Not The Royal Academy

Every year over 8,000 paintings are submitted to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy – the largest open art exhibition in the world. Only around 800 actually make it on to the walls.

So what happens to all the artists that have been rejected?

As soon as the artists get their rejection slips from the Royal Academy many of them collect their pictures and set off across the river to Llewellyn Alexander at Waterloo. Artists are told immediately whether their painting has been accepted by the gallery. Oils, watercolours, mixed media, pastels and drawings of all shapes and sizes pass through the doors.

Every picture is for sale and the gallery is re-hung with new work at three-weekly intervals throughout the summer, making it a constantly changing show.