Best of Graduates 2026 by Ron Mandos
This summer, Galerie Ron Mandos presents works by 27 recent graduates from Dutch art academies. The exhibition runs from 24 July to 30 August 2026 and marks the nineteenth year that Best of Graduates has been a summer tradition at the gallery.
ART UNLOCKED team went to the opening of Best of Graduates 2026. We are convinced it should be on your Amsterdam art list in August.
What exactly is Best of Graduates by Ron Mandos?
Best of Graduates is Galerie Ron Mandos’ annual exhibition bringing together selected recent graduates from art academies across the Netherlands.
Curator Radek Vana started the project in 2005 as Paraat. His idea was refreshingly practical: graduation shows were happening at art academies all over the Netherlands, but talent outside the major cities wasn’t necessarily getting the attention it deserved. Why not travel around the country, find interesting graduates and bring them together in Amsterdam?
Galerie Ron Mandos became involved in 2008, and from 2009 the exhibition continued as Best of Graduates. What began as a way of giving young artists visibility developed into something more substantial: a bridge between art school and the professional art world.
Best of Graduates places emerging artists in a commercial gallery, in front of collectors, curators and the wider public — and connects the young talents with awards and opportunities designed to help careers continue beyond graduation.
27 emerging artists of 2026
This year 27 artists are on show at the Gallery Ron Mandos.
- Academie Minerva, Groningen: Emma Straňáková, Kyrah Klemme, Vlada Chernavina
- AKI Academy of Art and Design, Enschede: Anna Kimp, Havva Malyalızade, Sofie Reijerman
- ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem: Milou Laroussiyen
- Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam: Ian Marquez García, Filip Maliszewski, Saskia van der Kam
- HKU, Utrecht: Eva Zain van der Horst, Mauritz Lorenzen, Sofia Lulu Chiadmi, Thu Do, Wesley Doran
- KABK, Den Haag: Aga Rymuszka, Hara Ghan, Iivari Mikkonen, Kimia Khedri, Minnie Fawcett-Tang, Tobias Nap, Tom Allsop, Viktor Dimitrov Marinopolsky
- Joost School of Art & Design, Breda: Danny Kariman
- Willem de Kooning Academie, Rotterdam: Alexandra Galateia Tsolou, Milou Rosenkamp, Pol Sangster
Diversity is part of what makes the exhibition such an enjoyable way into contemporary art. You’re encountering a snapshot of what a new generation of artists is making right now.
Some things will stop you immediately. Some might make you wonder what on earth you’re looking at.
The ART UNLOCKED Pick
Twenty-seven artists, no, choosing wasn’t easy. So, who made us stop, look again, talk about the work — and then talk about it some more?
Vlada Chernavina. Tom Allsop. Mauritz Lorenzen.
Three very different practices, and three names we left the gallery with. But don’t take our word for it. Go, look, disagree with us, and choose your own three. That’s half the fun.
Spoiler: Apparently we weren’t the only ones paying attention: Tom Allsop received the 2026 Ron Mandos Young Blood Award & Vlada Chernavina got RM Young Blood Foundation Residency at Brutus.
Exhibition ART UNLOCKED explained
The Big Idea. Best of Graduates isn’t a graduation show. You’re standing in a room full of artists at the very beginning. Nobody in this room is famous yet. Some might never be. But some might end up in museums. Today, you’re looking at artists before anyone knows who will become the next museum star.
ART UNLOCKED practice. When you enter the gallery, ask yourself: If I could only choose one artist today, who would I bet on?
Don’t take it too seriously, choose with your heart rather than your mind (or at least a combination of both). Remember the name and follow them to see what happens years later.
Art world hacks
- If you ever wanted to start collecting, this is where the barrier is lowest and the potential is highest.
- About 20% of our Best of Graduates alumni are still regularly active in the art world (Ron Mandos)
Best of Graduates 2026 is on view at Galerie Ron Mandos, Prinsengracht 282, Amsterdam, until 30 August 2026.
About the gallery
Galerie Ron Mandos has been around considerably longer than some of the artists in Best of Graduates. Founded in Rotterdam in 1999, the gallery moved to Amsterdam’s gallery district in 2007 and today represents more than 30 artists from around the world, with works placed in collections of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Voorlinden and Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Spoiler: A flower business, Picasso’s Guernica in Madrid, a former Van Gogh Museum restoration studio and no art sales in its first year — there’s much more to the story, but we’ll save the behind-the-scenes details for the art walk!
