Articles
RA Magazine
Inside the Academy
6 days ago
A love letter to the gallery gift shop
Alexandra Harris tracks our enduring love affair with gallery gift shops, from eighteenth-century tea cups to postcards in space.
RA Exhibitions
9 days ago
Painting the town: Florence in 1504
Discover the political and cultural landscape of Florence at the turn of the 16th century, when Renaissance masters Michelangelo, Leonardo, and Raphael worked in the city.
RA Exhibitions
18 days ago
Moving a masterpiece
Our Senior Registrar, Edwina Mulvany, describes the delicate process of moving Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo.
Inside the Academy
1 month ago
The future of architecture: meet the RA Dorfman Prize 2024 nominees
Meet the four nominees for this year’s RA Dorfman Prize, which celebrates international architects reimagining the future of architecture.
Artists
2 months ago
In memoriam: Norman Ackroyd RA
Ian Ritchie RA pays tribute to a master etcher whose travels at sea inspired his beautiful evocations of the British isles.
Opinion
2 months ago
5 of the best uses of colour in art and culture
We asked contributors to the RA Magazine about their favourite uses of colour in art and culture. Here’s what they told us.
Artists
2 months ago
In memoriam: Timothy Hyman RA
Hisham Matar on the artist’s passion for figuration, friendship and a life of the mind.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Michael Craig-Martin: living colour
Michael Craig-Martin RA speaks to Ravi Ghosh about why objects became his obsession, ahead of his colourful retrospective in our Main Galleries.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Visions from Ukraine
Discover the revolutions and experimentation that shaped 20th century Ukrainian art.
Inside the Academy
6 months ago
10 RA Schools stories through the centuries
Mark Hampson tells the stories of some of the former students of the RA Schools, from its inception in 1769 to the present day.
Artists
7 months ago
In memoriam: Mick Moon RA
Christopher Le Brun PPRA remembers the painter’s generosity as a mentor and his inspirational independence as an artist.
Inside the Academy
8 months ago
Making Space
Meet the artists and teachers behind Making Space, a new project at the RA that provides creative and professional support to eight learning-disabled and neurodivergent artists.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Crunch: inside the first Architecture Window display
Will Jennings meets architecture graduates in the RA’s display ‘Crunch’ who are repurposing and reimagining building materials.
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
Why is Flaming June iconic?
Flaming June is one of the most reproduced images in Victorian painting. What makes an artwork seize the public imagination in ways that give it a life far larger than its own?
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
India and diaspora
Critic Ravi Ghosh meets two contemporary artists whose works address the legacies of Britain’s domination of India.
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
Bernardine Evaristo on the role of the artist
The award-winning novelist examines why contemporary artists of all disciplines are addressing imperial history in new ways.
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
Clothing, power and portraiture
Historian Richard Drayton decodes the potent messages behind the clothing worn in late 18th-century portraits.
Artists
10 months ago
In memoriam: Joe Tilson RA
Michael Craig-Martin RA pays tribute to an influential and generous artist, who was a prime mover in Britain’s Pop art scene.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
The meteoric rise of Angelica Kauffman RA
Historian Jenny Uglow tells the story of how Angelica Kauffman became a founding Member of the RA and one of the most revered artists in Georgian Britain.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
A History of Performance Art
With Marina Abramović taking over the Main Galleries at the RA, we look at some other artists who have shaped the history of performance art.
Inside the Academy
1 year ago
Hockney vs Ramsey, Scorsese on Caravaggio and Joffe in lockdown: the RA Magazine at 40
Our magazine turns 40 this autumn. Editor Sam Phillips looks back through the archive to pick out his highlights from the past four decades.
Opinion
1 year ago
RA Architecture Prize Winner 2023: Shane de Blacam
Shane de Blacam’s former student, critic Shane O’Toole, celebrates the architect’s thoughtful transformation of public places across his home country of Ireland.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
“I only do something if I’m afraid of it, because that’s the whole point” – an interview with Marina Abramović
In this long-read, performance art pioneer Marina Abramović speaks to Sinéad Gleeson from her New York home, ahead of her long-awaited show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Introducing Bêka & Lemoine
Edwin Heathcote meets the architectural filmmakers whose documentary of life in a rehabilitation centre is featured in the RA’s Herzog & de Meuron show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Herzog & de Meuron: at home and abroad
From London’s Tate Modern to Beijing’s Bird’s Nest stadium, Herzog & de Meuron’s buildings are world-renowned – yet their biggest impact has been on their home city of Basel, discovers Tim Abrahams as the RA celebrates their extraordinary architecture.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
How does the RA judge art by children?
The RA’s primary school panel talks with Louise Benson about the process behind assessing the thousands of entries for this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
RA Schools Show 2023: Nancy Allen
In Deptford Market, Nancy Allen searches for objects she can transform in her sculptural work.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
RA Schools Show 2023: Louis Morlæ
During the pandemic, Louis Morlæ taught himself how to make a virtual world from scratch and created a nightclub as an antidote to an infectious world.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
RA Schools Show 2023: Motunrayo Akinola
While training in a martial arts gym in Islington, Motunrayo Akinola explains how art and fighting require the same discipline.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
RA Schools Show 2023: Anna Higgins
In St James’s Piccadilly, Anna Higgins finds solace within the walls of a Wren church, where William Blake – a favourite artist and a former student at the Schools – was baptised.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Double Edged
Writer Gary Younge visits ‘Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South’ and asks how its lessons might be brought closer to home.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Summer Exhibition co-ordinator David Remfry RA on this year’s show
Summer Exhibition 2023 co-ordinator David Remfry RA tells James Cahill about his colourful career in London and New York, and reveals highlights of this year’s show.
Artists
> 1 year ago
In memoriam: Tom Phillips RA
Remembering the life, career, studio, and artworks of Tom Phillips, as recalled by his friend, the editor and publisher Nick Tite.
Artists
> 1 year ago
What’s on my art agenda: Isaac Julien RA
As he prepares for his solo show at Tate Britain, the pioneering filmmaker and installation artist reveals his current cultural interests.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Like ancient, dusky rivers
As we prepare to open ‘Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers: Black Artists from the American South’, writer Yinka Elujoba reflects on the extraordinary creativity of some works in the show.
Our Collection
> 1 year ago
Creative inspiration today from the first President of the Royal Academy
The RA’s founding President Joshua Reynolds may have shaken up the art world when he delivered his ‘Discourses’ lectures, but are they still relevant now? We take a closer look at what artists and art-lovers can learn from the series today.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Inside the Hispanic Society Museum & Library
As the RA unveils the Hispanic Society Museum & Library’s collection for the first time in Britain, Xavier Bray visits its atmospheric home in New York.
