Welcome to 2023
Discerning Eye Exhibition
Mall Galleries, London
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Sponsor's Introduction
For the last quarter of a century ING has proudly championed the Discerning Eye charity through the unique ING Discerning Eye Exhibition.
The partnership between us as global bank and an arts charity is one that has stood the test of time – 25 years ago ING and Discerning Eye formed what now stands as one of the longest-standing corporate arts sponsorships in the UK.
As a financier you’d expect me to comment on the numbers – which are remarkable. During our 25 years as partner with the Discerning Eye Exhibition, more than £1 million worth of art has been sold on behalf of the artists and some 11,000 works have been exhibited by more than 4,000 artists. It makes us proud to bring new art to new audiences and support artists in this way.
As a global bank, ING’s mission is to empower people to stay ahead in life and business. That vision also holds true for this longstanding partnership in which some of the most creative and exciting talent is brought to wider audiences. It’s an honour to see emerging artists showcase their talents on the national stage and for ING to be able to help make their art available to collectors in the UK and beyond.
Then there’s the selectors; esteemed artists, critics and collectors. And there are some perhaps surprising names from singer Beverley Knight to former England footballer Tony Adams and even His Royal Highness King Charles III – over the years we’ve been supported by so many fantastic selectors to help us showcase a wide array of British art.
ING thanks the selectors, the artists, The Discerning Eye and the Parker Harris Partnership for all their efforts in preparing for the exhibition.
I look forward to celebrating the success of a 25-year long partnership and here’s to a fantastic ING Discerning Eye Exhibition 2023.
Małgorzata Kołakowska
CEO UK and Middle East, ING
Chair's Statement
Welcome to the 2023 ING Discerning Eye Exhibition. We are for the 32nd year, physically in the Mall Galleries and also once again available to see and buy from online at www.ingdeexhibition.org
As always, a huge thank you to the artists who submitted work - we simply wouldn’t be here without you. This year we again had a large submission of pieces across a variety of media. The geographic trend that we have seen since moving to a virtual submission in 2020 has very much continued and we saw work from artists based across all parts of the UK.
This year’s selectors: Tony Adams, Eliza Gluckman, Chris Levine, Peju Oshin, Ian Watkins and Julian Wilde all showed great patience, dedication, enthusiasm and commitment in addressing the task of judging and selecting from so many pieces of art. The quality of the submissions was very high and the choices extremely hard as a result. We are very grateful to the selectors.
As you will see when you visit this exhibition, each selector’s choice is curated as a separate exhibition within the whole. Within each selection works from, as yet lesser known artists, hang alongside pieces by those who are more established or internationally recognised.
In addition within the exhibition you will see a seventh section, a further small exhibition of the shortlisted pieces for the DE Drawing Bursary, the recipient of which will be decided during the course of the exhibition.
All works are for sale.
A huge thank you to our sponsors, ING. This year marks the 25th year of that support. Without their generous support we could not stage this annual exhibition. In particular Małgorzata Kołakowska, their CEO and Martha McKenzie- Minifie and her team at ING in London who have led on their engagement with this year’s exhibition.
Finally I should like to thank Parker Harris, our exhibition organisers, whose hard work, skill and enthusiasm is matchless, the team at the Mall Galleries and all of the many and various supporters of The Discerning Eye.
Sarah Hall
Chair,
The Discerning Eye
Previous Selectors
1990
Giles Auty
Odette Gilbert
Sir Roger de Grey PRA
Lord Palumbo
David Poole PPRP ARCA
Brian Sewell
1991
Gillian Ayres CBE
William Bowyer RA
Sir Brinsley Ford
Lord Gowrie
Tim Hilton
John Russell Taylor
1992
Christopher Lloyd
Robin Simon
Sir Judge Stephen Tumim
Lady Marina Vaizey CBE
John Ward CBE RA
Glynn Williams
1995
Colin George
Patrick Hughes
Bryan Kneale RA
David Lee
Edward Lucie-Smith
Julian Spalding
1996
William Boyd CBE
Martin Gayford
Derek Hill
William Packer
Jonathan Watkins
Leslie Worth OBE
1997
HRH The Prince of Wales
