About

 

About Neil

I am a British artist, painter, draughtsman and printmaker, born in Yorkshire in 1973. Drawing has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was fascinated by castles, buildings, people, flowers and the world around me — subjects that continue to provide inspiration for my work today.

My artistic journey developed through studying Fine Art and Printmaking at institutions including Cheltenham School of Art, the University of Seville, and later at the Royal Academy Schools in London, after which I completed my PGCE in Art and Design. These experiences helped establish the foundations of a practice centred on drawing, close observation and an enduring curiosity about places and their histories.

London became an important part of my artistic life. Its architecture, streets, monuments and constantly changing character provided an endless source of subjects for paintings, drawings and prints. At the same time, my interest in travel began to take my work much further afield.

Whenever I travel, I work directly from the places I visit, using sketchbooks to record landscapes, architecture, people and everyday life. Over the years this has taken me across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and India, and extensively into the Himalayas. Trekking through mountains and remote landscapes has become an especially important part of my artistic journey, particularly in Nepal and Ladakh.

These journeys have shaped both what I draw and the way I work. My sketchbooks are filled with drawings, notes and observations made on location, which later become the starting points for paintings, drawings and prints. I often combine direct observation with research, memory and imagination, seeking to capture not simply how a place looks, but something of its atmosphere, history and character.

At the heart of my work is an interest in the relationship between people and place — architecture, landscape, journeys and the visual histories that surround us. My practice moves between the familiar and the distant, from London streets and historic buildings to mountain landscapes, villages and places encountered while travelling. Drawing remains the thread that connects these different subjects and experiences.

Over the course of my career, I have exhibited widely throughout the UK and internationally, and my work is held in a number of public, institutional and private collections, including the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the V&A, London; Guildhall Art Library, London; St Paul’s Cathedral, London; and the Royal Collection, London.

My work has also been recognised through numerous awards and prizes, including the British Institution Prizes for both Drawing and Printmaking, the London Art Club Excellence in Drawing Award, and the Ashmolean Vivien Leigh Award. These awards reflect my continuing engagement with painting, drawing and printmaking.

I am a member of the New English Art Club, the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, and currently serve as Archivist for the NEAC. These connections with artists, exhibitions and collections form an important part of my continuing involvement in the wider British art world.

Although my work has taken me across many countries and landscapes, the impulse behind it remains remarkably close to where it began. I am still fascinated by the things that first captured my imagination as a child — buildings, history, landscapes, journeys and the details of the world around me.

Today, my work continues to grow from the same fundamental instincts: drawing, looking closely, travelling and discovering places and the histories behind them.

My sketchbooks, paintings, drawings and prints are all part of that continuing journey.

 

Neil's Biography 

 

Education

My formal training has centred on painting, drawing and printmaking, with postgraduate study at the Royal Academy Schools and specialist study in printmaking and education.

Royal Academy Schools, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Three-year Royal Academy Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art.

Bradford School of Art, University of Bradford
Master of Arts in Printmaking, with Distinction.

University of Huddersfield
Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

Cheltenham School of Art, University of Gloucestershire
BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting.

University of Seville, Spain
Erasmus Study Scholarship. Awarded a Certificate of Merit in Lithographic Printmaking.

Selected Awards & Prizes

Throughout my career, my work has received a number of awards, prizes, scholarships and commissions, including:

2020 — Arthur Wise Award, Royal Watercolour Society, London

2008 — Judges’ Choice Prize, A1 Northern Open, Richmond, Yorkshire

2007 — Vivien Leigh Bequest Printmaking Prize, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

2001 — Whatman International Papers Award, National Print Exhibition, London
2001 — British Institution Prize for Printmaking, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2001 — Excellence in Drawing Award, Arts Club, Mayfair, London
2001 — New Academy Gallery Commission Award, RWS Open, London
2001 — John Smith Award, RWS 21st Century Watercolour Open
2001 — Reynolds Club, Royal Academy Schools Alumni Award, Royal Academy of Arts, London

2000 — John Purcell Award, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2000 — Celia Walker Award, Royal Academy of Arts, London
2000 — Gwen May RE Prize, National Print Exhibition, London
2000 — Joseph Webb Prize, National Print Exhibition, London

1999 — British Institution Prize for Drawing, Royal Academy of Arts, London

1998 — Printmaking Prize, Bradford Open, Cartwright Hall, Bradford

1995 — University of Seville Erasmus Travel Scholarship, Spain

My work has been exhibited extensively throughout the UK and internationally, including at the Royal Academy of Arts, Mall Galleries, Royal Albert Hall, Christie’s, Royal West Academy, Bristol, Leeds City Art Gallery, Ferens Art Gallery, Cartwright Hall, the Barber Institute of Art, the British Council Gallery in New Delhi, the National Museum in Taipei and the Museum of Modern Art in Nairobi.