RA Recommends
2 years ago
Inside Lord Leighton PRA’s masterpiece-filled home
One of the most beautiful houses in London has reopened to the public. Here, Simon Wilson writes that the Former President of the Royal Academy’s home is a testament to his artistic vision.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Meet the artist: Käthe Kollwitz
The Berlin-based artist’s profound compassion and expressive depictions of those suffering were rooted in first-hand experience.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Meet the artist: Paula Modersohn-Becker
Torn between domestic life and the studio, the German painter portrayed women in a startling new light.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Meet the artist: Gabriele Münter
A founder member of the Blue Rider, the art group at the heart of German Expressionism, Münter developed a spontaneous painting method that captured the essence of things.
Artists
2 years ago
In the studio with Hew Locke RA
The new Royal Academician, renowned for his seafaring sculptures, invites Rosanna McLaughlin aboard his London space.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Milton Avery: conversations with colour
As the RA mounts the first major survey show of American artist Milton Avery in Europe, Kelly Grovier traces his career – from his artistic roots in American Impressionism to kinship with Abstract Expressionists including Mark Rothko – and Avery’s lifelong obsession with colour.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
“Many of your students will become better artists than you”: an art teacher on what her pupils have taught her
As we prepare to open this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show, we asked schoolteacher Stephanie Cubbin what her art students have taught her about taking risks, sharing, and independence.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Meet four artists in the RA Schools Show 2022
As the Royal Academy Schools Class of 2022 open up their studios for their final show, they reflect on how the building – from its Mayfair location to its crumbling corners – has influenced their practice.
Artists
> 2 years ago
Five minutes with Ryan Gander RA
From a striking coastal sculpture to a life-size betting shop made entirely of glass, artist Ryan Gander RA’s practice is brilliantly varied. Get to know the life and work of the newly elected Royal Academician.
RA Recommends
> 2 years ago
10 novels about art you won’t put down
For all your summer reading needs, we’ve picked 10 contemporary novels inspired by art and artists. Escape to the studios of 1970s New York, the courts of 15th-century Paris, or the deathbed of Francis Bacon…
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Whistler’s whites: creating presence with a pared down palette
The colour white can be as challenging for the painter as the blank white sheet of paper is for the writer. Ian McKeever RA reflects on James McNeill Whistler’s ability to create form using one of the most elusive colours.
RA Recommends
> 2 years ago
10 artist movies and docs to watch on Netflix, Amazon Prime and more
When you can’t go to the art, let the art come to you. Here’s our pick of the best artist biopics and documentaries available to stream.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Wilkie Collins, Whistler and the Victorian craze for women in white
We’ve filled our galleries with Whistler, Klimt, and Rossetti’s paintings of women wearing white gowns, but what started this trend in the 1860s? Professor Lara Feigel explores the literary origins of this aesthetic moment.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
On safari with Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon’s family links with Africa and his enduring friendship with photographer Peter Beard drew the artist’s eye to the animal kingdom and its killing grounds, writes Philip Hoare.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
The fantastical world of John Hejduk and the ‘Widow’s House’
An ambitious architectural installation is coming to the RA. Here, Kester Rattenbury sheds light on American architect John Hejduk and his visionary constructions.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Kawanabe Kyōsai: the demon with a brush
Kyōsai blurred the divide between the popular and elite art of 19th-century Japan. Christopher Harding introduces the master of satirical and traditional painting as a rare collection of Kyōsai’s art comes to the RA.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Jock McFadyen RA: postcards from a post-apocalyptic future
Far from evoking the past, Jock McFadyen RA’s eerie paintings imagine a dystopian future, writes Matthew Beaumont, as he prepares to meet the artist for his RA show, ‘Tourist without a Guidebook’.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
“To be a good model, you have to give yourself up”: Celia Paul on Joanna Hiffernan and sitting for Lucian Freud
Ahead of our exhibition exploring James McNeill Whistler and Joanna Hiffernan’s relationship, Celia Paul, artist and sitter for Lucian Freud, meditates on what it takes to be painted.
Artists
< 3 years ago
In memoriam: Phillip King PRA
Painter Paul Huxley RA and sculptor William Tucker RA pay tribute to the former President of the RA who expanded the language of 20th century sculpture.
Artists
< 3 years ago
Starr Fellow Kevin Gallagher on Rodin, rural Illinois, and his RA Schools residency
The Starr Fellowship provides a bursary and a studio at the RA Schools for a U.S. artist to develop their practice – we met 2021 Starr Fellow Kevin Gallagher.
RA Recommends
< 3 years ago
Filmmaker Horace Ové’s powerful depictions of 1970s Black British life
Horace Ové’s work has influenced John Akomfrah RA, Isaac Julien RA and countless others. Ahead of Tate Modern’s group show, ‘Life Between Islands: Caribbean-British Art 1950s-Now’, artist Hurvin Anderson looks back at Ové’s films and the stories they tell.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Linton Kwesi Johnson on poetry as an act of resistance
Yinka Shonibare RA invited the renowned Brixton-based reggae poet Linton Kwesi Johnson to bring his powerful words to the Summer Exhibition. Caleb Azumah Nelson sits down with him to discuss the poetry of resistance.
RA Recommends
< 3 years ago
Lubaina Himid’s five must-read books by artists
Ahead of her Tate Modern show, Lubaina Himid RA selects artists in print whose words she admires.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
The truth in Francis Bacon’s work
Ahead of the exhibition ‘Francis Bacon: Man and Beast’ Jenny Saville RA reflects on the profound impact Bacon has had on her life and work.
RA Recommends
3 years ago
Laura Knight RA’s compelling Gypsy paintings
Poet Sasha Dugdale reflects on Laura Knight RA’s evocative Gypsy portraits ahead of a major retrospective of the artist’s work in Milton Keynes.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
John Constable’s last decade
Constable didn’t know he was entering his ‘late’ period, but in the last ten years of his life he sought truth in nature, and created landscapes infused with timeless imagination.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Hélène Binet’s otherworldly photographs
As Hélène Binet’s enigmatic photographs of buildings go on show at the RA, Fiona Maddocks asks the artist about the meeting between light and line, and mood and memory in her works.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Appetite and decay: the animal instincts in Bacon’s paintings
Author Colm Tóibín traces the conflation of the animal and human condition in 20th-century art and literature.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Behind the scenes of the 2021 Summer Exhibition
This year, Yinka Shonibare RA is putting marginalised voices at the heart of the Summer Exhibition. Here, Kadish Morris explores the vision and art for this year’s show.
