Review of the Open Exhibition of the Bath Society of Artists: Visually stunning. Creatively overwhelming. And yes, highly impressive. The 120th Open Exhibition of the Bath Society of Artists at the Victoria Art Gallery is amazing due to the vast amount of high-quality art adorning the walls of Bath’s gallery. Portraits are perhaps the most prominent – the classic, the photographically detailed, the candid and the personal portrayed in every style in art’s A to Z.
The exhibition is now open and runs until Saturday 10th January 2026 at the Victoria Art Gallery, for the entry sum of around £9 or less – about the price of a large glass of merlot in many pubs locally – but visually uplifting rather as there is plenty there to keep you engaged long after a glass of house red has had its effects.
If you are looking for paintings or illustrations of Bath you will be disappointed as I struggled to find one or two depictions of the spa city but there are numerous paintings, illustrations and photographs of the West Country – the sweeping hills of Wiltshire and the villages and the haunting beauty of Somerset – and of course further afield.
There is so much to enjoy from mono line illustration to sculpture and superb photography that it is really worth more than a one-off exhibition as some of the paintings are positioned so high up on the walls that they are hard to appreciate. With so much talent on show it would make more sense to have the Open Exhibition of the Bath Society of Artists broken into perhaps two, three or more shows – each with a theme such as photography, illustration or landscapes. Only a thought.
More at https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/
Harry Mottram
Bath Voice and Local Democracy Reporters
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