Wednesday, November 30, 2022

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.

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

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

Call for Entries: Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2023

Those wishing to raise their profile as a portrait painter should be interested in the latest Call for Entries for the 132nd Annual Exhibition in 2023 of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters

The deadline for the digital entries for the annual exhibition in May 2023 of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters is Friday 27 January 2023, 12 noon so now is a good time to start thinking about how you can use any extra time over Christmas and New Year to get an entry (or entries!) together.

This post is about:
  • the annual exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters - and why it's a good idea to enter
  • who can enter
  • what you can enter
  • how to enter
  • the timeline of important dates


About the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters


The Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) invites portraits completed by non-members to be entered in their annual open exhibition at the Mall Galleries in central London.

The Society welcomes paintings, drawings and original prints including digital/ipad prints from artists over 18, from the UK and internationally to be shown alongside members of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at their Annual Exhibition.
and
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters seeks submissions of new and traditional artistic models and perspectives in portraiture.

 

Reasons why you should enter the RP's annual exhibition


For those wondering whether and why they should submit an entry to this exhibition, take a look at the following.


Entry is digital

  • You only need to go to the expense of framing and transport IF invited to progress to the second stage of selection. So most entries only incur the expense of the submission fee.

The Importance of Exhibitions to Portrait Commissions

artists accepted for exhibition will be invited to advertise portrait commissions through our Commissions department on which a commission will be payable.


Some significant prizes


This is an exhibition with some heavyweight and prestigious cash prizes. It has the most valuable prizes awarded by any national art society in the UK.

Monday, November 28, 2022

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 


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 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.

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Review: Semi Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2022

This is all about the semi-finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2022 (Series 9) which was broadcast last night. It covers various observations about the Semi-Final (the reality and the programme) including:

  • The Semi Finalists
  • The Wild Card
  • The Heat Paintings
  • The Sitter setup and setting
  • Decision-making
  • The Finalists

Episode 8 - The Semi-Finals of Portrait Artist of the Year 2022

The Semi Finalists

I listed and profiles all the semi finalists in my previous post Portrait Artist of the Year - The Semi-Finalists - with my view of how well they would do. They are - in Episode order:

Plus a wildcard!

The artists in the PAOTY Semi Finals


The Wild Card

In my last post I wondered if the Judges would bring back a wildcard - somebody who deserved a place in the semi-finals even if they didn't win their heat - and they did! 

Tuesday, November 22, 2022

The Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2022 & Events

This week the Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters opens to the public at the Mall Galleries on Thursday, 24th November 2022. 

I haven't been to one since 2019 - so am really looking forward to going this year. This is after the ROI experienced the worst luck possible of having both its 2020 and 2021 exhibitions clobbered by you know what - plus I was avoiding exhibitions pre-surgery last year.

That said, I'm still not attending Private Views (I'm still averse to large crowds indoors), so I'm not going to be visiting until Friday at the earliest so thought I'd take the opportunity today to highlight below

  • the Online Exhibition - which you can view now
  • the many Events - including painting with the ROI members - being held during the Exhibition

ROI Annual Exhibition 2022

Venue: Mall Galleries
Dates: 24 November 2022 to 10 December 2022
Hours: 10am to 5pm
Admission: £5, Free for Friends of Mall Galleries, ROI Friends, under 25s. Concessions available. No booking required.

ROI Online Exhibition



You can view the ROI Online Exhibition of all the artwork selected for the exhibition in 2022 on the Mall Galleries website.

You can also view the ROI Catalogue on ISSUU. This includes images of artwork by members and the complete listing of all the artworks and artists - with media and prices - in the exhibition

Landscape paintings by members of the ROI in the Exhibition Catalogue 2022
(Left clockwise: Andrew King, Julia Hawkins, Tom Stevenson; Right: Nicholas Verrall)

It was very sad to see from the catalogue that the ROI has lost five members in the last year - in alphabetical order

ROI Events at the Annual Exhibition 2022


Some of these events involve painting and hence require some planning ahead of time - so best to highlight BEFORE the exhibition!