Artists
3 years ago
Nature and myth in art
Author, classicist and comedian, Natalie Haynes, explores the theme of nature in classical mythology, from Bernini and Giambattista Tiepolo, to John William Waterhouse RA.
Opinion
> 3 years ago
Covid and the comfort of nature
Psychiatrist Sue Stuart-Smith on how the seasons affect us all.
RA Recommends
> 3 years ago
Eight shows to see in Sussex this summer
From artists’ abodes to land art on Beachy Head, the beautiful south is a cultural hotspot this summer.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Ali Smith on David Hockney and the poetry of spring
From Virgil’s ‘Georgics’ to T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Waste Land’, novelist Ali Smith explores the spirit of spring in poetry
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Meet three artists in the RA Schools Show 2021
From PVC-clad performance art to site-specific sculptural interventions, the work of RA Schools students has thrived despite the pandemic. Charlotte Jansen meets three of the artists as they prepare their long-planned final-year show.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
“I love drawing”: David Hockney on iPad painting and finding joy in spring
David Hockney spent lockdown capturing spring arriving in Normandy. Here, he reflects on how technology has transformed his practice
RA Recommends
> 3 years ago
10 art shows to see this May
Art is back. Celebrate the return of galleries and fill your diaries with some of the best exhibitions from across the country.
Artists
> 3 years ago
In the studio with Michael Armitage
Tristan McConnell reports from the Nairobi studio of RA Schools alumnus, Michael Armitage, whose solo exhibition at the Royal Academy is due to open May 2021.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
David Hockney: to Normandy via Yorkshire
Edith Devaney, curator of our upcoming David Hockney exhibition, explores how the artist harnessed springtime to explore the drama of nature, the process of grief – and the power of hope.
Artists
> 3 years ago
“Like a portrait painter with their sitters, I have the feeling of a real relationship with the flowers I paint”
100-year-old artist Diana Armfield RA writes about the joy of painting the flowers in her garden.
RA Recommends
> 3 years ago
Ruth Asawa: the pioneering American sculptor you need to know
This International Women’s Day, we celebrate an artist once dismissed as a “San Francisco Housewife” who refused to see parenthood as an obstacle.
Artists
< 4 years ago
John Akomfrah RA on his artistic roots, upcoming London show, and being left-handed
Newly elected Royal Academician, John Akomfrah, has been exploring Black British life since the ‘80s. He tells us about being slammed in the press by Salman Rushdie and his love of Virginia Woolf.
Artists
< 4 years ago
In the studio with Joy Labinjo
Joy Labinjo is quietly changing the course of art history from a small studio in south London. Writer Fiona Maddocks meets Labinjo to discuss her ambitious paintings, and the next steps in her career.
RA Recommends
< 4 years ago
Jennifer Packer’s intimate portraits of Black lives
As the first major European show of Packer’s work opens, Aruna D’Souza celebrates the painter’s powerful repurposing of art historical tradition.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
Tracey Emin’s lifelong affinity with Edvard Munch
As the Royal Academy brings Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch’s work together, Jennifer Higgie, host of ‘Bow Down: Women in Art History’ podcast, asks Emin what makes them kindred spirits.
RA Recommends
4 years ago
How Sunil Gupta captured the hidden experience of gay men in Delhi
As a retrospective of the photographer opens in London, Theo Gordon focuses on a pivotal series that commented on gay experience in 1980s Delhi.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
3 young artists on getting into the Young Artists’ Summer Show
Imogen West-Knights catches up with three young creatives as they prepare to exhibit in this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
Lockdown and luxury: the court of James I
Although his accession to the English throne was marred by plague, the Scottish Stuart brought with him vibrant art and culture, says Clare Jackson.
Inside the Academy
> 4 years ago
It takes two: collaboration in the RA Schools
No artist is an island, as Charlotte Jansen found when she met students and their mentors at the RA’s art school.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Cézanne and his love affair with the rocks of Provence
Curator Ann Dumas digs into how Paul Cézanne’s Provençal landscapes broke new ground with their blend of art and geology.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
In the footsteps of Hampstead’s modernists
Hampstead in the 1930s was populated with modernist artists and architects. As Caroline Maclean gives a tour of the area, look out for the reference numbers on our illustrated map below.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
Charles Jones and his vegetable portraiture
A chance find in a market unearthed a bumper crop of early photographs by Charles Jones that are now art-historical treasures. Felix Bazalgette samples the artist-gardener’s rich pickings.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Rana Begum: “My work is a release, allowing me to feel calm.”
Rana Begum RA discusses moving studios during a pandemic, its impact on her creative process and how having the children at home has introduced some new qualities into her work.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Author Tessa Hadley on how we carry art around in our mind
While in lockdown Tessa Hadley pays a visit to her inner National Gallery, contemplating recollections of one of her favourite Renaissance altarpieces, Jacopo Di Cioni’s ‘Coronation of the Virgin’.
RA Recommends
> 4 years ago
9 art podcasts to keep you inspired during lockdown
Plug in your headphones, sit back and relax with one of these podcasts, transporting you into the art world from the comfort of your front room.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Woodwork: how does it work?
The centuries-old techniques of woodcut and wood engraving are alive and well today, holding an enduring appeal for contemporary artists. But what are these processes and what is the difference? Fiona Maddocks investigates.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Mussolini and the Royal Academy: a 90-year-old controversy
In 1930, the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance drew half a million visitors to the Academy. But there was a darker, political undercurrent to this blockbuster show, explains Katherine Jane Alexander…
RA Recommends
> 4 years ago
9 virtual exhibition tours to watch online
Galleries and museums might be closed but you can still see major exhibitions from around the world, while swapping the crowds for a cuppa. We pick some of the best virtual tours and artworks currently available online.
Opinion
> 4 years ago
Quilting from the Deep South: a lesson in creativity your way
Rooted in folk traditions, quilts from the Alabama hamlet of Gee’s Bend have long been prized by museums in the States. Now, their unbounded creativity has arrived in the UK.
