Royal Society of Marine Artists | Annual Exhibition 2025

The RSMA 80th Annual Exhibition will feature the very best contemporary maritime and seaworthy works from member artists alongside some of the best talents today selected from an open submission. 

We invite you to come along to view the great tradition of British marine art, where all works are available to purchase.

Marine art covers a diverse range of subjects, and marine artists interpret those subjects in many different ways. The Society and its annual exhibition has therefore always represented an enormous variety of work. The common ground is the sea: whatever is on and beneath it. 'We, like so many people, are all of us mad about the sea,' says the RSMA, 'We stand spellbound by the shining water.'

About the Society

British maritime art began to flourish following the establishment of the Dutch Van de Velde father and son team as official marine artists to the court of King Charles II. The traditions they established have persisted in the consciousness of marine artists to the present day. Constable and Turner, whose influence on mainstream art has been profound, both were consummate marine artists.

In the 1930s, building on this rich legacy, a group of artists were drawn together in a shared passion for painting the sea, ships and all things maritime. In 1937, an exhibition entitled Sea Power took place at the New Burlington Galleries. This led to the formation of the Society of Marine Artists, whose inaugural exhibition opened at the Guildhall Gallery in 1946. In 1966, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted the word Royal to be included in its title. Since 1981, RSMA exhibitions have taken place at Mall Galleries.