By Isle of Wight Observer
The 39th annual exhibition, arranged by Professor Robin McInnes, opens in the Echium Room at Ventnor Botanic Garden on Sunday (October 1) and runs until next Sunday (October 8). The exhibition includes works by twenty-eight of the Island’s leading artists, many of whom have exhibited annually at Robin’s much-loved exhibitions for more than twenty-five years.
Each year artists enter a competition for the best landscape or coastal painting in any medium that reflects the quality and diversity of the Island’s scenery; prizes are awarded to four artists following judging.
Robin McInnes started running the exhibitions with Andy Butler, also of Ventnor, in 1984. Initially exhibiting historical artworks and works around local history themes, the art competition was then introduced to encourage painting of landscapes that had been the favoured subjects of Victorian artists a hundred years before.
Over the years great names in British landscape and coastal art have exhibited at Robin’s exhibitions including Cavendish Morton, Martin Swan, Martyn Mackrill, Ann Knowler, John Reilly, James Bartholomew, Colin Richens, Barry Peckham, Becky Samuelson, Anthea Dunkley, Daphne Ellman and many other well-known, long-standing Island artists.
There is free entry to the exhibition, which opens daily from 10am-4pm (closes 3pm on Sunday). There is an admission charge payable to enter the gardens.
Closed circuit TV is now in operation in Ventnor Botanic Gardens car park. Please enter your car registration number on the tablet on the counter of the café before visiting the exhibition.