RA Recommends
> 4 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in March
From Titian to photos of Thatcher-era Gateshead, here’s our pick of the exhibitions across the UK we think you should see in March. And don’t you dare say you’re too busy.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
The visionary collector behind the Ordrupgaard Collection
Not every collector’s story ends happily. Novelist Sarah Dunant charts the bumpy tale behind Wilhelm Hansen’s treasured collection of Impressionist paintings, which go on display at the RA this spring.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Four artists on their favourite Impressionist paintings in the Ordrupgaard Collection
The Impressionists are renowned for their enduring scenes of people and places, whether energetic seascapes or portraits of young women. Four artists – Hughie O‘Donoghue RA, Maggi Hambling, Ishbel Myerscough and Mali Morris RA – describe works that resonate with them in our upcoming exhibition ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists’.
RA Recommends
< 5 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in February
From Linder’s radical feminist collages and Grayson Perry’s early pots, to the Barbican’s blockbuster survey of masculinity, here are 10 exhibitions you won’t want to miss.
RA Recommends
< 5 years ago
10 exhibitions worth travelling to in 2020
From the largest-ever assemblage of works by Jan van Eyck, to the unveiling of the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum, 2020 promises to bring into focus some of the finest achievements in cultural history.
RA Recommends
< 5 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in December
Come in from the cold this December with our recommended picks of exhibitions to see across the UK.
RA Recommends
5 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in November
From David Bomberg’s fascination with the Old Masters to Kiki Smith’s first solo show in the UK, here are 10 exhibitions not to miss this November.
Artists
5 years ago
Reflecting on Hogarth’s political prints from Brexit Britain
William Hogarth revelled in the vanity and corruption of London’s rakes and harlots. But his Comic History paintings also draw sobering parallels with Britain’s political climate today, writes Simon Wilson.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
Behind the scenes of our Antony Gormley exhibition
Six tonnes of steel mesh, eight kilometres of coiled tubing, a gallery flooded with sea water and a body that can be walked through: this autumn Antony Gormley RA transforms the Academy’s Main Galleries into a sequence of experiences that challenge the viewer. The show’s co-curator takes us behind the scenes.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
Lucian Freud in five self-portraits
From the focused, linear depictions in his early works, to the triumphant naked portrait painted at the top of his game, Lucian Freud’s self-portraits are a testament to the artist’s indefatigable journey. Friend and art critic Martin Gayford selects five works from our forthcoming exhibition ‘Lucian Freud: The Self-portraits’.
RA Recommends
> 5 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in July
From Bridget Riley and the dazzling canvases of the Op-Art movement, to the culinary artefacts of the ancient world, here 10 shows across the UK that we recommend this month.
Opinion
> 5 years ago
“Schools are failing our children. The solution lies in art education.”
As art-making is ebbed out of schools across the country, we overlook the skills it delivers – strengths that should be the envy of “proper” academic education, says Michael Craig-Martin.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Exploring this year’s Summer Exhibition with coordinator Jock McFadyen RA
Feeling overwhelmed by all the art to see in this year’s Summer Exhibition? Here’s some guidance from poet and art critic Kelly Grovier, who met with the show’s coordinator to discuss its themes before selecting his own standout works to see.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Artist Ian McKeever RA on the raw power of Helene Schjerfbeck’s self-portraits
As we introduce the Finnish artist Helene Schjerfbeck to British audiences, painter Ian McKeever RA reflects on her searing self-portraits; works that changed the way he viewed both art and himself.
Artists
> 5 years ago
Frank Bowling: the artist who put abstraction on the map
The British-Guyanese artist spent decades in New York at the forefront of experimental abstract painting. Now, at age 85, he’s finally celebrated in a retrospective show at Tate Britain. We trace how he got there.
RA Recommends
> 5 years ago
Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio: “The city is a public resource”
This year’s RA Architecture Prize winners, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, are responsible for New York’s High Line, MoMA, Lincoln Center and The Broad – among many buildings. With two projects in London on the way, the American duo met Edwin Heathcote to talk punk, surveillance, disagreements and resistance.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Why nudes are allowed in galleries but not on Facebook
In a world where social media screens for nudity, it’s remarkable that one of the few places we can look freely at the naked body in public is the art gallery, says Jill Burke from the University of Edinburgh, as ‘The Renaissance Nude’ opens at the RA.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Four things to know about Phyllida Barlow’s sculpture
As the Academician’s site-specific show opens at the RA, Jon Wood explains what we gain from the pleasures and perplexities of her works.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
What would Michelangelo make of Bill Viola?
With the work of contemporary artist Bill Viola on show alongside works by Michelangelo, the exhibition’s co-curator imagines what the Renaissance master might have had to say about it, in a fictional letter to his nephew…
Opinion
< 6 years ago
Debate: can you teach art?
Eliza Bonham Carter, Curator and Head of the RA Schools, and RA Schools student Ewan Macfarlane share their thoughts. Cast your vote below.
RA Recommends
< 6 years ago
Four art-making apps for kids
Smartphones and tablets are becoming canvases for creativity, thanks to new apps. Charlotte Mullins tries some out with her family.
Opinion
< 6 years ago
What are the building blocks of a liveable (and loveable) city?
As part of RA Architecture Studio’s Invisible Landscapes series, urbanist Rachel Fisher weighs up the myriad ways that social technology can help us build human-centred cities.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: scenes from the extremities of life
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of birth, art historian Ingrid Rowland reveals how both artists confront the particular and the universal in the cycle of life.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: finding the language of emotion
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of emotional states, novelist Deborah Levy asks what it means to surrender to our most intense and incoherent feelings.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: art as a search for meaning
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of mortality, the former bishop Richard Holloway writes that art and religion are driven onwards by the fact of our death.
Opinion
6 years ago
Being a sitter for Egon Schiele
With their direct eye contact and powerful stances, Egon Schiele’s drawings of women were some of the first to recognise female autonomy. But who were the artist’s models and how did their relationships with Schiele play out on paper?
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
“Do you destroy your work? I do” – Phyllida Barlow and Harrison Birtwistle discuss creativity
As Phyllida Barlow prepares to open a new show of work at the RA, she joins composer Harrison Birtwistle, and journalist Fiona Maddocks, to exchange ideas about creativity – from how ideas arise to when you know they’re finished, and the trauma of titling.
