14th Sep 2024

What Artists Like


Welcome What Artists Like, an artist-led series, created and edited by Masters Artist Nicola Wiltshire that shines a fresh light on the New Blood Art collection. Featuring interviews with artists and curated collections, with each Guest Curator nominating the next.

Masters Artist Nicola Wiltshire

There is a long history of artists supporting artists. Whether it’s through sharing exhibitions, work spaces, or collecting each other’s work, artists are often the first to notice when someone is making waves.

“Degas is so passionate over Cezanne’s studies, what do you think? “

– Camille Pissarro in a letter to his son, 1895.

Van Gogh famously sold only one painting during his lifetime, but he was very involved in the Paris art scene. He swapped work with many of his contemporaries, including two sunflower paintings for ‘On the Banks of the River, Martinique’ by Paul Gauguin, who was already well-respected at the time.

And then we have Matisse and Picasso, who were famous rivals. Towards the end of his life, a bedridden Matisse asked to borrow Picasso’s ‘Winter Landscape’ to study. Matisse refused to return the painting and it hung permanently on his bedroom wall until his death in 1954.

As an artist who collects, I’m so fascinated by these stories and curious about how our taste shapes the work we make. I’m excited to oversee this new series for New Blood Art and to delve into the question: what do artists like and why?

We hope this series will flesh out the wonderful artists who are represented by New Blood Art, allowing you to experience them beyond their photos and Artist Statements. Each guest Artist Curator will nominate the next, which will help keep things fresh and hopefully lead to some exciting re-discoveries.

– Nicola Wiltshire

What Artists Like #1

with Guest Curator Nicola Wiltshire

What Artists Like #2

with Guest Curator Errol Theunissen

What Artists Like #3

with Guest Curator Tia Taylor Berry

What Artists Like #4

with Guest Curator Olivia Mansfield

What Artists Like #5

with Guest Curator Colette LaVette

What Artists Like #6

with Guest Curator Orlanda Broom

What Artists Like #7

with Guest Curator Charlotte Brisland

What Artists Like #8

with Guest Curator Evie Mae

07th Aug 2024

What Artists Like #8

Sculptor Evie Mae is this week’s Guest Curator, a 2024 graduate who is full of energy and vision. Thank you to Charlotte Brisland for nominating Evie...

21st Jul 2024

What Artists Like #7

I'm excited that atmospheric painter Charlotte Brisland is our latest Guest Curator, who was nominated by Orlanda Broom. Charlotte answers a few questions...

11th Jul 2024

What Artists Like #6

NW - Your work has been exhibited in LA, the Threadneedle Prize, plus multiple times at the Royal Academy Summer Show. You've also completed major commissions...

29th Jun 2024

What Artists Like #5

NW -   I read that your paintings "narrate the story of a mystical realm, where utopia and dystopia are intertwined". There's something so classical...

15th Jun 2024

What Artists Like #4

NW -  Layering seems to be an important feature of your work. It's physically layered, in the way you apply your materials. But also in terms...

07th May 2024

What Artists Like

Welcome to the first What Artists Like, a new artist-led series, created and edited by Masters Artist Nicola Wiltshire that shines a fresh light on the...

02nd May 2024

What Artists Like #3

NW - You have created a world that coalesces so perfectly - gentle colours, harmonious shapes, thoughtful images, delicate mark making. Even your name...

26th Apr 2024

What Artists Like #2

Storytelling painter Errol Theunissen joins us as Guest Curator, whose work is infused with colour and joy. Read on to see which works he picked and why...