 

Collections

Public & Institutional Collections

My work is held in public, institutional and corporate collections in the UK and internationally, including:

• Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford
• Alpine Club, London
• Arts Club, Mayfair, London
• Art House, Wakefield, Yorkshire
• Bradford School of Art, Bradford College
• Ciwec Hospital Travel Medical Centre, Pokhara, Nepal
• Dahlia Boutique Hotel, Pokhara, Nepal
• Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
• Guildhall Art Library, Corporation of London
• Guy’s Hospital, London
• D. H. Lawrence Birthplace Museum, Eastwood, Nottinghamshire
• Headquarters Officers’ Mess, Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, Prince Philip Barracks, Lyneham, Wiltshire
• Heritage Malta Collection, Valletta, Malta
• Indian Institute of Contemporary Art, Mumbai, India
• St Paul’s Cathedral Library, London
• St Ives Society, St Ives, Cornwall
• Royal Collection, London
• Royal Air Force Collection, UK
• Royal Watercolour Society Diploma Collection, Bankside Gallery, London
• University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham
• Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Selected Private Collections

My work is also held in private collections in the UK and internationally, including collections belonging to HRH Prince Michael of Kent, actor Brendan Coyle, and antiques expert and television presenter Mark Hill.

Works are held in private collections throughout the UK, France, Germany, Spain, USA, Canada and Australia.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Throughout my career, I have presented solo exhibitions at galleries and arts institutions across the UK, including The Alpine Club, London; Arts Mill, Hebden Bridge; Burlington Fine Art, Piccadilly, London; Cooper Art Gallery, Barnsley; King’s Lynn Arts Centre; Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax; Shine Arts, Leeds; and the Mansion House Galleries at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell.

Selected Exhibitions & Venues

I have exhibited widely throughout the United Kingdom and internationally, in solo and group exhibitions, galleries, museums, art institutions and other prominent venues.

Selected exhibition venues include:

United Kingdom

• Alpine Club, London
• Arts Club, Mayfair, London
• Barber Institute of Art, Birmingham
• Blossom Street Gallery, York
• Burton at Bideford Art Gallery, Devon
• Burlington Fine Art, Piccadilly, London
• Cartwright Hall, Bradford
• Cheltenham School of Art
• Christie’s, Mayfair, London
• Chris Beetles Gallery, St James’s, London
• Curwen and New Academy Gallery, London
• Cooper Gallery, Barnsley
• Dean Clough Galleries, Halifax
• Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
• Felix & Spear Gallery, London
• Gallery Oldham
• Geedon Gallery, Colchester
• Horsham Museum
• Inspired by Gallery, North York Moors National Park
• Leeds City Art Gallery
• Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent
• Mall Galleries, London
• North Light Gallery, near Huddersfield
• Pannett Park Art Gallery, Whitby
• Rabley Drawing Centre, Marlborough
• Rheged Centre, Penrith
• Royal Academy of Arts, London
• Royal Albert Hall, London
• Royal Cambrian Academy, Conwy
• Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
• Russell Gallery, London
• Rye Art Gallery
• Scarborough Art Gallery
• Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds
• St David’s Hall, Cardiff
• St Ives Society of Artists, Cornwall
• The Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
• University of Leeds
• Waterstones, Piccadilly, London
• Whiteleys, Bayswater, London
• York City Art Gallery
• Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk

International

• British Council Gallery, New Delhi, India
• Carrollton Cultural Arts Center, Georgia, USA
• Centro Modigliani, Florence, Italy
• Fabriano, Italy
• Heritage Malta, Valletta, Malta
• Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi, Kenya
• National Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
• Nehru Centre, London
• Penn State University, Pennsylvania, USA
• Robeson Gallery, Penn State University, USA

I also exhibit regularly at Mall Galleries, London, including through the societies of which I am a member, and at Bankside Gallery, next to Tate Modern. My work is also exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society Gallery in Whitcomb Street, London.