RA Recommends
6 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in November
This month see art that spans a millennium. From the 11th-century Domesday Book, to Japanese surimono prints and empty swimming pools, here are 10 exhibitions to check out this November.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
My art agenda: Sarah Pickstone
Sarah Pickstone, alumna of the RA Schools, discusses the inspiration behind her new works in Burlington House, her co-operative studio and the democratic nature of drawing.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
A quick interpretation of Cornelia Parker’s PsychoBarn
With Cornelia Parker’s Hitchcock-inspired barn in the Royal Academy’s courtyard, Sam Jacob takes a look at the psychological, architectural and social layers of this imposing installation.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
The beauty of watercolour
The heyday of British watercolour is reflected at the RA in a free exhibition of works from the BNY Mellon Collection, says Ian Warrell.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
Klimt, Schiele and the meaning of art
As the drawings of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele go on show at the Royal Academy, Jill Lloyd reveals how these two giants of 20th-century Viennese modernism fuelled one another’s innovations on paper to push the boundaries of art and depict the human figure as never before.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
Renzo Piano: “my buildings are explorations”
He gave us the Shard in London, and in Paris the Centre Pompidou. On the eve of his first exhibition in the capital for 30 years, Renzo Piano meets Jonathan Glancey and reflects on a life of making buildings.
Artists
6 years ago
Gillian Ayres RA: colour dancing across the canvas
Mali Morris RA pays tribute to the inspirational life and work of the painter and printmaker Gillian Ayres RA, who passed away earlier this year.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
A journey through the art of Oceania
As the RA mounts its groundbreaking exhibition on the art of the peoples of the Pacific Islands, Maia Jessop Nuku introduces its themes of voyaging, encountering and place-making.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
The art of Oceania: seven stories
Curators and scholars give us a glimpse of the remarkable diversity, ancient and modern, that marks out Oceania on the world’s art map.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Tacita Dean: “I don’t care about the long run. I care about now.”
With three landmark exhibitions in London this year – including the inaugural show of the RA’s new galleries – the artist discusses mysteries of the cosmos, classical mythology and chance encounters at her LA studio.
RA Recommends
> 6 years ago
The punk feminist icon who found her magic in Cornwall
The artist Linder Sterling went from designing notorious artwork for the Buzzcocks to conjuring mytho-poetic forces on a beach in St Ives. With a new show at Nottingham Contemporary, we explore the pioneering punk’s two very different defining moments.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Henrietta Maria: the queen behind Charles I’s collection
Charles I might have had a keen eye for art, but his queen’s eye was sharper and far more sophisticated. With the couple’s extraordinary art collection currently on display at the RA, the consort’s biographer Erin Griffey explores her life, style and legacy.
RA Recommends
< 7 years ago
Think you know Surrealism? Meet Egypt’s radical dreamers
Salvador Dalí may have made Surrealism famous, but an overlooked group of artists, writers and activists in 1940s Cairo made the movement their own. Here we look at their pioneering work, currently on show at Tate Liverpool.
RA Recommends
< 7 years ago
“Now it is out”: the 1930s painting that declared lesbian love
In 1936 British artist Gluck painted herself and her lover in a radical depiction of same-sex partnership. With a show at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery exploring her life and work, we look at the story behind the painting.
Artists
< 7 years ago
Eight things to know about Gilbert & George RA
With a new show at White Cube Bermondsey, the artistic duo tell us eight things about their lives, art, fame, bigots, liberals, Brexit, and their favourite East End Turkish restaurant.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
The life of Charles I: King, collector, tastemaker, traitor
Political turmoil in 17th-century Europe threw up exciting pickings for Charles I’s art collection. But after a civil war that led to his execution, his masterpieces were dispersed across the globe. Here, Jenny Uglow introduces our show finally reuniting the king’s treasures.
Artists
7 years ago
In the studio with David Adjaye RA
The international architect talks art collections, local communities and working for the disempowered at his London studio.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
Dalí and Duchamp: a curious camaraderie
The pair may seem like opposites, but our exhibition this autumn shows they shared surprising artistic interests. Here, curator Dawn Ades explores four aspects of their enduring affinity for each other’s work.
RA Recommends
7 years ago
10 computers, 2000 hours, one photograph: making pictures with Thomas Ruff
With four decades of his photographs currently showing at Whitechapel Gallery, the artist divulges the hidden world of his virtual darkroom.
Artists
7 years ago
The text art of Jenny Holzer: “crummy signs, my speciality?”
As the pioneering American artist covers Blenheim Palace with her provocative text-based work this autumn, she discusses a career of making art with words.
RA Recommends
7 years ago
Feminist, socialist, embroiderer: the untold story of May Morris
The pioneering artist and designer has been overshadowed by her father for over a century, but a new show at William Morris Gallery is stitching together the threads of her own remarkable career.
RA Recommends
7 years ago
Jean-Michel Basquiat: downtown stray to international star
As a retrospective of the 1980s icon opens at the Barbican, art historian Morgan Falconer traces how the artist cracked the New York art scene and chased his wildest dreams.
RA Recommends
7 years ago
Four art biographies to read this autumn
Art critic Michael Prodger recommends the best new biographies of artists and art lovers – from Renoir to Peggy Guggenheim.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
Jasper Johns: “Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it.”
This month the RA celebrates Jasper Johns as one of America’s greatest living artists – here art historian Barbara Rose explores the complex transformations of objects and images throughout his work.
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
10 art exhibitions to see in August
From an exploration of recent LGBTQ+ art to a vibrant celebration of tulips, here’s our pick of the best new exhibitions to see this month.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Six ways to tackle the London studio crisis
The artist’s studio faces extinction in the capital if the property market continues to price artists out. But change might be afoot, reports architectural critic Hugh Pearman, as he explores six possible solutions.
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
Perfection on paper: Raphael at Oxford’s Ashmolean
Rather than being supplementary to his paintings, were Raphael’s drawings works of genius in their own right? RA Magazine’s Sam Phillips argues the Ashmolean Museum’s once-in-a-lifetime show offers a rare chance to reassess this aspect of his work.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
The studios behind the Summer Exhibition
How are the capital’s artists using their working spaces today? In the spirit of this year’s Summer Exhibition, which is encouraging artists who have not shown before at the RA, Skye Sherwin visits first-time exhibitors at work to see what they are bringing to the Academy.
Artists
> 7 years ago
The many masks of Gillian Wearing and Claude Cahun
As a new show at the National Portrait Gallery places the two artists side by side, Lauren Elkin explores how Gillian Wearing RA finds identity-blurring inspiration in the inter-war writer and photographer Claude Cahun.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
The tale of Russia’s revolutionary ceramics
Emma Crichton-Miller charts the fortunes of St Petersburg’s porcelain factory, from supplier of exclusive editions to the Russian court, to producer of high end Soviet agit-prop.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
A designer collection: Cath Kidston on the art in her life
With prints on her walls by Calder, Klee and Keith Haring, Cath Kidston has long been an avid collector, and the London Original Print Fair has been the designer’s hunting ground. Martin Gayford went to see the works adorning her Gloucestershire home.
