Clare Woods Prints and Paintings: The RA Painter

Black and white photograph of Clare Woods with long fair hair, in a dark blazer over a striped top, standing in front of one of her paintings — Clare Woods. Photo: studio Clare Woods, courtesy Buchmann Galerie. Framed by CoolCuration.

Last updated: 2 November 2026

Clare Woods, born in Southampton in 1972, is the British painter and Royal Academician known for big, unsettling paintings that start from photographs. Her show Garden Without Seasons is at Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing until 8 November 2026. Clare Woods prints include a signed 2012 lithograph from The Hepworth Wakefield at £275.

Our take on Clare Woods as an artist

Woods paints from photographs, often of sculpture, landscape or flowers, and turns them into something stranger: heavy brushmarks, odd colour and shapes that look almost like body parts. "All of my work, if I strip it back, is about fear," she told RA Magazine in 2024.

The Clare Woods print on our editions page shows where that starts. Bobby Diamond, 2012, began with a Henry Moore head in The Hepworth Wakefield's collection and became a chunky, block-like shape in brown and pink. It is a real stone lithograph, signed and numbered.

If you are in London this week, catch her Pitzhanger show before it closes on 8 November.

Clare Woods: the essentials

Born in Southampton in 1972, according to her own site.
Trained first as a sculptor, with a BA in Fine Art Sculpture at Bath School of Art (1991 to 1994), then an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths (1997 to 1999) (same source).
Elected a Royal Academician in Painting in 2022 (Buchmann Galerie).
Represented by Buchmann Galerie, Berlin, since 2008; she lives and works in Hereford.
Her work is in the Arts Council Collection, the Government Art Collection, the Royal Collection, The Hepworth Wakefield and National Museum Wales, among others. In 2012 the Contemporary Art Society commissioned a permanent ceramic mural from her for the London Olympic Park.

Clare Woods exhibitions: now on and recent

Now on: Clare Woods: Garden Without Seasons, Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, Ealing, London, 29 July to 8 November 2026. 29 paintings, collages and prints. £14, students £7, under-16s free.
Bettina Pousttchi, Clare Woods: Variations on Subject and Object, Buchmann Box, Berlin, 1 May to 31 July 2026.
Handpicked: Painting Flowers from 1900 to Today, Kettle's Yard, Cambridge, 25 April to 6 September 2026 (group show).
A Kinder Time, Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York, 2025.
Coming up: a solo show at Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Denmark, in 2027.

Where to buy Clare Woods prints

The Clare Woods print we list is Bobby Diamond, 2012, from The Hepworth Wakefield shop. It is a lithograph printed from a stone and an aluminium plate, 68.7 x 51.2cm (27 x 20.2in), signed and numbered in an edition of 99, for £275. UK delivery is £35, or you can collect it free in Wakefield.

It dates from her 2011 to 2012 Hepworth Wakefield show, The Unquiet Head, so once the remaining copies sell it is gone. Her paintings come up at auction now and then. For other signed prints, see our guide to the best affordable art in the UK.

Clare Woods FAQs

Where can I see Clare Woods' work now?

Garden Without Seasons is at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery in Ealing, west London, until 8 November 2026. Tickets are £14, £7 for students and free for under-16s.

Is Clare Woods a Royal Academician?

Yes. She was elected a Royal Academician in Painting in 2022.

Is the Clare Woods Bobby Diamond print signed?

Yes. It is signed in pencil and numbered, in an edition of 99.

What does Clare Woods paint?

Large paintings that start from photographs of things like sculpture, rocks and flowers, often in enamel or oil on aluminium.

Clare Woods