By Terry Sweeney
The John Moores Painting Prize is currently on show at the Walker Art Gallery, opening on 6 September, the exhibition runs until 1 March 2026.
About The John Moores Painting Prize
The Prize was set up in 1957, when John Moores sponsored a competition for contemporary artists at the Walker Art Gallery for the first time, with the intention of showcasing the best of new British painting. John Moores, as well as his work with The Littlewoods Organisation and Everton Football Club, was a philanthropist and great supporter of the arts and was himself an accomplished amateur painter.
The John Moores Painting Prize has since been held almost every two years, with the prize open to all contemporary painters and welcomes submissions from both established and emerging artists. It awards:
- First Prize: The winner is awarded a £25,000 prize.
- Lady Grantchester Prize: Awarded to recent art graduates, this prize includes £5,000, £2,500 in art materials, and a month-long residency in London.
- Visitor’s Choice award: selected by exhibition visitors, this award offers £2025 to the winning artist.
- Each years Prize winner is also awarded a solo exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery. The 2023 winner, Graham Crowley, had a very well-received exhibition ‘Graham Crowley: I paint shadows’ on display until July 2025.
Over sixty years the competition has helped to support the work of a number of British artists and has often been acknowledged as a key moment in the careers of many distinguished painters.
The Prize attracts large numbers of visitors and remains hugely popular with the visiting public. Recent exhibitions have had record-breaking numbers of visitors.
The regular acquisition of the first prize-winning works by the Walker, along with other selected works, has led to the gallery holding a large collection of post-war British painting.
John Moores Painting Prize China 2024
This year there is also a side exhibition of the John Moores Painting Prize China 2024 winners. The 6 prize-winning artists have recently completed a month-long residency and studio exhibition at John Moores University’s School of Art and Design.
This is the 8th edition of the Prize in China. It follows the same founding principles as the UK model. The Prize is open to all painters from across China and an invited jury selects the paintings. The artists remain anonymous throughout the process.
In the UK, during its sixty-year history, the John Moores Painting Prize has displayed some of Britain’s greatest contemporary artistic talents.
Previous winners include David Hockney, with his ‘Peter getting out of Nick’s Pool’ (1966), and Peter Blake, who later became the first patron of the prize in 2011.
John Moores Painting Prize 2025
This year’s exhibits are a mix of figurative, landscape and abstract pieces, with several painting I found particularly interesting, including my Visitors Choice vote, which was for Darkened Heart (a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth) by Joanna Whittle. This is an exquisite small-scale landscape depicting a tent with a luminous structure within it; (oil on rayon). Joanna’s work typically depicts temporary structures which ‘speak of fragility and transience’, Joanna has exhibited at John Moores previously.
Darkened Heart was endorsed as Highly Commended by this year’s judging panel.
Another painting Highly Commended by the judges was Bedscape2 by Katy Shepherd, which is another I would personally commend, as is Ayomide Feyujimi, a portrait by Martin Stevenson.
Some of the larger pieces, for example The Judge’s Quarters (Facing West) by Shaan Syed, benefit from extended study and reveal some of the revisions undertaken during their creation.
As always with such exhibitions, visitors will have particular preferences, and the opportunity to have your voice heard and vote for your personal winner is always welcome.
John Moores Painting Prize 2025
Walker Art Gallery
Running until 1 March 2026
Free Entry
More Info