Articles
RA Exhibitions
Find out more about our current and upcoming world-leading exhibitions in Piccadilly.
RA Exhibitions
8 days ago
Moving a masterpiece
Our Senior Registrar, Edwina Mulvany, describes the delicate process of moving Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo.
RA Exhibitions
11 days ago
Video: learning from Leonardo at Windsor Castle
Adebanji Alade visited Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle to draw directly from Leonardo’s masterpieces.
RA Exhibitions
1 month ago
Video: drawing on gallery walls with tape
Michael Craig-Martin RA talks about his series of wall drawings featuring instantly recognisable objects.
RA Exhibitions
1 month ago
Video: changing a glass of water into an oak tree
Michael Craig-Martin RA talks about his best-known early work, An Oak Tree.
RA Exhibitions
1 month ago
Video: Michael Craig-Martin RA introduces his colourful retrospective
Take a look inside the galleries, filled with everyday objects in dazzling colours.
RA Exhibitions
2 months ago
Start here: Florence c. 1504
Discover the stories behind the key artworks from our latest exhibition, ‘Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael: Florence, c. 1504’.
RA Exhibitions
2 months ago
Video: Take a look inside ‘In the Eye of the Storm Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930’
Meet the artists who defined Ukraine’s culture at the start of the 20th century.
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
3 months ago
Video: Who was Davyd Burliuk?
Meet the (self-proclaimed) father of Russian Futurism and a key figure in Ukrainian Modernism.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Start here: Michael Craig-Martin
Find out more about the artistic career of Michael Craig-Martin before you visit our latest exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Six Ukrainian artists you should know
Early 20th century Ukraine was a melting pot of cultures, identities, and politics. Here are six artists who taught, influenced, and shaped modernism in Ukraine.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Video: meet the artists of the Summer Exhibition 2024
Hear from some of the artists in this year’s show and find out more about their work.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Who won prizes at Summer Exhibition 2024?
Tracey Emin RA has won the 2024 Charles Wollaston Award for the “most distinguished work” in the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Why children’s art matters
As the Young Artists’ Summer Show returns to the RA, art educator Neil Walton states that now, more than ever, young people need encouragement to value art in their lives.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Summer Exhibition co-ordinator Ann Christopher RA on this year’s show
Emily Steer visits Summer Exhibition 2024 co-ordinator Ann Christopher RA in her Gloucestershire studio and learns how the artist’s experience of manipulating space as a sculptor has influenced this year’s show.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Visions from Ukraine
Discover the revolutions and experimentation that shaped 20th century Ukrainian art.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Video: A ‘Meddling Fiend’ takes over the courtyard
Watch artist Nicola Turner talk about how she created her sculpture ‘The Meddling Fiend’ for the Summer Exhibition 2024.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Nine works to know from Summer Exhibition 2024
Find out more about nine works featured in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Start here: Modernism in Ukraine
Meet the artists who defined Ukraine’s culture at the start of the 20th century before you visit our latest exhibition ‘In the Eye of the Storm’.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Quiz: how well do you know the Summer Exhibition?
Test your knowledge of the world’s oldest open-submission exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Video: Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh on 18th-century star Emma, Lady Hamilton
Watch Adjoa Andoh, Bridgerton’s Lady Danbury uncover the story behind Angelica Kauffman’s muse Emma, Lady Hamilton.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Angelica Kauffman: Art History’s Heroine
In this long read from RA Magazine, Alexandra Harris argues that Angelica Kauffman’s depictions of women blazed a trail for the female gaze.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
Video: Interview with a Paintbrush
Writer and performer, Vanessa Kisuule responds to our latest exhibition ‘Entangled Pasts, 1768–now’ in her poem ‘Interview with a Paintbrush’.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
Video: a closer look at ‘The First Supper’
Artist Tavares Strachan reimagines Leonardo’s ‘The Last Supper’.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Video: take a look inside ‘Entangled Pasts, 1768–now’
This spring, past and present collide in our powerful exhibition in the Main Galleries.
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
9 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
Start here: Entangled Pasts, 1768–now
Past and present collide in our powerful exhibition in the Main Galleries this spring.
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.
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
Start here: Angelica Kauffman
Meet Angelica Kauffman, founding member of the Royal Academy and one of the most celebrated artists of her day.
