Thursday, December 13, 2012

Highlights from the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition 2012 (Main Category)

The Doors open at The Mall Galleries


On Tuesday this week the much awaited Royal Institute of Oil Painters Exhibition 2012 opened at the Mall Galleries! It is going to be on till the 23rd of December. Don't miss it! If you are in London or anywhere you can commute to London, make it a priority if you are a lover of Oil paintings! Every year I try to just pick a few works that I personally like but it doesn't really do justice to the whole show. It's another great show this year! But for those of you far away from the UK, it gives you feel of the show and some of my tastes.

View of The Crowd during the Prize Giving Ceremony


Just before I keep writing and ramming on, If you are also interested in watching some FREE PAINTING DEMONSTRATIONS-during the show, you'll be most welcome to watch Roger Dellar ROI RI PS at 2pm on Monday 17th December and Tim Benson ROI on Wednesday 19th December at 2pm. These will all take place at The Mall Galleries.

Peter Wileman PROI RSMA FRSA and the Guest Speaker Gyles Brandreth


And If you'll like to watch ROI members paint alongside some non-members on a very exciting night from a selection of 3 models- you can come Monday 17th December from 6-9pm. For spectators it's £7 and if you'll like to paint it's £10. But you'll have to book in advance-(call 020 7 930 6844).

A wider feel of the Crowd during the Private View


Now, back into the main post and the highlights! I'll just have the pictures of the paintings with a few comments on why I like the paintings. Sorry for the quality of some of the pictures. My camera played up this year....might be time for a new one ;0)

Bill Dean, ROYAL GATES FROM GREEN PARK, 36 x 51cm- I love this piece because of the freshness I feel in the air while looking at it and the amount of little specs of colour he has been able to introduce in this brilliant plein air piece.


Chris Daynes, HAZY SUN VENICE, 36 x 42cm- I love this piece because everything here is based on a sketch,  the sketch or the drawing is the foundation and every other subtle stroke, colour or mark just adds to the spice! He is a perfect example of when less is more.


David Curtis ROI  RSMA, FOGGY SUNDAY MORNING-YORK STATION, 74 x 59cm- my picture didn't do justice to this piece, it was placed high up near the lights in the gallery. But I love it because it has a striking mysterious mood of that foggy feeling one encounters on days like this. Its a perfect symphony of greys!

David Curtis receives one of the two prizes he won on the night. This one was the  L. Cornelissen  & Son  Award


David Pilgrim AROI, OLD HARRY ROCKS DORSET, 49 x 42cm- It looks very simple but it is David's mastery of colours to capture that warm light as it hits the sea and rocks that makes this one remarkable for me!


Edman O'Aivazian ROI RSMA, THE PARADE, 68 x 98cm-Anyone that knows my Rush Hour scenes would know of my love for crowded scenes and I love this one especially, because even though it looks crowded, he has been able to treat the figures with uttermost simplicity-then that lone red figure just compliments the rest.

Edman O'Aivazian receives the DAS award


George Delvin ROI RSW RGI RBA RWS, KELINGROVE IN WINTER, 36 x 41cm-It's basically the warm and cool  colours that makes this snow scene click for me. Its a very simple snow scene in which the play of the warm background against the branches makes for an interesting abstract!


Haidee-Jo Summers, INCOMING TIDE, HOOK HEAD, 47 x 57cm- There's movement with vigorous strokes and exciting colour. I also love the simple pathway that gives room for the eye to move from the background to the foreground.

Haidee-Jo Summers with her painting


Keith Morton, AUNT MABEL'S JUG, 45 x 53cm-I seem have no particular reason why love this piece other that the colour scheme and his cubic brushstrokes-it's just a delight to behold.


Lachlan Goudie Prov ROI, OPENING ACT, 75 x 110cm- I just love the full blooded explosion of excitement and colours that his Still life's present-they are a complete feast for the eyes!


Lesley Dabson, SUSPENDED, 28 x 33cm- Water isn't an easy thing to paint, so  I always admire anyone who can take their time to paint water and make it really feel like water! That's what Lesley does best!


Linda Alexander, PHYSALIS AND NUTS, 30 x 30cm-I seem to fall in love with all her  paintings . It's just the way she takes ordinary day to day stuff, arranges them in dramatic way and produces these mouth watering still lifes that never get me tired-The transparency of those shadows are my favourite bits!


Liz Balkwill. LE RUSTIQUE, 33 x 38cm- It's just the beauty of the simple old traditional still life set up that is painted so skillfully that really wins me over here. Looking at this painting in the flesh makes you just want to reach out and grab some of that cheese!  

Liz Balkwill. THRO' A GLASS DARKLY, 33 x 33cm- This is one little painting I'll just love to take home!  It  has  everything I love in a simple still life-blazing colour, texture, transparency, reflection, strong tonality and chiaroscuro!


Natalie Holland, ANNUNCIATION, 50 x 70cm- It's an unusual piece. I'm sure there has to be a story behind it. It gets me thinking and it fits the season we are in. Then the deft way she has treated the folds in the garments is a great thing in itself. I love the composition, colour and content.


