If you happen to be in London in the next few months with time to spare, do take a trip to the National Gallery. If you haven’t been recently, the whole gallery has been redecorated and rehung (which is a bit confusing if you are familiar with the old layout) and more of the collection is on display. But also a fascinating new Exhibition has opened in the past few weeks ‘Wright of Derby- from the shadows’ https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/exhibitions/wright-of-derby-from-the-shadows . This not only includes the well-known ‘An Experiment on a Bird in an Air Pump’, but several other large paintings with the same magical use of chiaroscuro. He was surely one of the great British painters of the 18th century but poorly represented in galleries outside Derby.
If you do go, I strongly recommend you listen to the podcast ‘Waldy and Bendy’s Adventures in Art’ season 5 episode 8 ( https://waldyandbendy.podbean.com/e/season-5-episode-8-should-art-be-on-the-nhs/ ). Waldemar Januszczak and Bendor Grosvenor started producing this podcast during lockdown and have recently started again. In this one they recorded a conversation while visiting the exhibition and give fascinating insights. They are always entertaining and educational.
The other weekend I went to the Bath Society of Artists Exhibition in the Victoria Art Gallery in Bath. It is on until10th January 2026 and well worth a visit. It is an interesting contrast to the RWA Open. Several Clifton Arts Club members are exhibiting- Jane Boot, Lyn Harradine, Ian Price and Jac Solomons (apologies if I have missed others).