Last updated: 28 October 2026
Carl Randall is the London artist known for crowded figurative paintings of Japan and London, and for portraits of sitters from Julie Walters to Nick Park. Here you will find our take on his work, where to see Carl Randall now, the signed prints you can buy, and his small painting in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Carl Randall
Randall paints people in places. He spent ten years in Japan, from 2003 to 2013, and made dense, mostly monochrome paintings of Tokyo crowds, with every head painted from life. “Being naturally drawn to large cities, and having a growing interest in Japanese arts and culture, Tokyo had a particular draw for me,” he wrote for the Embassy of Japan in 2012.
His War Child piece, Split Satoshi, is acrylic on board and much bolder than his crowd scenes. A green-skinned face with a dark fringe is split down the middle by a jagged crack. Behind it sit two red discs, like Japanese suns, on a pale yellow ground. Blue raindrops fall across everything. A line of Japanese text runs along the crack; its last words, “we fell into the sun”, echo the McCartney lyric.
Those crowd paintings had a clear purpose. “Many of these works show groups of people occupying the same close public spaces, yet also isolated from one another,” he wrote in the same article. His recent paintings at Panter & Hall sold at £900 to £4,000, while his signed prints start at £175, so there are several ways in.
Carl Randall: the essentials
- Studied Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art (1995 to 1999) and took The Drawing Year at the Royal Drawing School (2003), according to his own site.
- Took an MA (2009) and a Doctorate (2012) in Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts, after a Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation scholarship. He won the 2011 Nomura Art Prize there.
- Won the BP Travel Award at the National Portrait Gallery, which led to a display of sixteen Japan paintings at the 2013 BP Portrait Award exhibition.
- His London Portraits series includes Julie Walters, Jo Brand, Nick Park, Raymond Briggs, Simon Armitage and Jon Snow, each painted in a London location of their choosing.
- His work is in collections including UCL Art Museum, Tokyo Geidai Art Museum, the Royal Collection, the Tokaido Hiroshige Museum in Shizuoka and Fondation Carmignac, Paris.
- Sells through his own print shop and has shown with Panter & Hall and Flowers Gallery in London.
Where to see Carl Randall 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 piece is Split Satoshi (2026), acrylic on board, 15 x 21 cm (5.9 x 8.3 in), lot page.
- Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition 2026 (group), Mall Galleries, London, 7 to 19 May 2026.
- Small is Beautiful, 43rd edition (group), Flowers Gallery, Cork Street, London, 21 November 2025 to 10 January 2026.
- The Distinctive Eye: Singular Voices in British Painting (group of ten figurative painters), Panter & Hall, Pall Mall, London, 11 to 21 November 2025.
How to buy a Carl Randall print or painting
Carl Randall sells signed limited edition prints from his own website, all at the same price:
- Mr. Kitazawa’s Noodle Bar: a signed and numbered giclée print on Hahnemühle 310gsm paper, A2 sheet, 42 x 59.4 cm (16.5 x 23.4 in), edition of 30, £175 including UK postage from the artist’s print shop. The painting was in the 2012 BP Portrait Award.
- Tokyo Subway: the same format, A2 sheet, 42 x 59.4 cm (16.5 x 23.4 in), edition of 30, £175 including UK postage from the artist’s print shop.
- Piccadilly Circus: a London crowd scene in the same format, A2 sheet, 42 x 59.4 cm (16.5 x 23.4 in), edition of 30, £175 including UK postage from the artist’s print shop.
- Split Satoshi, 2026: a small acrylic on board in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
- Paintings and commissions: through the artist. His 2025 paintings at Panter & Hall were priced from £900 to £4,000 and are now sold.
Carl Randall FAQs
Why did Carl Randall live in Japan?
He went on scholarships from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and the Japanese government, then took an MA and Doctorate at Tokyo University of the Arts. He stayed from 2003 to 2013.
Who has Carl Randall painted?
His London Portraits series includes Julie Walters, Jo Brand, Nick Park, Raymond Briggs, Simon Armitage and Jon Snow.
Can I buy a Carl Randall print?
Yes. His signed limited edition giclée prints, in editions of 30, cost £175 each including UK postage from his website.
How much do Carl Randall paintings cost?
His paintings at Panter & Hall in 2025 were priced from £900 to £4,000. The War Child lot starts at £100.
Where can I see his work in London?
His War Child piece is on view at Iconic Images Gallery from 6 to 8 November 2026.
More from CoolCuration
- Louis Fratino at David Zwirner review: more contemporary figurative painting.
- Soho Home x Rise Art: affordable editions for your walls.
- Hospital Rooms poster sale: charity prints by big-name artists at £100.
- Gifts for artists: our edit of presents for people who make things.
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Main image: Carl Randall in the studio, working on Primrose Hill, London. Courtesy the artist. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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