The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
, founded in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...
in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became independent as the
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between the ...
in December 1922.
History
The RHA was founded as the result of 30 Irish artists petitioning the government for a charter of incorporation. According to the letters patent of 5 August 1823, The Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture was established, which included a National School of Art. The first elected president was the landscape painter,
William Ashford. In 1824
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
Francis Johnston was made president. He had provided headquarters for the RHA at Academy House in Lower
Abbey Street
Abbey Street () is located on Dublin's Northside, running from the Customs House and Store Street in the east to Capel Street in the west. The street is served by two Luas light rail stops, one at the Jervis shopping centre and the other ne ...
at his own expense. The first exhibitions took place in May 1825 and were held annually from then on. To encourage interest in the arts works displayed at the RHA were distributed by lot as prizes among subscribers. Works by
Frederick William Burton,
Daniel Maclise
Daniel Maclise (25 January 180625 April 1870) was an Irish history painter, literary and portrait painter, and illustrator, who worked for most of his life in London, England.
Early life
Maclise was born in Cork, Ireland, the son of Alexan ...
,
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...
and
David Wilkie David Wilkie may refer to:
* David Wilkie (artist)
Sir David Wilkie (18 November 1785 – 1 June 1841) was a Scottish painter, especially known for his genre scenes. He painted successfully in a wide variety of genres, including historical s ...
, among others, were presented in this way. The exhibitions and school prospered and by the end of the 19th century the RHA was the leading Irish institution involved in promoting
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 arts a ...
. Academy House was destroyed by fire in 1916 during the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the ...
; over 500 pieces of art, including from artists
Jack Butler Yeats
Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish artist and Olympic medalist. W. B. Yeats was his brother.
Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pi ...
,
Madeline Green and
John Lavery
Sir John Lavery (20 March 1856 – 10 January 1941) was a Northern Irish painter best known for his portraits and wartime depictions.
Life and career
John Lavery was born in inner North Belfast, baptised at St Patrick's Church, Belfast a ...
, were lost.
In the middle of the twentieth century, the RHA was seen as reactionary, hindering the development of modernism in Ireland and the Irish Exhibition of Living Art was founded in 1943 to challenge the RHA's own exhibition policies . This has changed since the 1990s,
Louis le Brocquy
__NOTOC__
Louis le Brocquy ''HRHA'' (; 10 November 1916 – 25 April 2012) was an Irish painter born in Dublin to Albert and Sybil le Brocquy. His work received many accolades in a career that spanned some seventy years of creative practice ...
one of the founders of the Irish Exhibition of Living Art was a member of the Honorary Council of the Academy and the RHA's own mission statement states that it is dedicated to developing, affirming and challenging the public's appreciation and understanding of traditional and innovative approaches to the visual arts. The gallery is now one of the premier contemporary Art spaces in Ireland, exhibiting a wide range of contemporary art practice in its annual programmes while respecting traditional art forms.
In the 1970s the RHA constructed a new building in
Ely Place
Ely Place is a gated road of multi-storey terraces at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. It hosts a 1773-rebuilt public house, Ye Olde Mitre, of Tudor origin and is adjacent to Hatton Garden.
It is private ...
in Dublin. This building replaced the gallery's previous premises, a Victorian house that had been home to
Oliver St. John Gogarty
Oliver Joseph St. John Gogarty (17 August 1878 – 22 September 1957) was an Irish poet, author, otolaryngologist, athlete, politician, and well-known conversationalist. He served as the inspiration for Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's novel ...
. This was demolished and the property developer,
Matt Gallagher, agreed to build a modern gallery on the site for the RHA. After the sudden death of Gallagher in January 1974, it emerged that he had left no provision in his will for the completion of the gallery. The building lay unfinished for a number of years before it was completed. The building was closed between 2007 and 2009 for renovations. This building houses six galleries; here the Academy mounts the annual exhibition. In addition, the Academy curates frequent exhibitions and frequently is responsible for major retrospectives of the work of
Irish artists
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
. The Academy has a large collection of Irish art, but this is not on display.
In 2009 the RHA refounded its school, the RHA drawing school. In Ely Place it has a large drawing studio and 6 studios which are available to artists through open submissions. Other studios are also administered by the school, such as the Tony O'Malley residency in Kilkenny. It runs TUD accredited courses (since 2018) in Painting and drawing techniques delivered by a faculty made up of Academy members and others artists. Current tutors are Colin Martin RHA (principal),
Mick O'Dea
Mick O'Dea (born 1958) is an Irish artist best known as a painter of portraits and historical subjects.
The second-youngest of five children, O'Dea grew up in Ennis, County Clare, the son of Mick and Margaret O'Dea. He displayed talent for port ...
PPRHA, Una Sealy RHA, Blaise Smith RHA, Geraldine O'Neill RHA, Sahoko Blake,
Conor Walton, Raphael Hynes and Sean Molloy among others. It also holds workshops with international tutors and self-directed life-drawing sessions.
The Academy is funded by: the
Arts Council of Ireland
The Arts Council (sometimes called the Arts Council of Ireland; legally ga, An Chomhairle Ealaíon) is the independent "Irish government agency for developing the arts."
About
It was established in 1951 by the Government of Ireland, to encour ...
(An Chomhairle Ealaíon), through revenue from its Annual Exhibition, and from Benefactors, Patrons and Friends of the Academy.
Selected exhibitions
The RHA has held an annual exhibition – an open submission art show – since 1826. It is "the largest in Ireland and the longest-running".
FUTURES (originally EuroJet Futures) is an ongoing series of exhibitions featuring selected emerging artists from Ireland. It began in 2001 and has had three series – each with annual exhibitions. Additionally each series has had an 'anthology' presenting all of the artists from that series together.
See also
*
Irish art
The history of Irish art starts around 3200 BC with Neolithic stone carvings at the Newgrange megalithic tomb, part of the Brú na Bóinne complex which still stands today, County Meath. In early-Bronze Age Ireland there is evidence of Beaker cul ...
* Current RHA members and membership procedures http://www.rhagallery.ie/about/members/
References
Further reading
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External links
* http://www.rhagallery.ie/
{{authority control
Art museums and galleries in the Republic of Ireland
Learned societies of Ireland
Museums in Dublin (city)
Academies of arts
1823 in art
1823 establishments in Ireland
Organizations established in 1823