Nicholas Verrall ROI RBA, FOUNTAINS AIX-EN-PROVENCE, 84 x 112cm-Sparkle, motion, excitement, Colour harmony and great textures! The textures can't be appreciated from this picture. It's just an interesting piece! Also it's the way the statues take on a soft feel, almost shadow like that makes me love this one!


Peter Brown ROI NEAC RP PS Hon RBA, TOWARDS ALBERT BRIDGE WINTER AFTERNOON, 34 x 61cm-This is my route to my Studio and I just love the Embankment, passing through here, brings one into the full appreciation of the Thames and the different moods it takes at different times in a day. The mood here is rather unusual, I just love the purple feel that the whole picture takes on with the sparkle of light that adds a blazing contrast!


Peter Graham ROI, STILL LIFE ON A YELLOW GROUND,  117 x 117cm-This is a very large painting and what excites me here is just the boldness and courage to use blazing colour and not loose control of it. I particularly love the cool yellows which help in the most disguising manner to temper a rather "hot painting"


Peter Wileman PROI RSMA, THE CAROUSEL SACRE COEUR, 49 x 58cm- This piece is just full of life! There's excitement, movement, energy and pure colour harmony here! One would almost think Peter took on the flames of a splash abstract painter here! Great stuff!


Roger Dellar ROI RI PS, BY THE FISH MARKET, 72 x 97cm-This is my favourite of Rogers this year and I  like the fact that every part of the painting seems to be in the dark tone value. The only light, apart from the highlights comes from the sky. It's the light from the sky that brings the excitement of highlights that spark up in different places all around the piece. It's pure drama in Venice!



Tim Benson ROI, OLD MAN WEARING BIB, 143 x 112cm- When  one is looking for paintings for the sake of the paint, for he love of the paint, for real loaded quality brushstrokes full of life and energy-it's Tim Benson's applications! 


Tim King, OLD HARRY ROCKS, STUDLAND, 36 x 63cm-A very powerful  plein air painting of the  Old Harry Rocks. My picture failed to get the right colours here and I probably cropped a bit off because of the shadow casts by the frame. But in all I love the placement of the rocks in the composition and overall balance of the composition. Its a beauty! The marks are fresh with vibrant stabs of juicy lighter strokes on the top of a more transparent handling of the mid tones and the darks.


Tina Spratt, THE BLACK DRESS IV, 66 x 66cm,- Apart from the fact that this piece is well treated in every  aspect, it has a nice balance and centrifugal force from the sleeping figure that radiates outwards and it's a very good use of a square format!


Valeriy Gridnev ROI PS RP-THE PHOTOGRAPHER, 120 x 99cm- one of my best in the whole exhibition, just for  his  ability to utilize direct painting to the fullest. Every stroke is a sketch stroke, the colour is pure, almost seems effortless. But this kind of painting comes with years of honing on ones draughtsmanship. It's a delight to behold, another one that my picture did not do justice to.

Close up-THE PHOTOGRAPHER by Valeriy Gridnev-I just had to have the close-up included because this close-up illustrates what I talked about above. The freedom at which the brushstrokes are laid with an impression but reads so well, when looked at from a distance.
Valerie Smith ROI, WORK TABLE WITH LAMP, 58 x 63cm- This was one painting I had to spend so much time in front of.  The marks were incredible! Everything had a feel of sketchiness to it, but then it kind of vibrated together in the most painterly fashion. In some places there were scratch like marks of very transparent washes. I just love it!
And finally a peak into a demonstration pulled of by Roger Dellar at the DAS Event yesterday. DAS are the proud sponsors of the ROI and they had a lovely event at The Mall Galleries yesterday. Lots of networking went on while Roger pulled this one off!

Roger  Dellar during the first hour of the demo
The complete demo under 2 hours!
My next post will  be on some of the paintings that caught my eye in the Winsor & Newton under 35 Category. Stay tuned!


12 comments:

Roger Brown Art said...

Lovely mix of works,I really enjoyed looking at them thanks for sharing!

adebanji said...

You are welcome Roger!

Jennifer said...

Thanks for sharing in case I can't get to the exhibition - I enjoyed your commentary!
Jennifer

adebanji said...

You are welcome, Jennifer!

Unknown said...

I'm so honoured that you mentioned me on your blog! Thanks so much! You also pointed out many of my favourite paintings in the show - David Pilgrim's Old Harry, Peter Graham's huge red still life, Peter Wileman's carousel and Tim Benson's man with bib - all amongst my favourites but there are so many favourites in this exhibition, including yours!

adebanji said...

Thanks Haidee! You are most welcome! I just had to narrow my favourites down too, or I'll never complete the post! See you on the Monday Evening Art Event!

Unknown said...

Really well done - thank you for sharing. I love reading your blog.

adebanji said...

You are welcome L Kathryn!! I am glad you enjoy reading it!!

Sei L said...

Thank you very much for sharing! I absolutely loved this post! It's a shame I am not from UK and I won't be able to attend the exhibition so I thank you very much for making this post.
Great paintings, truly a pleasure to watch!

adebanji said...

You are welcome Sei!!! Glad you enjoyed it!

Colin Joyce said...

Great that you posted these photos. I couldn't get down to the exhibition this year. Thanks for sharing this.

adebanji said...

Thanks Colin, I am glad you enjoyed if!