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The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the
visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...
through exhibitions, education and debate.


History

The origin of the Royal Academy of Arts lies in an attempt in 1755 by members of the
Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, founded in 1754, was the precursor of The ''Royal'' Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce now more usually known as the RSA. The original Society gaine ...
, principally the sculptor
Henry Cheere Sir Henry Cheere, 1st Baronet (1703 – 15 January 1781) was a renowned English sculptor and monumental mason.George Edward Cokayne, ed., ''The Complete Baronetage'', 5 volumes (no date, c.1900); reprint, (Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), ...
, to found an autonomous academy of arts. Prior to this a number of artists were members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, including Cheere and
William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like ...
, or were involved in small-scale private art academies, such as the
St Martin's Lane Academy The St Martin's Lane Academy, a precursor of the Royal Academy, was organised in 1735 by William Hogarth, from the circle of artists and designers who gathered at Slaughter's Coffee House at the upper end of St Martin's Lane, London. The artisti ...
. Although Cheere's attempt failed, the eventual charter, called an 'Instrument', used to establish the Royal Academy of Arts over a decade later was almost identical to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. The success of St Martin's Lane Academy led to the formation of the
Society of Artists of Great Britain The Society of Artists of Great Britain was founded in London in May 1761 by an association of artists in order to provide a venue for the public exhibition of recent work by living artists, such as was having success in the long-established P ...
and the Free Society of Artists.
Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. Bio ...
, a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the
Office of Works The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Reven ...
, used his connections with
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through a personal act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission "to establish a school or academy of design for the use of students in the arts" with an annual exhibition. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of 40. The founder members were Reynolds, John Baker, George Barret,
Francesco Bartolozzi __NOTOC__ Francesco Bartolozzi (21 September 1727, in Florence – 7 March 1815, in Lisbon) was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London. He is noted for popularizing the "crayon" method of engraving. Early life B ...
, Giovanni Battista Cipriani, Augustino Carlini,
Charles Catton Charles Catton RA (1728 in Norwich – 28 August 1798, in London), sometimes referred to as Charles Catton the elder, was a notable English coach painter, landscape, animal and figure painter of the late 18th century, and one of the founder me ...
,
Mason Chamberlin Mason Chamberlin (1727–1787) was an English portrait painter, who was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. He was a student of Francis Hayman. He is perhaps best remembered for his portrait of Benjamin Franklin. Life C ...
, William Chambers,
Francis Cotes Francis Cotes (20 May 1726 – 16 July 1770) was an English painter, one of the pioneers of English pastel painting, and a founding member of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work He was born in London, the eldest son of Robert Cotes, an a ...
, George Dance,
Nathaniel Dance Sir Nathaniel Dance (20 June 1748 – 25 March 1827) was an officer of the East India Company who had a long and varied career on merchant vessels, making numerous voyages to India and back with the fleets of East Indiamen. He was already awar ...
,
Thomas Gainsborough Thomas Gainsborough (14 May 1727 (baptised) – 2 August 1788) was an English portrait and landscape painter, draughtsman, and printmaker. Along with his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds, he is considered one of the most important British artists of ...
, John Gwynn,
Francis Hayman Francis Hayman (1708 – 2 February 1776) was an English painter and illustrator who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and later its first librarian. Life and works Born in Exeter, Devon, Hayman begun his arti ...
,
Nathaniel Hone the Elder Nathaniel Hone (24 April 1718 – 14 August 1784) was an Irish-born portrait and miniature painter, and one of the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Early life The son of a Dublin-based Dutch merchant, Hone moved to Englan ...
, Angelica Kauffman,
Jeremiah Meyer Jeremiah Meyer (born ''Jeremias Majer''; 18 January 1735 – 20 January 1789) was an 18th-century English miniature painter. He was Painter in Miniatures to Queen Charlotte, Painter in Enamels to King George III and was one of the founder me ...
,
George Michael Moser George Michael Moser (17 January 1706 – 24 January 1783) was a renowned artist and enameller of the 18th century, father of celebrated floral painter Mary Moser, and, with his daughter, among the founder members of the Royal Academy in 1 ...
,