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
The best art books for foodies
Rebecca Salter RA brings her artist’s palate to matters of taste, in a delicious round-up of the best books on art and food.
Inside the Academy
< 8 years ago
“It’s like making a garden” – Gary Hume RA on printmaking
He shot to fame as a painter, but for the past 20 years Gary Hume RA has also made prints. Amy Macpherson visits him at the RA Schools’ print workshop ahead of his selling show in the Keeper’s House.
Artists
< 8 years ago
In the studio with Wolfgang Tillmans RA
The photographer’s workspace in a former Berlin department store houses giant printers, tropical plants and DJ turntables. Anna Coatman meets the acclaimed artist and EU campaigner.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
The reality behind American Gothic
As ‘America after the Fall’ brings some of the country’s most iconic works to Europe for the first time, Sarah Churchwell considers the cultural and political backdrop to Depression Era art.
Opinion
< 8 years ago
Debate: is colour purely subjective?
Can we consider colours as purely subjective forces? Kassia St Clair and Emyr Williams go head to head. Vote on the winner below.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
The story of art in the Russian Revolution
With a momentous exhibition marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution, Martin Sixsmith charts the course of a pivotal period in art, from euphoric creativity to eventual repression.
RA Recommends
< 8 years ago
The tidemarks of Florence’s great flood
Fifty years since Florence was hit by the floods that destroyed not only lives but invaluable art treasures, Claudia Pritchard reports on the legacy.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
“We didn’t think it was a movement” – meet the 1940s critics of Abstract Expressionism
Seeking advice as she co-curated our Abstract Expressionism exhibition, Edith Devaney went to New York to meet Dore Ashton and Irving Sandler – two commentators who championed the likes of Mark Rothko and Willem de Kooning, and entertained them in their kitchens.
RA Recommends
< 8 years ago
The best art books for kids
Eight gift ideas to awaken the imagination and dazzle the senses… Bob and Roberta Smith RA chooses the best children’s books about art and design.
RA Recommends
< 8 years ago
Five of the best London archives
The RA archive is a treasure trove of stories, memories and recordings about art and artists from the past 250 years. In honour of Explore Your Archive week, we introduce some of its highlights and four more London archives to explore, holding everything from American performance art footage to rare Japanese prints.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
“Abstract Expressionism still makes me breathe deep”
How do painters from different generations see Abstract Expressionism today? Two RA Schools alumni, Basil Beattie RA and Aimée Parrott, met in the Academy’s show to discuss the movement’s enduring influence.
Opinion
8 years ago
Debate: are utopian ideas good for architecture?
Can utopian ideals help architects to build better futures? Or are these efforts doomed to be too rigid, over-simplified and suppressive? Ian Ritchie RA and Hugh Pearman go head to head. Vote on the winner below.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
James Ensor: A man of many masks
The Belgian artist James Ensor painted life through the lens of the carnival, creating unsettling and often satirical works. Michael Prodger searches for the man behind these intriguing images.
RA Recommends
8 years ago
Hats off to Picasso
Picasso’s friends and family are the focus of an exhibition showing how portraiture pushed the artist forward, writes Christopher Baker
RA Recommends
8 years ago
Three female gallerists who changed the course of British art
Despite the image of art dealing as a man’s world, women played a crucial role in the display, promotion and sale of 20th-century British art. Gill Hedley profiles three female gallerists who promoted British artists.
RA Recommends
8 years ago
James Christie: the eloquent auctioneer
As Christie’s auction house celebrates 250 years of wielding the gavel, Martin Oldham tracks down its founder James Christie, a man who turned the humble auction into the spectacle it remains to this day.
RA Recommends
8 years ago
Alternative roots: How tribal art influenced Modernism
Modern artists rejected the Western canon in favour of tribal art, writes Simon Wilson, as he takes in shows in Vienna and Berlin.
Artists
8 years ago
Cities of dreams: Peter Cook RA on the importance of imagination
As the Academy stages a show of Peter Cook RA’s drawings to mark his 80th birthday, Kate Goodwin asks the architect about his vision for urban ways of life.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
How Abstract Expressionism changed modern art
What did the artists associated with Abstract Expressionism do so differently? And how is their work still relevant today? As the first survey of Abstract Expressionism for nearly 60 years is staged in Britain, co-curator David Anfam answers key questions.
Opinion
8 years ago
Debate: Is originality in art overrated?
Should artists bow to tradition, or should they break all the rules? Martin Gayford and Richard Cork go head to head. Vote on the winner below.
Artists
8 years ago
Brian Catling RA’s imaginary studio
The ebullient, multimedia artist-poet Brian Catling RA is reluctant to identify his studio as a physical space, as Fiona Maddocks discovered when she met up with him in Oxford.
Artists
> 8 years ago
A brush with genius: Barry Humphries on sitting for David Hockney RA
David Hockney RA returns to the Academy this summer with his sparkling new series of portraits. Barry Humphries, creator of Dame Edna Everage and friend of the artist, recounts his experience of sitting for a portrait in Hockney’s Los Angeles studio.
RA Recommends
> 8 years ago
The poetry of paint: an interview with Etel Adnan
For Etel Adnan, art world success came late – in her eighties. Anna Coatman met the writer and painter in Paris ahead of a major show in London.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Seeing double: artist duos in the Summer Exhibition
Artist duos are challenging the concept of individual authorship. Now they are celebrated at this year’s Summer Exhibition. Fiona Maddocks asks four pairs of artists how they collaborate.
Opinion
> 8 years ago
Debate: Should critics ever savage the work of artists?
Without the contrast to harsh judgements, does praise have any meaning? Or is the role of the critic to simply inform and encourage readers to go and see for themselves? Jonathan Jones and Simon Wilson go head to head. Vote on the winner below.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
The enigma of Giorgione
Giorgione left few clues to his life, yet he was at the heart of a creative explosion in 16th-century Venetian painting that changed the course of European art. Ali Smith brings to life the fusion of originality and poetry in his work.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Going for gold: Venice in the 16th century
The first decade of the 16th century saw Venice become a creative cauldron, as a glittering array of painters put the city on the cusp of an artistic golden age. Sarah Dunant celebrates some of the most influential figures.
RA Recommends
> 8 years ago
Botticelli: A touch of the divine
Botticelli was a huge success, then virtually forgotten before his resurrection by the Pre-Raphaelites, reveals Simon Wilson ahead of a lavish V&A show.
