Royal Society of Portrait Artists Annual Exhibition 2024

I should have written about the Annual Exhibition 2024 of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (RP) last week - but my "mega spring clean" rather got in the way.  

Suffice to say this is one of the very best RP Annual Exhibitions I've ever seen - and I'm very sure that those who have seen it have been broadcasting that fact far and wide.

In fact, it's so good that I'd be very surprised if the The Portrait Award Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery (sponsored by Herbert Smith Freehills) is any better.

How to see the exhibition

You can see the exhibition at the Mall Galleries. The last day is 18th May and the exhibition is open between 10am and 5pm.

View of the East Gallery from the Reception area
- the semi circle is the commission area

You can also see images of the portrait drawings and paintings hung in the exhibition on the Mall Galleries website

I've also now posted my albums of photos of the work in the show on my Making A Mark Facebook Page - and you can view them there. These are:

• North Gallery - which mainly comprises most of the artwork by those who are not members of the RP and who entered via the open entry. 
• East Gallery - which includes some impressive work by non-members of repute as well as portraits by RP members.
• West Gallery - these are mainly be members.

You can also see all the artworks which won awards or were shortlisted or received runner up awards on this link.

RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that all those aspiring to be selected for a future RP Annual Exhibition should pay particular attention to the following when viewing the artwork

• this is a very competitive open exhibition. This year the RP received 3,500 entries (which is more than BP Portrait used to get!)
• the kind of portraits selected for the exhibition - particularly those by non-members. Also note my comments below about how portraiture has changed over time and with this exhibition in particular
• the quality of the artwork - which is very high
• the media used i.e. there are drawings in a variety of media as well as paintings.

North Gallery

North Gallery

I saw the exhibition on Private View day - which is actually not the best day to see the artwork. That's because of the very high number of visitors which an exhibition like this generates. 

• You've got artists and their friends and families, plus sitters, plus people who get invited to these things - like me. 
• It is however the very best day for talking to people and seeing people you've not seen in a very long time.

Or in the case of Joshua Donkor, who I've not seen since 25th April when I met him at the RBA Rising Stars exhibition as one of the young artists shortlisted for the Rome Scholarship! 

I really liked his painting of his grandmother with one of her grandchildren - there are so few artists who can portray black skin in all the wonderful colours it can be - but Joshua can! I also liked how he built in echoes of the past in terms of photos which are suggested in the background. It's much more complex and layered than is suggested by only a quick glance.

He also received a Highly Commended Award for The de Laszlo Foundation Award for the most outstanding portrait by an artist aged 35 years or under

Worlds Apart by Joshua Donkor
(in the North Gallery - middle room)

I've been hanging on all day to find out who won what re the two biggest prizes for portraiture - but cannot find anything yet....

I'll add it in here later......

Review of the Exhibition

Overall, this is an exhibition which displays one genre - portraiture - of a very high standard - with a wide diversity of subjects, styles, sizes and media. 

It's very much changed and developed since I first started reviewing the annual exhibition 15 years go. (see the end for links to previous reviews).

The RP contains a broad collection of stylistic and intellectual approaches that continue to make a significant contribution to the ongoing tradition of portraiture in Britain today. The Society looks to uphold the values and practices of its long and distinguished history, but at the same time, it seeks to explore and develop new artistic models and perspectives. (Catalogue)

Given this exhibition is about portraiture, the artwork leans heavily towards realism although a lot does not try to look photographic.

I was very impressed. Some of the artworks were not to my personal taste - but the standards of execution were uniformly high and some portraits were - whether by RP member or open entrant - of the very highest standard 

The exhibition includes 241 portraits. Of these:

• members of the RP are showing around about 100 portraits - and I noted not all members are showing an artwork.
• There are 125 artworks selected from the open submission and 
• the remaining artworks are by artists who have been invited by a member to exhibit. 

One of my tests of how good an exhibition is revolves around how well I can remember it after I've seen it. I have an excellent visual memory for things I like and with good exhibitions I can take a tour around and see it again in my head - as attested by those who have commented on my ability to remember particular artworks and where they were hung in an exhibition in the past!

Rather than review it the same day - or even the next - I often now review it a little later to see which artworks are still shouting for attention in my head.

This review will highlight some of these below

Commissions: the end of the "stuffed shirt"

This is an exhibition which aims to celebrate the best in contemporary portraiture. 

Interestingly it's also an exhibition where I think very high quality entries from the open submission have influenced members over time.

As I commented last year, the main aspect of the exhibition which immediately struck me is how much it did NOT look like exhibitions in earlier years which have, on occasions, had rather too many stuffed shirts relating to formal commissions from organisations. 

While understanding that:

• commissions are a portrait artist's "bread and butter" income
• this exhibition is very much a marketing exercise for members of the RP
• most commissions tend to come from significant organisations who like to record the people who've headed them up

however it's interesting how the personality and the profile of the person being portrayed is now much more evident in portraits. In general, they are now much less formulaic as in "this is what we normally do..."

Of course, the more you show variation in how you can paint for a commission, the more you get more interesting commissions as people endeavour to inject their personality into the painting. 

One of the people who has led the charge to become more flexible in how people are portrayed is Alastair Adams who is a Past President of the RP.

I'm on a bit of a break....

I've not been posting because:

1. I needed a proper break - not having had a break from blogging in a long time - and there's never ever a good time!
2. I'm currently engaged in a MEGA Spring Clean - as in really MEGA!