Mary Moser Mary Moser (27 October 1744 – 2 May 1819) was an English painter and one of the most celebrated female artists of 18th-century Britain. One of only two female founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 (along with Angelica Kauffman), Mose ...
,
Francis Milner Newton Francis Milner Newton (London 1720 – 14 August 1794 Corfe) was an English portrait painter and first secretary of the Royal Academy. Life Newton was a pupil of Marcus Tuscher, a German artist living in England, and also studied at H ...
,
Edward Penny Edward Penny (1 August 1714 – 16 November 1791) was an English portrait and historical painter, one of the founder members of the Royal Academy. Life He one of the twin elder sons of Robert Penny, surgeon, by Clare, daughter of William Traf ...
,
John Inigo Richards John Inigo Richards (1731– 18 December 1810) was a British landscapist who became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and was secretary to the Academy from 1788 until his death. Life He studied art at the St Martin' ...
,
Paul Sandby Paul Sandby (1731 – 7 November 1809) was an English map-maker turned landscape painter in watercolours, who, along with his older brother Thomas, became one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768. Life and work Sandby was ...
,
Thomas Sandby Thomas Sandby (1721 – 25 June 1798) was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. In 1743 he was appointed private secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, who later appointed him Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, wh ...
,
Dominic Serres Dominic Serres (1722–1793), also known as Dominic Serres the Elder, was a French-born painter strongly associated with the English school of painting, and with paintings with a naval or marine theme. Such were his connections with the Engli ...
, Peter Toms, William Tyler, Samuel Wale,
Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
, Richard Wilson,
Joseph Wilton Joseph Wilton (16 July 1722 – 25 November 1803) was an English sculptor. He was one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768, and the academy's third keeper. His works are particularly numerous memorialising the famous Britons ...
,
Richard Yeo Richard Yeo (ca 1720–1779) was a British medalist and Chief Engraver at the Royal Mint, in which capacity he supplied patterns for the guinea and five guinea coins of George III. He was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Art, and appea ...
,
Francesco Zuccarelli Giacomo Francesco Zuccarelli (commonly known as Francesco Zuccarelli, ; 15 August 1702 – 30 December 1788) RA, was an Italian artist of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He is considered to be the most important landscape painter to hav ...
.
William Hoare William Hoare of Bath (c. 1707 – 12 December 1792) was a British portraitist, painter and printmaker. From c. 1740 to 1759, he was the leading oil portraitist at Bath, Somerset, until Thomas Gainsborough arrived in the town. Noted for his ...
and Johann Zoffany were added to this list by the King in 1769. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall, although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House, then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the
Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...
and designed by Chambers, the Academy's first treasurer. The Academy moved in 1837 to
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
, where it occupied the east wing of the recently completed
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
(designed by another Academician, William Wilkins). These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions. In 1868, 100 years after the Academy's foundation, it moved to Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it remains. The first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as the
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...
, has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. Following the cessation of a similar annual exhibition at the British Institution, the Academy expanded its exhibition programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters in 1870. Britain's first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, as another way to fulfil its mission. Led by Reynolds, the first president, the first program included a lecture by Dr. William Hunter. In 2018, the Academy's 250th anniversary, the results of a major refurbishment were unveiled. The project began on 1 January 2008 with the appointment of David Chipperfield Architects.
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
support was secured in 2012. On 19 October 2016 the RA's
Burlington Gardens Burlington Gardens is a street in central London, on land that was once part of the Burlington Estate. Location The street is immediately to the north of the Royal Academy of Arts and joins Old Bond Street and New Bond Street in the west and ...
site was closed to the public and renovations commenced. Refurbishment work included the restoration of 150 sash windows, glazing upgrades to 52 windows and the installation of two large roof lights. The "New RA" was opened to the public on 19 May 2018. The £56 million development includes new galleries, a lecture theatre, a public project space for students and a bridge linking the Burlington House and Burlington Gardens sites. As part of the process 10,000 works from the RA's collection were digitised and made available online.


