on screen and vice versa. However that said, my vote is going to one of the following (links to websites or Facebook Pages in the names)

• Jane Elizabeth Martin for Bravado (Technical pen and ink on watercolour paper, 55x50cm) - this shows both amazing pen and ink skills plus imagination in relation to design and content 
• Karen Charman - The inconsequential Tree, Topiary Prison (Watercolour on paper, 35x55cm) - The fantasy edge is fascinating - it just caught my eye and I liked it. 
• Kerry Lisa Davies - Catching Light (Oil on wooden panel, 67x67cm) - a very unusual perspective but one which demands attention. In part it depends on how the contrast between light and muted tones work in a gallery
• Laura Quinn Harris - Every Cloud (Oil on board, 41x61cm) - One of those ones where I went past and had to come back to it. This is an artist who obviously enjoys being very realistic - but also knows how to make a painting stand out from the rest
• Ruth Swain They said I used to look like her (Oil on canvas, 120x100cm) - you can't ignore a painting four foot high with a title like this. It's story in a moment in time.  This is a confident portrait painter who isn't afraid to tackle older people.  She's also excellent at handling tonalities in muted colours.
• Victoria Braithwaite - Amaryllis, Happy Memory (Watercolour, 56x65cm) - I've seen Victoria's work before - in exhibitions - and it's always very skilled and worth taking a close look at - as is her website.

I know they're all women artists. This was not by design - these were just the artworks which appealed to me - or jumped out and said "look at me"!

The Awards

Interestingly this exhibition ranks alongside a number of the Open Art Exhibitions in terms of the number and value of prizes on offer.

I'm going to be a little naughty and list them below - with a view to providing something of a stimulus for the national art societies to have a bit of a think about whether they are putting enough effort into getting sponsors for prizes at their exhibition! ;)

The awards are

• Artist of the Year - £1,000 cash prize and gallery representation courtesy of Thackeray Gallery. 
• A year's supply of art materials at Cass Art
• £1,500 of gift vouchers to spend with Derwent, GreatArt, and Pegasus Art
• £660 worth of masterclasses at The New School of Art
• £600 worth of masterclasses at The Academy of Realist Art
• £500 voucher towards a creative short course only at West Dean College
• £500 towards a course at the St Ives School of Painting
• £500 worth of art classes and art materials from the London Atelier of Representational Art
• £500 of art and craft materials from STAEDTLER
• £500 worth of one-to-one tuition with Wild & Tame
• £500 worth of paper from Canson
• Rembrandt Oil Colour Box Master Set from Royal Talens
• 10 week part-time course at The Art Academy
• £500 brush bouquet from Rosemary & Co
• £500 voucher to spend at Cult Pens

What I'm seeing in the awards listed above is a lot of sponsorship by art educators.  Maybe art societies could have a think about whether they could do more to offer courses or workshops with their members?

(For links to the sponsors go to the Artist of the Year Page )

You can follow the exhibition on Facebook and Twitter using #AOTY2017

Ian Hargreaves was the Artist of the Year in 2016 with this painting

A&I Artist of the Year 2016: Ian Hargreaves

Summary of 2017 UK Art Competitions

For all those planning their entries to art competitions in 2017. This morning I updated Major UK Art Competitions 2017-18 - my Page devoted to a summary of details and deadlines about art competitions which are run by art organisations based in the UK.

• The first part includes Tips for entering art competitions
• The Page covers the following art competitions.

The RA Summer Exhibition in the Main Galleries at Burlington House
is the largest open exhibition in the world

Major Art Competitions

These are defined as ones where the first prize is at least £10,000. In broad terms they are listed in terms of the date of their deadline for entries

Exhibitions in 2017

• BP Portrait Award 2017 (First Prize £30,000)
• Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize 2017 (First Prize £15,000)
• David Shepherd's Wildlife Artist of the Year 2017 (First prize £10,000)
• The Royal Academy of Arts - Summer Exhibition 2017
• Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2017 (£10,000 commission)
• The Sunday Times Watercolour Competition 2017 (£10,000)

This is my video walk round the BP Portrait exhibition  at the National Portrait Gallery in 2016

Exhibitions in 2018

• The Columbia Threadneedle Prize for Figurative & Representation Art 2018
• John Moores Painting Prize 2018 (First Prize: £25,000)

An impressive solo exhibition  in the Threadneedle Space at the Mall Galleries in September
Lewis-Hazelwood-Horner won this opportunity and £20,000
as the First Place prizewinner in the Columbia Threadneedle Prize 2016

Minor Art Competitions

These are significant art competitions but the prize pot is less and the top prices a lot less than £10k.

• RWS Contemporary Watercolour Competition 2017
• Jerwood Drawing Prize 2017
• ING Discerning Eye 2017

These two sections are followed by information about past art competitions going back to 2007. You can view the images of all the recent and previous exhibitions - and, in some cases, see what sort of artist got selected.

Summary Information

The summary information provided covers:

• Website: 
• Information: this is the one which provides information for artists
• Enter: the one for entering the competition if different
• Organisers : the one for the organisers if not the same as the competition website
• Prizes: listed if available
• Open to: 
• UK: defines how "UK artist" is defined - and it's not always limited to UK citizens
• International Artists: defines whether or not entries from international artists are welcome
• Call for Entries: provides a link to my overview blog post of the call for entries if published
• Deadline for Entries: highlights in red the deadline which must be observed
• No. of Entries: if figures are available these are highlighted
• Digital Entry: indicates whether entries are limited to digital images submitted online - and whether or not any other form of entry (eg postal is allowed)
• Exhibition: 
• Venue: states location
• Dates: states dates - or dates of last exhibition if new details not yet published

The latter entries relate to posts on this blog that relate to those selected, those winning prizes and the exhibition

• Selected Artists: will include my selected artists post when published
• Shortlisted artists: will include my shortlisted artists post when published
• Prizewinners: my blog post covering prizewinners
• Exhibition Review: my review of the exhibition
• Other posts: occasionally there is a video!

Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Elections 2017

The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) is holding its elections for membership in February 2017. Membership is NOT limited to those living and/or working in the UK.

The Society seeks practising professional printmakers from the UK and abroad and intends its membership to reflect the best of printmaking as an art form in all its diversity.

The Society was originally founded - as the Society of Painter-Etchers - in 1880. Queen Victoria granted it its Royal title in 1888. It changed its name to the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, so as to incorporate all methods of printmaking, in 1989. This is by way of explanation for the accepted shortened form of their name as being RE.

• This is its website http://www.re-printmakers.com
• These are its current members
• Its home is the Bankside Gallery which it shares with the Royal Watercolour Society

The deadline for submitting an application for membership in 2017 is Wednesday 8th February 2017, at 12 noon.

Home page of the website of the The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) 

The Benefits of membership of the RE

Fine art printmakers who are elected to membership enjoy full Membership benefits including:

• three major group exhibitions at Bankside Gallery each year
• other opportunities to exhibit in art fairs. 
• your work will be publicised through the Society’s website
• opportunities to run artist demonstrations
• your work may be used for publicity, on merchandise
• generally become involved in Society events.

In the first instance, an application for membership can result in your election as an Associate Member. The annual subscription fee for an Associate is £190 in advance on 1st January in the second and subsequent years. (It's rebated in the first year to reflect less than a full year).

The Election Process

Artists who work in any printmaking media, including digital, are invited to apply for membership. Successful candidates invariably are those who appear equally outstanding in all aspects of their work as practising professional artist-printmakers.

What you need to know

The next elections are being held in February 2017.

• The actual annual election of Associates (ARE) - in a secret ballot of the RE Council - will be held at Bankside Gallery on Saturday 25th February 2017.
• The vote takes place after the members have reviewed each applicant’s prints, drawings (or other preparation work) and artist statement.

The selection process is thorough and challenging and many of our current members have undergone many elections before being successful. The Society seeks practising professional printmakers from the UK and abroad and intends its membership to reflect the best of printmaking as an art form in all its diversity.

Criteria for election as an Association

The RE Council are looking for certain significant qualities in candidates including:

• A high degree of individuality and commitment in their work. 
• Evidence of maturity and accomplishment in printmaking. 
• Agreement to participate on a regular basis in exhibitions and assist with the Society's work.

Timeline

• Deadline for applications: Wednesday 8th February 2017 | 12 noon 
• Date for sending in portfolio: Friday 24th February 2017 | 11am - 7pm 
• Results / Collection of artwork: Sunday 26th - Monday 27th February 2017 | 11am - 6pm

Who can apply

There are no restrictions of applications for membership.

How to apply

• Obtain the application form and conditions - information and an application pack are available by clicking here.
• Print out the form and complete the form - you need to provide:
• the work you are submitting; 
• your training; 
• details of the most significant shows you have been in and/or 
• any work in public collections and an artist’s statement.
• You can submit up to eight prints
• You can also submit up to six pieces of supporting work eg sketchbooks
• you can list up to five exhibitions of your work
• You need to summarise your artist statement in less than 200 words.

For those who need to have a think about their artist statement you might find this section about How to write an artist statement on my Art Business Info for Artists website to be useful.

• Complete and submit your application by the due date and, unusually these days, MUST ALLOW TIME FOR POSTAGE!
• MUST be by post - there is no digital submission (why not accept PDFs of the completed form via email?)
• MUST be accompanied by a cheque for the fee. (It's a great pity that the RE doesn't provide the opportunity for people to pay via PayPal or a BACs transfer - cheques are rapidly becoming an outmoded means of making payments!)
• You then need to submit your portfolio by the due date. Pay particular attention to the commercial aspects of applications from prospective members

Monoprints and monotypes are permissible in part but candidates should note that the Society seeks Members who are practising printmakers, producing editions of prints that we can exhibit and sell for mutual support

Who selects new members

Those who become new Associate Members are elected by a panel of the RE Council.

The Society draws from a broad range of printmakers with diverse tastes and practices. Changes to the selection committee mean that rejection one year does not preclude selection on another occasion.

A suggestion for the RE

How about making life easier for the printmaker - particularly those living outside the UK, the society and its administrators by transforming this process into one which is suitable for a world where most things are now done - and filed - online?

For example, the Society could agree to:

• EITHER make the form available as a Word document or a Google Docs document - so it can be completed via email. 
• OR use an online form based on the website for all submissions. It's what typically required of artists when submitting their work to an art competition.
• create a dedicated email for all correspondence, queries and submission of applications - this avoids applications getting 'lost'.
• make arrangements so that people can submit their applications online - (it's not difficult) eg
• send their completed form in Word via email to dedicated email address 
• pay their fee via BACs transfer or Paypal / credit card.

In doing so you will reduce the amount of paperwork produced and enable all applications to be forwarded as online documents to the selectors in advance of the meeting.  This reduces paper wasted and printing costs.

You can still have an arrangement for those who are not digitally literate and allow applications by post and cheque as well.