My work has additionally been featured in touring exhibitions, including a Lloyds TSB touring exhibition shown at branches throughout the UK and at Chatsworth House, Derbyshire.

The Royal Albert Hall featured my work in its first-ever calendar sold through its shop, marking another memorable connection between my work and one of London’s most celebrated cultural institutions.

For details of current and forthcoming exhibitions, please visit the Exhibitions / News page

 

Selected Publications

My paintings, drawings and prints have been reproduced in a range of national and international publications, exhibition catalogues and books. These include publications devoted to painting, drawing, printmaking, travel and the visual arts.

London in Poetry and Prose
Edited by poet and writer Anna Adams and published by Enitharmon Press, London, 2002. My drawings were commissioned as illustrations for this anthology of London poetry and prose.

Pathways in Time: Paintings, Drawings and Prints
Published by Neil Pittaway through Blurb, 2019, to accompany my solo exhibition at Cooper Gallery, Barnsley.

A Journey in Line
Published by Neil Pittaway through Blurb.

Visual Histories
Published by Neil Pittaway through Blurb.

Print Rebels
Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, published by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, 2018.

Watercolour Secrets
Royal Watercolour Society, published internationally by A&C Black Visual, 2018.

The Watercolour Expert
Royal Watercolour Society, published internationally by Cassell Illustrated, 2004.

The Watercolour Masters: Then and Now
Royal Watercolour Society, published internationally by Cassell Illustrated, 2006.

Printmakers: The Directory
Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, published internationally by A&C Black Visual, 2006.

Spanning the Thames
Published in London, 2008.

A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall

Royal Watercolour Society, published in 2011 to accompany the exhibition held at the Royal Albert Hall, London.

 

Selected Published Articles

My work, exhibitions and artistic practice have been featured in a range of specialist art publications, magazines and online platforms in the UK and internationally.

2026 — 140 Years of the New English Art Club (1886–2026) — online article published by the New English Art Club, 8 June 2026.
2026 — Interview with Neil Pittaway on the history of the NEAC — published online by Mall Galleries, 8 June 2026.
2026 — Not Quite the Nepal Adventure I Had Planned — online article published by the New English Art Club, 19 May 2026.

2024 — Painting the Mountains of Morocco — online article published by the New English Art Club, 30 October 2024.

2023 — 50 Years in the Making — online article published by the New English Art Club, 1 August 2023.
2023 — The Art of Making — online article published by the Royal Watercolour Society.

2017 — Interview with Neil Pittaway — online article published by the New English Art Club, 1 March 2017.

2010 — An Eye to the Past — exhibition review published in Printmaking Today, Cello Press, Oxfordshire.
2010 — Image published alongside an article on poet Louis MacNeice in The Poetry Magazine.

2005 — Artists’ Notebook: Trafalgar Anniversary — article and illustration published in Illustration Magazine, UK.

2001 — The London Connection — article published in Printmaking Today, Cello Press, Oxfordshire.

2001 — Longitude — etching published in Ambit 164, UK.

 

Film, Television, Radio & Online

My work and artistic practice have been featured in film, television, radio, press and online publications in the UK and internationally.

2020 — Online interview with the New English Art Club (NEAC), published by the NEAC.

2016 — The Art of Travel: The Tour du Mont Blanc in Paintings, online feature published by Exodus Travels.

2015 — Eastern Daily Press, Norfolk, UK — feature on my solo exhibition at King’s Lynn Arts Centre.

2011 — Artists at Eden — artist and film, DVD production, London.

2011 — BBC Radio Norfolk — interview with Neil Pittaway for European Journeys and Other Worlds, broadcast January 2011.

2005 — BBC Radio 4 — The Artist and BBC Radio 4: Sound & Vision, featured online.

2002 — Serious Pleasure — contributor to exhibition film for Centro Modigliani, Florence, Italy, broadcast by regional television in Tuscany.

2001 — Great Artists — contributor to the Channel 5 television series presented by Tim Marlow, UK

Selected Art Fairs

I have exhibited at a range of established art fairs and specialist exhibitions in London and throughout the UK, including:

• London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, London
• Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, Royal Arsenal, London
• Battersea Affordable Art Fair, London
• Battersea Art Fair, Battersea Town Hall, London
• Watercolours and Drawings Fair, Park Lane Hotel, London
• Watercolours and Drawings Fair, Floral Hall, Covent Garden, London
• Mid-Summer Art Fair, Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington
• Printfest, Ulverston, Cumbria