Activities


Charitable status

The Royal Academy receives funding from neither the State nor the Crown, and operates as a charity. The RA's home in Burlington House is owned by the UK government and provided to the Academy on a
peppercorn rent In legal parlance, a peppercorn is a metaphor for a very small cash payment or other nominal consideration, used to satisfy the requirements for the creation of a legal contract. It is featured in ''Chappell & Co Ltd v Nestle Co Ltd'' (960AC 87) ...
leasehold of 999 years.


Permanent collection and loans

One of its principal sources of revenue is hosting a programme of temporary loan exhibitions. These are comparable to those at the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, the Tate Gallery and leading art galleries outside the United Kingdom. In 2004 the highlights of the Academy's permanent collection went on display in the newly restored reception rooms of the original section of Burlington House, which are now known as the
John Madejski Sir John Robert Madejski, (; born Robert John Hurst; 28 April 1941) is an English businessman, with commercial interests spanning property, broadcast media, hotels, restaurants, publishing and football. He changed his name when his stepfather, ...
Fine Rooms.


Exhibitions

Under the direction of former exhibitions secretary Sir Norman Rosenthal, the Academy has hosted ambitious exhibitions of contemporary art. In its 1997 "
Sensation Sensation (psychology) refers to the processing of the senses by the sensory system. Sensation or sensations may also refer to: In arts and entertainment In literature * Sensation (fiction), a fiction writing mode * Sensation novel, a Britis ...
," it displayed the collection of work by
Young British Artists The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...
owned by Charles Saatchi. The show was controversial for its display of
Marcus Harvey Marcus Harvey (born 1963 in Leeds) is an English artist and painter, one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). Exhibitions Harvey has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including "The Führer's Cakes" at Galleria Marabini in Bologna ...
's portrait of Myra Hindley, a convicted murderer. The painting was vandalised while on display. In 2004, the Academy attracted media attention for a series of financial scandals and reports of a feud between Rosenthal and other senior staff. These problems resulted in the cancellation of what were expected to have been profitable exhibitions. In 2006, it attracted the press by erroneously placing only the support for a sculpture on display, and then justifying it being kept on display.


Summer exhibition

The Academy also hosts an annual
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, s ...
of new art, which is a well-known event on the London social calendar.
Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
exhibited in the 2005 show. In March 2007 Emin accepted the Academy's invitation to become a Royal Academician, commenting in her weekly newspaper column that, "It doesn't mean that I have become more conformist; it means that the Royal Academy has become more open, which is healthy and brilliant."


Friends programme

In 1977,
Sir Hugh Casson Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect. He was also active as an interior designer, as an artist, and as a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for t ...
founded the Friends of the Royal Academy, a charity designed to provide financial support for the institution.


Literary collaborations

Pin Drop Studio Pin Drop Studio is an arts and entertainment studio founded in 2012 by Simon Oldfield and Elizabeth Day, with a particular focus on short fiction. Pin Drop Studio publishes short fiction, stages an annual short story award for new writing in as ...
hosts live events where well-known authors, actors and thinkers read a short story chosen as a response to the main exhibition programme. The literary evenings are hosted by Pin Drop Studio founder Simon Oldfield. Guests have included Graham Swift,
Sebastian Faulks Sebastian Charles Faulks (born 20 April 1953) is a British novelist, journalist and broadcaster. He is best known for his historical novels set in France – ''The Girl at the Lion d'Or'', '' Birdsong'' and '' Charlotte Gray''. He has also pub ...
,
Lionel Shriver Lionel Shriver (born Margaret Ann Shriver; May 18, 1957) is an American author and journalist who lives in the United Kingdom. Her novel '' We Need to Talk About Kevin'' won the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2005. Early life and education Shriver ...
, William Boyd,
Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...
, Dame
Eileen Atkins Dame Eileen June Atkins, (born 16 June 1934), is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. In 2008, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and the Emmy Aw ...
, Dame
Siân Phillips Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips ( ), is a Welsh actress. She has performed the title roles in Ibsen's ''Hedda Gabler'' and George Bernard Shaw's '' Saint Joan''. Early life Phi ...
, Lisa Dawn and
Ben Okri Ben Okri (born 15 March 1959) is a Nigerian-British poet and novelist.Ben Okri"
British Council, ...
. The RA and Pin Drop Short Story Award is an open submission writing prize, held annually along similar principles of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The award ceremony features a live reading of the winning story in its entirety by a special guest. Past winning stories have been read by
Stephen Fry Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
, Dame Penelope Wilton,
Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actor of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film ''Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leadi ...
and
Gwendoline Christie Gwendoline Tracey Philippa Christie (born 28 October 1978) is an English actress who is best known for portraying Brienne of Tarth in the HBO fantasy-drama series ''Game of Thrones'' (2012–2019). She is also widely known for her role the Fir ...
.


Presidents and officers

On 10 December 2019,
Rebecca Salter Rebecca Salter (born 1955) is a British abstract artist who lives and works in London. Previously elected Keeper in 2017, she was elected as the first female President of the Royal Academy of Arts in London on 10 December 2019. Formerly a ceramic ...
was elected the first female President of the Royal Academy on the retirement of Sir
Christopher Le Brun Sir Christopher Mark Le Brun PPRA (born 1951) is a British artist, known primarily as a painter. He was President of the Royal Academy of Arts from the time of his election in 2011 to December 2019. Le Brun was knighted in the 2021 New Yea ...
. In September 2007, Sir Charles Saumarez Smith became Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, a newly created post. Saumarez Smith stepped down from the role at the end of 2018, and it was announced that Axel Rüger, director of the
Van Gogh Museum The Van Gogh Museum () is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw. The museum opene ...
in Amsterdam, would fill the position from June 2019.


