Last updated: 28 October 2026
Victoria Cantons is the London artist whose paintings, neon and text works turn her own life into frank, poetic self-portraits. Here you will find our take on her work, where to see Victoria Cantons now, how to buy her paintings, and her small piece in this year’s War Child auction.
Our take on Victoria Cantons
Cantons makes autobiographical work about love, memory, identity and belonging. Her starting point is often writing, so words appear in many of her paintings. “In a sense, the physical art is poetry simply in a different form or medium,” she says on her own site. Her 2022 Flowers Gallery show, for example, was a cycle of large self-portraits tracking her transgender history and facial surgery.
Her War Child piece, Untitled (A Song Forever), is watercolour and water-soluble crayon on a gessoed wood panel. Across the top, black handwriting reads “Faith, Trust and Love” over a band of grey cloud. Below, six loose red roses fill the panel, drawn in looping strokes that drip down like rain. Then, at the bottom, more handwriting reads “All we must carry”. It is quick, wet and heartfelt, in the same spirit as her recent text paintings.
She is having a busy autumn. A two-person show with her partner, the painter Xu Yang, is on at Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York until 14 November. In addition, the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich opens its How Do We Find Love? season on 13 November, with her writing in the accompanying book. “Art is a form of resistance, a way to reassess memory, to remember but also to reinvent,” she has said, quoted by Mimosa House.
Victoria Cantons: the essentials
- Born in London in 1969, the only child of a Catholic mother from Madrid and a French Algerian father of Russian-Jewish and Basque descent, according to her own site.
- Trained as an actor at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (1995 to 1997) before turning to art.
- BA (Hons) in Painting from Wimbledon College of Arts (2017), the Turps Art School Painters Studio Programme (2018) and an MFA in Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art (2021), where she held the Felix Slade Scholarship.
- Won the painting prize at Apollo’s Decathlon, Château de Montsoreau Museum of Contemporary Art, in 2024, and was shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize in 2023.
- Solo shows at Flowers Gallery, London (2022 and 2023), Kunstverein Dresden (2023) and Mimosa House, London (2026), with group shows at the Wellcome Collection and Hauser & Wirth Somerset.
- Works in collections including the David and Indrė Roberts Collection, the Deighton Foundation and Kunstverein Dresden.
Where to see Victoria Cantons 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 Untitled (A Song Forever) (2026), watercolour and water-soluble crayon on gesso on wood panel, 21 x 15 cm (8.3 x 5.9 in), lot page.
- Now: The Pursuit of Happiness (two-person, with Xu Yang), Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, 15 October to 14 November 2026.
- Coming up: How Do We Find Love? (group season), Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, 13 November 2026 to 30 May 2027.
- A Formula for How to Find Love (solo), Mimosa House, London, 23 January to 28 March 2026.
- People Trust People Who Look Like Them (solo), Flowers Gallery, Kingsland Road, London, 11 May to 2 July 2022.
How to buy a Victoria Cantons painting
There are no Victoria Cantons prints, editions or books on sale at the moment. Her paintings sell through galleries:
- Paintings: through Flowers Gallery in London or Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York, price on request.
- Untitled (A Song Forever), 2026: a small watercolour and crayon on panel in the War Child Sound & Vision auction, bidding from £100 until 12 November 2026 (bid here).
Victoria Cantons FAQs
Where did Victoria Cantons study?
Wimbledon College of Arts (BA), Turps Art School and the Slade School of Fine Art (MFA, 2021). She trained as an actor first.
Is Victoria Cantons related to Xu Yang?
They are partners and fellow painters. They have shown together at Studio West, London, in 2021 and at Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York, in 2026.
Can I buy a Victoria Cantons print?
Not at the moment. There are no prints or editions, so her paintings sell through galleries on request.
Where can I see her work in the UK?
Her War Child piece is on view at Iconic Images Gallery, London, from 6 to 8 November 2026. The Sainsbury Centre’s How Do We Find Love? season in Norwich opens on 13 November.
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- Best affordable art in the UK: prints and originals under £500.
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Main image: Victoria Cantons in the studio, 2021. Photo: Charlie Tronchot, courtesy Studio West, via FAD Magazine. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates, prices, auction results and market figures last checked: 28 October 2026.
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