Black and white photograph of Alexandra Beteeva in a dark vest top, seated in front of a large abstract painting
Alexandra Beteeva in her studio, 2026. Photo: Theodore Wilkins-Lang, courtesy the artist and the Royal College of Art. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration.

Last updated: 28 October 2026

Alexandra Beteeva is the London-based artist who paints blurred, tender portraits from family photographs and inherited memory. Here you will find our take on her work, where Alexandra Beteeva has shown, how to buy her paintings, and her two small portraits in this year’s War Child auction.

Our take on Alexandra Beteeva

Beteeva works from old family photographs, folk imagery and memory. She grew up in an Ossetian community in Moscow before moving to the UK as a teenager, and that sense of distance runs through everything. “I make works that convey past cultural memories, visible and invisible, invading my consciousness,” she writes in her artist statement.

She has two lots in the War Child sale, both oil on board. In The World Began to Settle Down, a young man in a white open-necked collar faces us against a pale sky and a yellow sun on the horizon. His features are smeared sideways, as if the photograph moved. But We Never Will Be Found shows a younger face, also blurred, against a hot orange-red landscape with a small blue moon in the corner. The faces stay out of reach, which is the point.

The paintings come from a clear position. “I use painting as a tool to process reality,” she says in her statement for Tatha Gallery. She finished her MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art in June 2026, so these are early works from an artist at the start of a serious career.

Alexandra Beteeva: the essentials

  • Born in Moscow in 1999, according to New Contemporaries; now based in London.
  • Took a foundation diploma at Camberwell College of Arts, a BA in Painting and Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art (2022), the Turps correspondence course, and an MA in Painting at the Royal College of Art (2026).
  • Works across painting, ceramics, printmaking and drawing. Her RCA degree show paired a painted diptych with ceramics and a book of more than forty monotypes.
  • Won the Euan Stewart Memorial Prize for Printmaking in 2022, and was selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2023 and RSA New Contemporaries 2024.
  • Has held residencies at Hospitalfield and the Royal Drawing School.
  • Her work is in the Royal Collection at The Prince’s Foundation, Dumfries House, according to her War Child lot notes. She also shows as Alex Beteeva with Tatha Gallery, Fife.

Where to see Alexandra Beteeva now

  • Coming up: Sound & Vision 2026, a War Child charity auction online from 27 October to 12 November 2026, with the works on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, 6 to 8 November. The pieces are The World Began to Settle Down (2026), oil on board, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page, and But We Never Will Be Found (2026), oil on board, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page.
  • It Was Just The Light Changing, her MA degree show at RCA2026, Royal College of Art, Battersea, London, 18 to 21 June 2026.
  • RSA New Contemporaries 2024 (group), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 30 March to 24 April 2024.
  • The Graduates Show 2023 (group), Tatha Gallery, Newport-on-Tay, 13 January to 18 February 2023.

How to buy an Alexandra Beteeva painting

There are no Alexandra Beteeva prints or editions on sale. Her paintings sell through the charity auction and her Scottish gallery:

  • The World Began to Settle Down, 2026: a small oil on board in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
  • But We Never Will Be Found, 2026: a small oil on board in the same auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
  • Paintings: Tatha Gallery lists 2022 canvases such as It Had Never Learned to Speak, oil on canvas, 100 x 100 cm (39.4 x 39.4 in), price on application.

Alexandra Beteeva FAQs

Where did Alexandra Beteeva study?

Glasgow School of Art for her BA in Painting and Printmaking (2022), then the Royal College of Art for her MA in Painting (2026).

What does Alexandra Beteeva paint?

Portraits and scenes drawn from family photographs and folk imagery, often with faces blurred, alongside ceramics and monotype prints.

Is Alex Beteeva the same artist as Alexandra Beteeva?

Yes. Tatha Gallery in Fife lists her as Alex Beteeva.

Can I buy an Alexandra Beteeva print?

Not at the moment. There are no editions on sale; her paintings sell through Tatha Gallery on application.

Where can I see her work in London?

Her two War Child pieces are on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026.

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Main image: Alexandra Beteeva in her studio, 2026. Photo: Theodore Wilkins-Lang, courtesy the artist and the Royal College of Art. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.

Published by Stiv