Royal Academy Schools

The Royal Academy Schools form the oldest art school in Britain, and have been an integral part of the Royal Academy of Arts since its foundation in 1768. A key principle of the RA Schools is that their three-year post graduate programme is free of charge to every applicant offered a place. The Royal Academy Schools was the first institution to provide professional training for artists in Britain. The Schools' programme of formal training was modelled on that of the French
Académie de peinture et de sculpture An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
, founded by
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...
in 1648. It was shaped by the precepts laid down by Sir Joshua Reynolds. In his fifteen ''Discourses'' delivered to pupils in the Schools between 1769 and 1790, Reynolds stressed the importance of copying the Old Masters, and of drawing from casts after the Antique and from the life model. He argued that such a training would form artists capable of creating works of high moral and artistic worth. Professorial chairs were founded in Chemistry, Anatomy, Ancient History and Ancient Literature, the latter two being held initially by Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith. In 1769, the first year of operation, the Schools enrolled 77 students. By 1830 over 1,500 students had enrolled in the Schools, giving an average intake of 25 students each year. They included men such as
John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several ye ...
, J. M. W. Turner,
John Soane Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the R ...
,
Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 175721 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social an ...
,
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
,
Thomas Lawrence Sir Thomas Lawrence (13 April 1769 – 7 January 1830) was an English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. A child prodigy, he was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at ...
, Decimus Burton, John Constable,
George Hayter Sir George Hayter (17 December 1792 – 18 January 1871) was an English painter, specialising in portraits and large works involving in some cases several hundred individual portraits. Queen Victoria appreciated his merits and appointed Hayter h ...
,
David Wilkie David Wilkie may refer to: * David Wilkie (artist) (1785–1841), Scottish painter * David Wilkie (surgeon) (1882–1938), British surgeon, scientist and philanthropist * David Wilkie (footballer) (1914–2011), Australian rules footballer * David ...
,
William Etty William Etty (10 March 1787 – 13 November 1849) was an English artist best known for his history paintings containing nude (art), nude figures. He was the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes. Born in York, h ...
,
Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the bas ...
, and Charles Lucy in 1838. The first woman to enrol as a student of the Schools was
Laura Herford Anne Laura Herford (1831–1870) was a British artist in the early 19th century, and in 1860, was the first woman to be admitted to the Royal Academy schools. Her career was relatively short, but during that time she exhibited at the Royal Academ ...
in 1860.
Charles Sims Charles Sims may refer to: * Charles Sims (painter) (1873–1928), British painter * Charles Sims (mathematician) (1938–2017), American mathematician * Charles Sims (aviator) (1899–1929), British World War I flying ace * Charles Sims (American ...
was expelled from the Schools in 1895. The Royal Academy made Sir
Francis Newbolt Sir Francis George Newbolt KC FCS (21 November 1863 - 5 December 1940) was a British barrister, judge, etcher and writer. He was the Recorder of Doncaster between 1916 and 1920, and the Official Referee for the Supreme Court between 1920 and 1 ...
the first Honorary Professor of Law in 1928. In 2011
Tracey Emin Tracey Karima Emin, CBE, RA (; born 3 July 1963) is a British artist known for her autobiographical and confessional artwork. Emin produces work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, film, photography, neon text and ...
was appointed Professor of Drawing, and
Fiona Rae Fiona Rae (born 10 October 1963) is a Hong Kong-born British artist. She is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who rose to prominence in the 1990s. Throughout her career, she has been known for having a portfolio of work that includes ele ...
was appointed Professor of Painting – the first women professors to be appointed in the history of the Academy. Emin was succeeded by
Michael Landy Michael Landy (born 1963) is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs). He is best known for the performance piece installation '' Break Down'' (2001), in which he destroyed all his possessions, and for the ''Art Bin'' project (2010) at the ...
, and then
David Remfry David Remfry (born 1942 in Worthing, England) is a British painter and curator. He was the Eranda Professor of Drawing at the Royal Academy Schools from 2016 - 2018 and a Judge for the Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award 2021. In ...
in 2016 while Rae was succeeded by
Chantal Joffe Chantal Joffe (born 5 October 1969) is an American-born English artist based in London.Royal Academy of ArtsChantal Joffe RA Elect , Artist , Royal Academy of Arts accessdate: 29/08/2014 Her often large-scale paintings generally depict women ...
in January 2016.


