The RWS/Sunday Times Watercolour Competition is nationwide competition promoting the art of painting in water-based media. The judging panel is chaired by Frank Whitford of The Sunday Times, who completes a write up of the six prize winners in the paper each year.
It was launched in 1988 as the Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander / Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, through sponsorship by Kaupthing Bank and The Sunday Times. Kaupthing ceased to sponsor the prize after the bank was taken over. It is now co-sponsored by the Royal Watercolour Society.
The first prize winner was Tom Coates. Subsequent winners have included Trevor Stubley (1990), Stuart Pearson Wright (1999; third prize), Leslie Worth, and Carol Robertson.
The 2007 winner was Julia Farrer. In 2008, 2,000 works were submitted, with 100 exhibited at the Royal Watercolour Society's Bankside Gallery, and a £25,000 prize fund, that year's winner being Jennifer McRae.
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