RA Recommends
> 8 years ago
Hilma af Klint: The spirit moved her
The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint was making abstract art before Kandinsky, but her spiritualist methods have undermined her standing in art history. Now her work is being reassessed at the Serpentine Galleries.
RA Recommends
> 8 years ago
Delacroix: Revolutionary fervour
As an exhibition opens on Delacroix and his legacy, Martin Oldham draws out three qualities that mark him as a modern artist.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
Natural affinity: six gardeners pick their favourite painters
Garden historian Tim Richardson explores the relationship between artists and garden-makers, and selects six of the world’s most celebrated garden designers to shed new light on the artists in Painting the Modern Garden.
Artists
< 9 years ago
In the studio with Rose Wylie RA
In Rose Wylie RA’s Kent studio, paint spatters are everywhere. Fiona Maddocks meets the artist whose star is shining late in life.
Opinion
< 9 years ago
The rise of the Middle Eastern mega-museum
In recent years there has been rapid growth of major museums in the Middle East. Anthony Downey investigates the social, political and ethical challenges that face these new institutions.
Inside the Academy
< 9 years ago
Artist, collector, benefactor: the legacy of Carel Weight RA
New spaces at the Academy in 2018 will showcase the RA’s superb art collection. Laura Gascoigne delves into the bequest of Carel Weight RA, an artist who donated outstanding works.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Wartime water lilies: how Monet created his garden at Giverny
Curator Ann Dumas sets the scene for our major exhibition of garden painters, revealing how Monet’s passion for plants pushed the boundaries of his art.
Opinion
9 years ago
Debate: Should artists have final say on conservation?
Is how an artist’s work is conserved part of their remit as its creator, or is it a decision for those caring for and interpreting the work for the public? An artist and an art historian go head to head.
Inside the Academy
9 years ago
History uncovered: Britain’s first arts organisation
A review of the RA Collection has turned up a vital historical document, the Royal charter of the Society of Artists. RA archivist Mark Pomeroy explains.
Inside the Academy
9 years ago
Benjamin West: a very contemporary artist
As his biography of Benjamin West PRA is published, Loyd Grossman reveals how this founding member of the Academy broke with the past like no other artist of his era.
Opinion
9 years ago
Author Ma Jian on Ai Weiwei and freedom of expression in China
Ma Jian is renowned for his novels exploring subjects censored in China, where his books are banned, and he has been barred from entering the Chinese mainland. Ahead of Ai Weiwei’s RA retrospective, we asked the writer about his admiration for the artist, and about the limits of free expression in China.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: pastel pioneer
The Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Liotard was one of the great portraitists of the Enlightenment. Christopher Baker introduces the idiosyncratic Orientalist whose travels through the courts of Europe and beyond resulted in works of exceptional delicacy.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Ai of the tiger: Sam Phillips meets Ai Weiwei in his Beijing studio
Fearless and uncompromising, Ai Weiwei’s art challenges cultural values, confronts injustices and pushes materials to their limit. Sam Phillips talks to the artist about his show at the RA, which he was not expecting to be able to attend.
Artists
9 years ago
Damien Hirst in conversation with John Hoyland RA
The late John Hoyland RA told Damien Hirst about meeting Francis Bacon, and what it is to be a painter.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Thoughts on paper: the sketchbooks of Chris Wilkinson RA
Chris Wilkinson RA has continued to value hand drawing in an age where digital software prevails in architectural offices. Hugh Pearman meets him as a show opens at the RA to accompany the publication of his sketchbooks.
Opinion
9 years ago
Hard-won images: Frank Auerbach and Alberto Giacometti
The intensely wrought paintings of Frank Auerbach find their match in Giacometti’s sculptures, as two shows reveal, says Simon Wilson.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Joseph Cornell: Pioneer of assemblage art
Joseph Cornell created curious worlds of long ago and far away in his boxes of found objects. We examine the work of this American trailblazer ahead of his RA exhibition.
Artists
> 9 years ago
Preview: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at the Serpentine
The imagined portraits by this RA Schools alumna and Turner Prize nominee are revelations from another world, says Kelly Grovier.
Opinion
> 9 years ago
Jackson Pollock: pouring his art out
Leading abstract painter Frank Bowling RA welcomes a major show that reassesses Jackson Pollock’s black pourings.
Opinion
> 9 years ago
Are we building too many museums?
Would building more museums help to improve society or be a wasteful luxury? Theatre-maker Stella Duffy and curator Kieran Long go head to head. Read both sides then vote in the poll below.
Opinion
> 9 years ago
Paolozzi’s threatened Tottenham Court Road mosaics
As parts of Eduardo Paolozzi RA’s mosaics are removed from Tottenham Court Road tube station ahead of Crossrail, Richard Cork hopes that Transport for London will honour its promises.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
A conversation with Rubens: Tim Marlow interviews Jenny Saville RA
Rubens’s influence on painting extends right up to today, as a room curated by Jenny Saville RA for ‘Rubens and His Legacy’ reveals. Tim Marlow asks the painter about her response to the Flemish master as both artist and curator.
Inside the Academy
> 9 years ago
All for art: an introduction to the RA’s Access programme
How do you break the barriers that stop people coming to an art institution? Caroline Bugler gets some first-hand experience of the RA’s creative sessions that encourage access for everyone.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Painting on the threshold: Ian McKeever RA on Diebenkorn and abstraction
As the Academy celebrates the American master, painter Ian McKeever RA explores Richard Diebenkorn’s profound inquiry into the nature of abstraction.
Artists
> 9 years ago
Cornelia Parker’s poppies at the Whitworth
A survey of work by Cornelia Parker RA is the opening show at Manchester’s newly renovated Whitworth Gallery – featuring a room hung with the negatives from a poppy factory.
Opinion
> 9 years ago
Should art be more political?
Should art have politics at the forefront of its agenda? Artist Bob and Roberta Smith RA and critic Kelly Grovier go head to head.
Opinion
> 9 years ago
Jennifer Durrant RA on the richness of Sonia Delaunay’s life and art
As Sonia Delaunay’s paintings, textiles and murals come to London, painter Jennifer Durrant RA explores her vibrant work.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
Baroque ‘n’ roll: Rubens and his enduring artistic legacy
From his battle scenes to royal portraits, landscapes and altarpieces, Rubens’s extraordinary output occupies a uniquely heroic position in the history of art. Waldemar Januszczak argues that art was one thing before him – and another thing after.
Opinion
< 10 years ago
Alan Moore on William Blake’s contempt for Newton
As a major show of the revolutionary William Blake’s work opens in Oxford, Alan Moore, the legendary comic book author, delights in the artist’s subtle satire of Isaac Newton.
