People Watching
A solo show from Guildford House Open winner Rebecca Holton
Rebecca Holton, first prize winner of the Guildford House Open 2025, will present her solo exhibition People Watching at Guildford House Gallery from Saturday 4th July to Saturday 3rd October 2026. The show is the third consecutive solo exhibition to be awarded through the Guildford House Open competition.
Rebecca finds beauty in the everyday, recording moments so they can be preserved and remembered. This exhibition celebrates people and life in all its guises.
The exhibition will open to the public at Guildford House Gallery, Guildford, GU1 3AJ, from Saturday 4th July 2026, available to see Tuesday to Saturday, 10am until 4.30pm, with last entry at 4pm.
Rebecca Holton, Miss Bennet was an Excellent Walker
People Watching
The show builds on a long-running theme in her work, which began when Holton returned from Hong Kong. Six years overseas gave her a new perspective on what had once been familiar; Rebecca became fascinated by what most people would consider mundane - observing people, unaware, in their natural environments.
This collection captures moments from her time living in London and, more recently, in Bath and the South West.
A multi-award-winning British portrait and figurative artist, Rebecca’s work has been shown by the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of British Artists and at The London Biennale, among others. Her paintings are held in private collections across the UK, Europe, the USA, and Asia.
“Guildford has a special connection for me as my Mum was born here, and my Great Grandparents lived in Woking all their life”.
Visitors can expect to see around 25 works, each centred on the overlooked textures of daily life and the unspoken connections that bind us together.
Come and see the show
Guildford House Gallery High Street, Guildford, GU1 3AJ
People Watching is on view from 4 July to 3 October 2026, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4.30pm. Last entry 4pm. Free entry.
All works in the exhibition are available to purchase online
Guildford House Gallery, a 17th-century Grade I listed town house in the heart of Guildford, provides a rich and intimate setting for Holton’s quietly observed scenes. The contrast between the historic architecture and the vivid contemporaneity of her subjects creates a charged dialogue between past and present.
Rebecca Holton in her studio