My better half and I have been reorganising my study. As in he does the heavy lifting and I do the organising, chucking and shredding......

Stage 1: The Move

I wanted my study to be more accessible and ergonomic - and basically wanted to get rid of my filing stacks!!

So we’ve moved my filing cabinet out of the corner and put it next to the door so it is now much more accessible - which means I can actually now file as I go as opposed to having HUGE “for filing” stacks.

However to do this, we also had to disassemble my desk into its three parts and then move it left to make room for the filing cabinet.

Plus we had to empty the filing cabinet first. That filled three of those indestructible bags!!

Plus all the technology and "the stuff which sits on the top of the desk" had to move too. 

The printer is now sat on top of the filing cabinet which also makes that much more accessible.

My previous steel computer table bought c.30 years ago - which used to house the printer plus paper plus stationery supplies - also had to move out of the way altogether - and is now enjoying a second life and doing sterling work in the kitchen with the veggie basket tower and the pan tower on top and all the plants pots and ‘indoor gardening ‘ stuff underneath! This has tidied up and made a big difference to the “messy corner” of the kitchen.

The high chair from the kitchen which used to have the veggie tower on top of it has now moved to the inaccessible corner where the filing cabinet used to be!

The last bit of this first stage was reconnecting the iMac and the printer - this time to a extension under my desk. Always interesting for somebody with osteoarthritis and wonky joints who cannot get up from the floor and who generally has to crawl to the sofa to become vertical again.

Podcast: Antony Gormley: Art, religion, and the battle for culture

Antony Gormley spoke at length in a podcast recently. It included some of the most intelligent and articulate points about art and culture that I've heard in a very long time. Particularly since programmes about art history disappeared along with BBC4 original programming.

One of the reasons I'm highlighting it because I've listened to Gormley speak at length about his art, drawing and the processes he used in person a long time ago - but I still remember how impressed I was with him and his thoughts at the time (see the end for more about this encounter - and my blog post with quotable quotes plus my sketch of Gormley's head)

PODCAST: Antony Gormley: Art, religion, and the battle for culture

This is:

• an Apple Podcast link to Antony Gormley: Art, religion, and the battle for culture 
• the Global Player link to the same podcast

Can Britain remain a cultural superpower post-Brexit? How does religion and philosophy inform creativity? How can we prevent arts from being cut from curriculums?

• The podcast show you can find it on is LEADING which is hosted by "Alistair and Rory" (they've left their surnames off the blurb so I will too!) - but don't let that worry you. There is remarkably little politics about it for those who are more used to their "The Rest is Politics" podcast.

TALK: Antony Gormley on Drawing (21st January 2008)

'Drawing what you can't see'

pen and ink in Moleskine sketchbook

copyright Katherine Tyrrell

This is my blog post Antony Gormley on drawing - at the Jerwood. It includes some soundbites which I kept writing down as he was talking as he is so articulate and incisive! Here's a couple

"Drawing is like thinking out loud"

"Drawing is a form of explanation. It's a notation of a journey"

I drew Antony Gormley - and made notes - while he gave a Gallery Talk to a small audience at the Jerwood Space.  The exhibition was about the relationship between sculpture and drawing. 

Three artists, for whom drawing is a major part of their professional practice have been invited to give Gallery talks during the course of the exhibition and Antony Gormley gave the first of these last night - "Drawing From & Drawing Out".

I had a partial view of him so drew what I could see until I got a better view - hence the starts which never finished! 

I've been told in the past I draw like I'm sculpting - which is a pretty accurate way of describing what I think I'm doing when drawing heads.

10th Anniversary Prize Commission for Landscape Artist of the Year

One of the artists who has applied for the next series of Landscape Artist of the Year - by the deadline for entries of 3rd May 2024 - will win a £10,000 commission.

Last week Sky Arts announced the organisation which will receive the commission and the  location of the 10th Anniversary Prize Commission for the next series of Landscape Artist of the Year has been announced.

• The Courtauld Gallery will be the recipient of the £10,000 Prize Commission - meaning the winner will have their commission painting hung in the Courtauld. (You can see online versions of paintings in the Courtauld Collection - but always best to visit to see the real thing and appreciate its impact)
• The location for the Commission will be the South of France

Following in the footsteps of famous painters like Monet, Cezanne and Van Gogh, the winning artist will travel to the south of France to create a work inspired by one of the most famous coastlines in the word.

At this point I'll just insert my sketch of Monet's painting of Antibes in the 'old' Courtauld Gallery!

My sketch of Monet's painting of Antibes in the Courtauld Gallery

plus Cezanne's landscape painting of Mont St. Victoire - also in the Courtauld

The Montagne Saint-Victoire (c.1887) by Paul Cezanne (1839-1906)

oil on canvas

Samuel Courtauld Trust: Courtauld Gift 1932

I've also tried drawing the landscape in the south of France like Van Gogh and have certainly visited a number of places which he drew - and a number of places where he drew from.

If you want to get more insight into what that Commission trip might involve - just take a look at this article for Architectural Digest - An Art Lover’s Road Trip Through the South of France. I've done all of it apart from the last bit - and it is a location which provides masses of inspiration. 

Applications close on Friday 3rd May and the filming starts in June.
You can read more about how to enter via my blog post Call for Entries: Landscape Artist of the Year Series Ten

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.