Susan Moore
Michael Reynolds
Ray Richardson
Brian Sewell
Anthony Solomons
1998
Anna Somers Cocks OBE
Arturo Di Stefano
David Gluck
Richard Kendall
Dame Rosalind Savill DBE
Philip Solomon
1999
Lionel Blair
Dame A S Byatt DBE
Tom Coates PPNEAC
Justin Mortimer
Charlotte Mullins
The Lady Patten
2000
Sir Peter Blake CBE RDI RA
Dr Sally Bulgin
Michael Parkinson CBE
Emma Sergeant
Colin Tweedy LVO OBE
Dr Frank Whitford
2001
Robert Hiscox
Ken Howard OBE RA
James Lloyd
Mary Rose Beaumont
Sir Roy Strong FRSL
Quentin Willson
2002
Graham Crowley
Griff Rhys Jones
Anthony Lester
Richard Littlejohn
Crispin Odey
Daphne Todd OBE
2003
Diana Armfield RA
Bob Boas
John Caine MBE FRSA
Rachel Campbell-Johnston
The Marquess of Bath
Desmond Shawe-Taylor LVO
2004
Alan Grieve CBE
Mark Lawson
Norbert Lynton
Peter Randall-Page
Anne Robinson
Anita Taylor
2005
Baroness Joan Bakewell DBE
Catherine Goodman LVO
Sir Jonathan Miller CBE
John Orbell
Sir Martin Smith
Nicholas Usherwood
2006
Mollie Dent Brocklehurst
William Feaver
Laura Gascoigne
Anthony Green RA
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Stuart Pearson Wright
2007
Sarah Armstrong Jones
Drusilla Beyfus
Davina McCall
Jennifer McRae RSA
Dame Stephanie Shirley DBE
Charles Saumarez Smith CBE
2008
Bob Benton
Frances Carey
Fred Cuming RA
Brenda Fenton
Anita Klein
Robin Morgan
2009
Peter Bowles
Julius Bryant
Gus Cummins RA
Laurence Llewelyn Bowen
Lincoln Seligman
Jackie Wallschlager
2010
Timothy Barber
Nina Campbell
Judith Collins
Ishbel Myerscough
Mark Rappolt
Robbie Wraith RP
2011
Eileen Cooper RA
John Deston
John Pluthero
Brian Sewell
Ossian Ward
Lisa Wright
2012
Charles Darwent
Albert Irvin OBE
Chantal Joffe RA
Doris Lockhart Saatchi
Skye Sherwin
Gerald Walker
2013
Liz Anderson
Stephen Farthing RA
Loyd Grossman OBE
Eileen Hogan
Estelle Lovatt FRSA
Professor Deborah Swallow
2014
Giles Brown
Nicola Green
Chris Ingram
Simon Martin
Emma Stibbon RA
Helen Sumpter
2015
Emma Bridgewater
Stephen Doherty
Nicole Farhi
Larry Lamb
Steve Pill
Stephen Snoddy
2016
Dan Coombs
Sacha Craddock
Michael Glover
Celia Imrie
Ian Mayes QC
Chris Orr RA
2017
Ellen Bertrams
Nicola Coleby
Elmo Hood
Anne Magill
Miranda Richardson
Simon Tait
2018
Sadie Clayton
Cherie Federico
Frances Hedges
John Benjamin Hickey
Bridget McCrum
Nick Ross
2019
Gill Button
Charlotte Hodes
Kwame Kwei-Armah
John Penrose
Sir Tim Rice
Louis Wise
2020
Dale Lewis
David Remfry RA
Beverley Knight
Mervyn Metcalf
Jo Baring
Tabish Khan
2021
Anna Brady
Peter Brown PNEAC
Rolan Cowan
Adelaide Damoah
Tony Humphreys
Russell Tovey
2022
Alison Bevan
Gurinder Chadha
Aindrea Emelife
Kate Enters
David Ferry
Ansel Krut
The Discerning Eye
Drawing Bursary
The Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary was launched in 2005 to provide an opportunity
for artists to extend their practice by offering the financial support and the chance to
exhibit their work as part of the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition. The winning artist will receive £1,500 and each runner-up receives £150. Congratulation to the seven shortlisted artists.
Drawing Bursary
2023 Finalists
Anna Dickerson
Helen Bradley
Liz Ackerley
Nikki Gardham
Paul Dilworth
Rae Birch Carter
The winner of the 2023 Bursary is Paul Dilworth
2023 Prizes
ING Purchase Prize, £5,000: Christine Brunnock, Emergence
The Discerning Eye Founder’s Prize, in honour of Michael Reynolds, £2,500: Andrew Torr, Estate (The House of the Hanged Man)
The Discerning Eye Chair’s Purchase Prize, £1,000: Jonathan Alibone, A View of The Forest at Dusk, With Rising Smoke
The Mervyn Metcalf Purchase Prize, £500: Eleanor Dunn, OH BOY!
Tabish Khan Critic's Purchase Prize: Michael Richards, La Boutique Noir
Parker Harris Prize, Mentoring sessions worth £300: Lola Betiku, Options
The Discerning Eye Sculpture Prize, £250: Cedric Christie, Conflict
The Discerning Eye Print Prize, £250: Rachel Ashley, Lost Kite 4
The Discerning Eye Cityscape Prize, £250: Nick Short, Royal Festival Hall Urban Study 1
The Discerning Eye Landscape Prize, £250: Sarah Bold, Big Little Scotland
The Discerning Eye Portrait Prize, £250: Samira Addo, She's Seen
Regional Prizes, £250 each:
London: Henrietta Macphee, A Few Missing Things
Midlands: Esteban Pena Parga, Untitled
North of England: Heather Alderson, Close to you
Northern Ireland: Joanne Gault, Cré Dubh
Scotland: Molly Kent, Error Message
South of England: Chris Shaw Hughes, Behind Iceland, Worthing
Wales: Nicolette Moglia, Mermaids
The Selectors
To explore the pieces curated by each selector or to find out more about them simply click below
