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Showing posts from November, 2015

Review: Julia Margaret Cameron at the V&A

I learned a few new things about the Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron at the preview of the exhibition of her photographs at the Victoria and Albert Museum - which opened last week. View of the Julia Margaret Cameron exhibition There are currently two exhibitions about Cameron in the museums of South Kensington The Julia Margaret Cameron Exhibition is on display in Room 100 (the

Selected Artists - The Columbia Threadneedle Prize 2016

The names of the artists and artwork selected for The Columbia Threadneedle Prize have been announced. You can find them below - along with some of the images of the artwork The last Threadneedle Prize awards Dinner - in the middle of the exhibition at the Mall Galleries You will recall I posted the The Columbia Threadneedle Prize - Call for Entries back in July. This week those who entered

Make art in Rome - on a scholarship!

Would you like to spend a month in Rome with a studio, room and board provided? This post is about opportunities to spend time in Rome painting - supported by a scholarship or other Funding. The Forum Seen from the Farnese Gardens (1826) by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot H. 0.28 m; W. 0.50 m The RBA Rome Scholarship 2016 The prize is presented with a view to offer an enriching learning

£30,000 BP Portrait Award 2016 - How to enter and how to get selected

The Call for Entries for the BP Portrait Award 2016 was published yesterday on the National Portait Gallery website - so it's time to write my Annual Guide to how to enter and how to improve your chances of being selected! Many of those who've been selected in the past have told me they've found it very helpful. The closing date for digital entries from artists all over the world is 2nd

23rd November 2015: Who's made a mark?

A round-up of recent posts about art, artists, art exhibitions and news relevant to art by me and others in newspapers, journals, blogs and Facebook A new exhibition Artist & Empire opens at Tate Britian this week. Mahadaji Sindhia entertaining a British naval officer and military officer with a Nautch c.1815-20 Anonymous Delhi School Watercolour on paper, 222 x 317 mm | British Library The

Search Quality Guidelines: Find out how Google rates websites

Ever wondered how Google rates websites to determine how they rank in their search engine? The aim of this post is to: tell you the latest news from Google - it will impact on whether and how often people find your website or blog relate what Google says about how to rate websites to things that artists do on or with their websites. Every so often you will see a TIP. What's New? Google did

Review ING Discerning Eye 2016

ING Discerning Eye - exhibitions by Nicole Farhi and Larry Lamb. Yesterday I ventured out after a week of resting my frozen back and went to visit the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition at the Mall Galleries.... ...and got to meet Larry Lamb, one of this year's selectors and Tony Humphreys, the CEO of The Discerning Eye charity who were both chatting to a well known lady who I very much suspect

About Rory McEwen

I've spent a delightful few hours recently putting together a page About Rory McEwen on my Botanical Art and Artists website. I'm going to develop a series of pages about various famous botanical artists. I started with Maria Sibylla Merian so decided to do a contemporary botanical artist next - and, of course Rory McEwen was the obvious one to do!  For those who don't know him, he's probably

A Guide to Art Dealers, Art Galleries - and Vanity Galleries

Back in April I launched a new website now called Art Business Info. for Artists.  Since then I've been steadily updating the content, including some that is new rather than transferred from old sites.    You can access this easily from the home page - see image below. This post is about three new aspects to the site a new blog for news about the art business a new page about art dealers and

Lucian Freud Archive of Sketchbooks and Drawings gifted to the nation

A Lucian Freud Archive of sketchbooks and drawings has been gifted to the nation by The Estate of Lucian Freud in settlement of £2,940,000 Inheritance Tax following the artist's death in 2011.  The Archive comprises 47 Sketchbooks spanning his career from the mid-1940s up until his death additional drawings;  a collection of 162 childhood drawings and  a collection of letters from Lucian

Prizewinners - ING Discerning Eye 2015

On Thursday night the prizewinners in the ING Discerning Eye art competition were announced.  The Tyne at Wallsend Study 1 by Andrew Gifford won the main ING Purchase Prize of £5000. The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition of selected works (457 artworks by 197 artists) opened to the public on Friday at the Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1 until 22 November 2015. The gallery is open everyday

