Martin Bentham has been a full-time professional painter since graduating from Exeter College of Art & Design in 1985.

Primarily a figurative painter, Martin prefers to work directly from his chosen subjects, which are mostly derived from the people and landscape of the Mendip Hills, where he lives. He also does some still-life.

Martin has held biennial one man shows since 1993 and has exhibited at numerous, notable selected exhibitions including the Royal Academy (RA) in London and the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in Bristol. He was awarded the Daler-Rowney Oil Painting Prize in 2007 at the RWA Autumn Exhibition and won 1st and 2nd Prize in the Viewer’s Choice Award at the 2008 Exhibition. Most recently in 2023, Martin won the Derek Balmer Painting Prize in the 170th Annual Open Exhibition at the RWA.

Martin was elected an Academician of the RWA in January 2009 and following this, he had two solo exhibitions there in July-August 2010 and in October 2012. In Sept-Nov 2014 and in May-June 2018, Martin had two exhibitions at The Bishop’s Palace in Wells, Somerset. More recently, in June 2023, Martin had an exhibition at the Wells & Mendip Museum. Martin Bentham’s paintings are in many private collections throughout the world.