RA Exhibitions
10 months ago
Six Impressionists you should know
Move over, Monet! Here are six Impressionists we think deserve the spotlight.
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
11 months ago
Video: attitudes to nudity in art
Watch Marina Abramović discuss her performance ‘Imponderabillia’ first performed over 40 years ago.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Quiz: how well do you know the Impressionists?
Can you tell a drawing by Degas from a sketch by Seurat? Test your Impressionism knowledge with this quiz, inspired by our Impressionists on Paper exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Video: introducing ‘Entangled Pasts, 1768–now: Art, Colonialism and Change’
Artist Lubaina Himid RA talks to us about our next exhibition in the Main Galleries.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
The Abramović look
Our range of Marina Abramović clothing and accessories has been produced in collaboration with the artist. Defiance and survival define the Abramović look.
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.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Start here: Impressionists on Paper
Find out more about the ways Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artists worked on paper ahead of our latest exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Start here: Marina Abramović
Find out more about the life and work of performance art pioneer Marina Abramović before you visit our latest exhibition in the Main Galleries.
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
Video: meet the artists of the Young Artists’ Summer Show 2023
Hear from some of the artists in this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show as they tell us the stories behind their works selected for display at the RA.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
In the studio: Peter Barber RA
The architect renowned for his social housing projects operates from a converted 19th-century shop in King’s Cross. He gives Sarah Handelman a tour.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Six buildings to know by Herzog & de Meuron
From hospitals in Switzerland to an Olympic stadium in China, here are six buildings around the world designed by Swiss architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: two-minute tour of the Summer Exhibition 2023
Take a quick trip through more than 1,600 works on display in this year’s show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Summer Exhibition safari
Cats, dogs, foxes and pangolins – there’s a menagerie of creatures to discover in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
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
Video: meet the artists of the Summer Exhibition 2023
Hear from some of the artists in this year’s show and find out more about their work.
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
Start here: Herzog & de Meuron
Find out what you’ll see in our latest exhibition, which looks behind the scenes of architectural practice Herzog & de Meuron.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
How to make a Summer Exhibition in 10 easy steps
How do you put on a show of more than 1,500 works across 3,000 square metres for more than 200,000 visitors? By following an eccentric format perfected over 255 years – with a few contemporary tweaks, of course.
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
Video: inside ‘Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers’ with Emma Dabiri
Writer and broadcaster Emma Dabiri picks four powerful works by Black artists from the American South that you can see in our current exhibition.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Introducing our 2024 exhibitions
From Ukranian modernism and Renaissance masters to a landmark decolonial show, we can reveal our stellar programme for next year.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Eight works to know from Summer Exhibition 2023
Ahead of the opening of this year’s Summer Exhibition, find out more about eight works which will be featured in the show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: acclaimed Spanish chef José Pizarro on ‘Spain and the Hispanic World’
José Pizarro shares his highlights from our “very special” exhibition in the Main Galleries.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
10 stories behind the objects in ‘Spain and the Hispanic World’
Our landmark exhibition draws together 4,000 years of rich and surprising histories from the Spanish-speaking world, through 150 crafted, painted, woven, and sculpted objects. Here are some not to miss.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: unboxing ‘Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers’
Watch our team install composite sculptures and precious quilts as we prepare for our latest exhibition.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Start here: Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers
Before you visit our latest exhibition, find out about the unique artistic traditions the artists in ‘Souls Grown Deep like the Rivers’ forged and the enormous social and economic challenges they confronted.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: inside ‘Spain and the Hispanic World’ with the exhibition’s curators
Take a journey through 4,000 years of art-making across Spain and Latin America, guided by RA curator Adrian Locke and Director of the Hispanic Society Museum and Library, Guillaume Kientz.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: unboxing treasures from Spain and the Hispanic World
Take a look behind the scenes of our blockbuster exhibition ‘Spain and the Hispanic World’ as our team prepare the Main Galleries.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
10 artists you need to know in the Spain and the Hispanic World exhibition
With over 150 treasures from the Hispanic Society Museum & Library’s collection to discover, get to know some of the artists in our new exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: inside ‘Making Modernism’ with the exhibition’s curators
Take a look around our show devoted to trailblazing women of 20th-century Modernism, guided by its curators Sarah Lea and Professor Dorothy Price.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Which artist are you?