Library, archive, and collections

The first president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, gave his noted self-portrait, beginning the Royal Academy collection. This was followed by gifts from other founding members, such as Gainsborough and
Benjamin West Benjamin West, (October 10, 1738 – March 11, 1820) was a British-American artist who painted famous historical scenes such as '' The Death of Nelson'', ''The Death of General Wolfe'', the '' Treaty of Paris'', and '' Benjamin Franklin Drawin ...
. Subsequently, each elected Member was required to donate an artwork (known as a "Diploma Work") typical of his or her artistic output, and this practice continues today. Additional donations and purchases have resulted in a collection of approximately a thousand paintings and a thousand sculptures, which show the development of a British School of art. The Academy's collection of works on paper includes significant holdings of drawings and sketchbooks by artists working in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards, including George Romney,
Lord Leighton Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton, (3 December 1830 – 25 January 1896), known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was a British painter, draughtsman, and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subje ...
and
Dame Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight ( Johnson; 4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressi ...
. The photographic collection consists of photographs of Academicians, landscapes, architecture and works of art. Holdings include early portraits by William Lake Price dating from the 1850s, portraits by
David Wilkie Wynfield David Wilkie Wynfield (1837 – 26 May 1887) was a British painter and photographer. Wynfield was distantly related to the Scottish artist David Wilkie (artist), David Wilkie, after whom he was named. Born in India, he was originally inten ...
and
Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...
's ''Animal Locomotion'' (1872–85).


Wall and ceiling paintings

Among the paintings decorating the walls and ceilings of the building are those of Benjamin West and Angelica Kauffman, in the entrance hall (Hutchison 1968, p. 153), moved from the previous building at Somerset House. In the centre is West's roundel ''The Graces Unveiling Nature'', c. 1779, surrounded by panels depicting the elements, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. At each end are mounted two of Kauffman's circular paintings, ''Composition'' at the west end, and ''Painting or Colour'' and ''Genius or Invention'' at the east end.


Michelangelo's ''Taddei Tondo''

The most prized possession of the Academy's collection is Michelangelo's ''
Taddei Tondo The ''Taddei Tondo'' or ''The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John'' is a marble relief tondo (circular composition) of the Madonna and Child and the infant Saint John the Baptist, by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti ...
'', left to the Academy by Sir George Beaumont. The Tondo is usually on display in the Collection Gallery, which opened in May 2018. Carved in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...
in 1504–06, it is the only marble by Michelangelo in the United Kingdom and represents the
Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
and child with the infant
St John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
.


War memorials

In the entrance portico are two war memorials. One is in memory of the students of the Royal Academy Schools who fell in World War I and the second commemorates the 2,003 men of the Artists Rifles who gave their lives in that war with a further plaque to those who died in World War II.


Membership

Membership of the Royal Academy is composed of up to 80 practising artists, each elected by ballot of the General Assembly of the Royal Academy, and known individually as Royal Academicians (RA). The Royal Academy is governed by these Royal Academicians. The 1768 Instrument of Foundation allowed total membership of the Royal Academy to be 40 artists. Originally engravers were completely excluded from the academy, but at the beginning of 1769 the category of Associate-Engraver was created. Their number was limited to six, and unlike other associates, they could not be promoted to full academicians. In 1853 membership of the Academy was increased to 42, and opened to engravers. In 1922, 154 years after the founding of the Royal Academy, Annie Swynnerton became the first woman Associate of the Royal Academy.Hutchison, Sidney."The History of the Royal Academy, 1768–1968" Taplinger Publishing Company, 1968


See also

* 6 Burlington Gardens *
Cork Street Cork Street is a street in Mayfair in the West End of London, England, with many contemporary art galleries, and was previously associated with the tailoring industry. It is part of the Burlington Estate, which was developed from the 18th centu ...
, behind the Royal Academy, with many art galleries *
List of Royal Academicians Lists of artists, Royal Academicians Lists of members of learned societies, Royal Academicians Royal Academicians, ...
*
Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition progr ...
* :Royal Academicians


References


Sources

* *


Further reading

* * George Dunlop Leslie:
The inner life of the Royal Academy, with an account of its schools and exhibitions principally in the reign of Queen Victoria
' (London: John Murray, 1914)
''The History of the Royal Academy 1768–1968'', Sidney C. Hutchison, Taplinger, NY, 1968
*


External links

* – official website * – official website {{Authority control 1768 establishments in Great Britain Academies of arts Art museums and galleries in London Art museums established in 1768 Art schools in London Art societies Arts organizations established in the 18th century Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Education in the City of Westminster Learned societies of the United Kingdom Museums in the City of Westminster Organizations established in 1768 Piccadilly