Opinion
< 10 years ago
When paint stripper was thrown over Allen Jones’s ‘Chair’
In 1986 paint stripper was thrown over Allen Jones’s sculpture ‘Chair’ (1969) during a Tate show. Alison Bracker talks to conservator Lyndsey Morgan about her experience restoring the work in the face of controversy.
Opinion
10 years ago
Is beauty an essential consideration in architecture?
Ron Arad RA and Sam Jacob discuss whether considerations of beauty are valuable in architecture, or whether they detract from more important issues.
Opinion
10 years ago
The mythical women of Marlene Dumas Hon RA
Marlene Dumas Hon RA’s paintings elevate women to mythic status. Here we celebrate the vision of a major artist as her powerful Amsterdam show comes to London.
Opinion
10 years ago
Lord Leighton RA and the Victorian ideal of female beauty
The Mexico-based businessman Juan Antonio Pérez Simón has amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of art. He talks to us about his love of Victorian art as his 19th-century masterpieces visit Leighton House Museum, the home of the former RA President.
Artists
10 years ago
When David Hockney, Allen Jones and Gordon Ramsay met for lunch
In an article from the RA Magazine archive, we find out what happened when two Academicians joined Gordon Ramsay at his Claridge’s restaurant.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Anselm’s alchemy
Throughout his career, the German artist Anselm Kiefer has confronted the weight of the past and the power of myth on a monumental scale. As the RA stages a major retrospective, Martin Gayford chronicles the extraordinary vision and transformative force of this colossus of contemporary art.
Artists
10 years ago
Through artists’ eyes
Three Royal Academicians – an architect, a sculptor and a painter – respond to memory, mystery and material in the work of Anselm Kiefer.
Artists
10 years ago
Black artists in British art
An insight into Eddie Chambers’s ‘Black Artists in British Art: A History from 1950 to the Present’, the first comprehensive study on the topic.
Opinion
10 years ago
Egon Schiele: The body electric
Although their erotic and existential angst once fell foul of public taste, Egon Schiele’s nudes have stood the test of time, argues Simon Wilson.
Artists
> 10 years ago
Zaha Hadid RA on the influence of Malevich in her work
As a major Malevich show goes on view, Zaha Hadid RA reveals how her use of painting and drawing to develop buildings was inspired by the artist.
Artists
> 10 years ago
Norman Ackroyd RA discusses his watercolours
A new book of Norman Ackroyd RA’s watercolours captures the immediacy of the moment, as the artist explains.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Marina Abramovic: Three of the best
As Marina Abramovic Hon RA’s latest performance art piece opens, we spotlight key moments in her career.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Think pink: Franz West at The Hepworth Wakefield
The multiple meanings of West’s witty sculptures are unravelled at The Hepworth Wakefield this summer.
RA Exhibitions
> 10 years ago
RA Schools students discuss their upcoming final show
As students from the RA Schools prepare for their final show, what are their feelings about leaving after three intensive years of study? Some of them discuss the issues they face with Schools tutor Brian Griffiths and Phyllida Barlow RA, who has been involved in art education for 45 years.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Four major exhibitions with colour at their core open this summer
Simon Wilson surveys a slew of shows, in London, Liverpool and Margate, that reveal the changing roles colour has played in art history.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Inside Story: Bill Viola
The pioneering video artist talks to Laura Gascoigne about mystery, compassion and sacrifice in art, as the first of his two altarpieces commissioned by St Paul’s Cathedral goes on permanent display.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Should there be positive discrimination towards female artists?
Eileen Cooper RA and Helena Morrissey discuss whether art institutions need to prioritise women to achieve gender equality or whether positive discrimination is counter-productive.
Opinion
> 10 years ago
Louis Kahn at the Design Museum
Architect Trevor Dannatt RA pays tribute to Louis Kahn, whose poetic buildings are celebrated at London’s Design Museum.
Artists
> 10 years ago
Cutting it fine
As Tate Modern mounts a major show of Matisse’s cut-outs, painter Mali Morris RA pays tribute to the artist’s directness, inventiveness and exuberance
Opinion
> 10 years ago
The craft that is now art
Novelist Tracy Chevalier, who curates a new exhibition of quilts, argues that this traditional activity should be accepted as a contemporary art medium.
RA Exhibitions
> 10 years ago
Seeing scents
Fragrance designer Jo Malone has a nose for architecture as well as scent, as we discovered on a visit Kengo Kuma’s aromatic installation in our ‘Sensing Spaces’ exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 11 years ago
George Bellows: New York knock-out
New York at the start of the 20th century was a hotbed of explosive urbanisation. The RA’s exhibition of Bellow’s work explores the idea of painting from raw experience.
RA Exhibitions
< 12 years ago
Manet: Portraying Life
Known as a rebel, and a thorn in the side of the French Academy, Manet challenged the status quo through his portraiture, painting friends, family, and Parisian society.
RA Exhibitions
12 years ago
Constable, Gainsborough, Turner and the Making of Landscape
Tracing the emergence of landscape painting as a distinct genre in its own right.
RA Exhibitions
12 years ago
The Age of Bronze
Spanning over five millenia, the RA’s ambitious survey show places contemporary artists’ works alongside works dating back to the Bronze Age.
Opinion
> 12 years ago
Review & Comment: Books: ‘Turner’s Secret Sketches’ by Ian Warrell
Did Ruskin burn Turner’s clandestine drawings? Simon Wilson acclaims a revelatory new book on the works that seared the great critic’s soul.
Artists
> 12 years ago
In the studio with Jenny Saville RA
The Academician talks with us from her current studio in Oxford.
RA Exhibitions
> 12 years ago
Johan Zoffany: One to watch
A founding member of the RA as well as a wry observer and commentator on Georgian life, this is a first look at our exhibition of the work of Johan Zoffany.
RA Exhibitions
> 12 years ago
David Hockney RA: A Bigger Picture
By using the latest technology to present nature on a vast scale, the Academician breaks new ground yet again.
Artists
13 years ago
In the studio with Gary Hume RA
The Academician’s Clerkenwell studio is cool, white and ordered - but in it Hume is a warm, unpretentious presence.
Artists
> 14 years ago
In the studio with Antony Gormley RA
Get the vital statistics on the Academician’s studio, his work, and his relationship to the planet.
Artists
> 14 years ago
Out to lunch with Barbara Rae RA
Over a seafood lunch the Academician discusses why the world is her oyster when it comes to making her art.