The Camila Batmanghelidjh portrait at the NPG

NPG website page re. the portrait of Camila Batmanghelidjh. Following the publication of the damning Public Accounts Committee Report into the funding and activities of Kids Company this afternoon I asked the National Portrait Company what was happening about the portrait of Camila Batmanghelidjh (its former CEO) I've got a lot of experience and expertise in reviewing applications for

Prizewinners - Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Competition 2015

A view of the Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition 2015 showing three prizewinners First Prize (£12,000): David Stewart Back in 2008 David Stewart created a portrait photograph of five girls about to start their GCSEs titled Five Girls, Four Cartons, Three Cups (subtitle 'United by hair'). Last night he won the £12,000 First Prize in the Taylor Wessing Photographic

The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial: Call for Entries

The Third New York Botanical Garden Triennial is titled Out of the Woods: Celebrating Trees in Public Gardens. The Call for Entries has been issued by the American Society of Botanical Artists - and I've summarised it below. Entries are eligible for New York Botanical Garden Gold, Silver, and Bronze Medals. The reason for posting it now is drawing and painting trees tends to take a bit of time

Daniel Smith: From mineral to watercolour paint

I was impressed by some Daniel Smith watercolours I saw last Friday. Today you can enjoy them too! As somebody who has studied geology in the past I'm intrigued by some of the minerals they're using. I love the names of the minerals. What's also impressive is the level of information you get about each individual colour on the Daniel Smith website. Each colour gets an individual page with: an

Call for Entries: Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours Annual Exhibition 2016

The 204th Annual Exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours will be held at the Mall Galleries between 6-16 April 2016. If you're interested in submitting an entry read this post about the Call for Entries! The Private View of the 2015 Annual Exhibition (right click the image to see a larger version in a new tab) How to succeed as a watercolour painter If you want to

You see more when you draw #startdrawing

The Rijksmuseum has started a campaign - #startdrawing - to get more people drawing. I hope the art museums in this country give the campaign their endorsement too. “In our busy lives we don’t always realize how beautiful something can be. We forget how to look really closely. Drawing helps because you see more when you draw. People who want to draw are always welcome in the Rijksmuseum.” Wim

Fiona Strickland wins The Hort's "Best in Show" Award at 18th Annual International

Last night, at the Awards ceremony for the 18th Annual International Exhibition of the American Society of Botanical Artists and The Horticultural Society of New York, Fiona Strickland was presented with the The Hort’s Best in Show Award. The award was for her wonderful watercolour painting of Rhododendron 'Horizon Monarch'. Rhododendron 'Horizon Monarch' by Fiona Strickland Watercolour 77

Refreshed Toshiba Gallery of Japanese Art at the V&A reopens

I didn't know until yesterday that the Victoria & Albert Museum has one of the foremost and comprehensive collections of Japanese Arts in the world. A view in the centre of the new gallery The Museum began collecting in 1852 - the year the museum opened. As such it played a very important part in raising the awareness of the art of Japan amongst both artists and art lovers in the second half

Review: Society of Wildlife Artist's 52nd Annual Exhibition (2015)

The fans were out in force last week for the Private View of the 52nd Annual Exhibition of the Society of Wildlife Artists. It continues at the Mall Galleries until Sunday 8th November. The Private View - Opening of the Exhibition You can see the online catalogue on the Mall Galleries website Below you can read and see: my comments and images from the exhibition the prizewinners details

Threat to Cadmium in Artists' Colours lifted by European Union

Artists Oil Colours - Cadmium Yellow and Cadmium Orange Due to all the action taken by various art materials people, scientists, art magazines and lots and lots of artists, the European Union have announced they have agreed NOT to proceed with the proposed ban on cadmium in artists' paints. Some people will have read my previous posts on the proposed ban of Cadmium Paint: Will Cadmium be