A late night with the arty crowd or painting alone into the small hours – with four female pioneers of Modernism in our galleries, it’s time to find out which one you are…
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 Exhibitions
2 years ago
Video: watch William Kentridge drawing on the walls of the Royal Academy
Artist William Kentridge found a way to stay entertained while we built his blockbuster show in the Royal Academy Main Galleries – by drawing onto our 400-year old walls. See what he created here…
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
8 modern artists’ houses every art lover should visit
From the creeks of Louisiana to the clifftops of Cornwall, modern artists have found sanctuary and inspiration in all sorts of places. Today you can visit their studio-homes and see their lives much as they left them – here are a few not to miss.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
“A revolutionary position”: Rachel Cusk on German Modernism’s women artists
Ahead of ‘Making Modernism’, the Royal Academy’s exhibition of Germany’s pioneering women artists, writer Rachel Cusk reflects on how they emerged from the shadow of their male peers.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
William Kentridge’s life, art, and studio
William Kentridge’s drawings, animations and installations bear witness to the history of his native South Africa. As his art expands across the Royal Academy’s galleries, take a deep dive into his immersive hand-drawn world.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Video: William Kentridge Exhibition Tour
Globally acclaimed artist William Kentridge guides us through his exhibition, discussing the inspirations, processes and ambitions behind his immersive installations.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
10 works to know by William Kentridge
With William Kentridge filling our Main Galleries with his immersive, spectacular work, here we take a closer look at 10 artworks by the visionary South African artist.
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: Marianne Werefkin
A dynamic influence in artistic circles, the Russian-born painter devised a haunting idiosyncratic style of her own
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.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
10 times artists did something big, brave and brilliant at the RA
With William Kentridge’s epic works filling our galleries, we’ve been looking back at some of the extraordinary things artists have done with our 350-year-old building.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Milton Avery: American Colourist Tour
Take a virtual stroll through the galleries of the celebrated North American painter and colour aficionado – guided by curator Edith Devaney, advisor to the Milton Avery Trust Waqas Wajahat, and Avery’s grandson and artist Sean Cavanaugh.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Video: meet the artists of the Young Artists’ Summer Show 2022
Meet some of the stars of this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show as they tell us the stories behind their works selected for display at the RA.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Video: Clara Amfo on how to start your own art collection
Radio broadcaster, TV presenter, long-time art collector, and Royal Academy trustee Clara Amfo popped into the 2022 Summer Exhibition to share her top tips on art buying for any taste and budget.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2022: two-minute tour
Take a quick trip through the 1,500 works on display in this year’s climate-themed show.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist
Summer Exhibition 2022 is going to be on the telly. Don’t miss ‘Joe Lycett: Summer Exhibitionist’ on BBC Two on Saturday 23 July, 8pm.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
A beginner’s guide to William Kentridge
William Kentridge has been experimenting with materials and storytelling since the 1980s. Here’s everything you need to know about the South African artist.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Milton Avery
Don’t know Milton Avery? Here’s our handy guide to the visionary artist who influenced Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko.
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
Buying prints at the RA
Alongside this year’s Summer Exhibition, you can also find several free displays across our buildings – each showcasing artworks ready to bring home. Here are three highlights, chosen by print enthusiasts.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
The Artists of the Summer Exhibition 2022
Meet some of the artists from this year’s show and find out more about their work and their feelings on the theme of Climate.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Six works to know by architecture duo Bruther
In 2007 architects Stéphanie Bru and Alexandre Theriot combined their names to form Bruther – a studio dedicated to inventive, generous and socially engaged buildings. Before they give the Royal Academy’s 31st Annual Architecture Lecture this month, get to know their work here.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Bombs, dots and rockstars: seven stories of the Summer Exhibition
From frenemy feuds to a bomb through the roof, the storylines of the Summer Exhibition could make a TV drama – so no wonder it’s often featured on screen. Here are just a few of our favourite episodes…
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Nine things to know about the Summer Exhibition
An invitation to artists everywhere, a story that goes back to Turner – and a top secret tea recipe. Here’s what you need to know about a weird and wonderful art tradition that’s over 250-years-old.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Seven tips for starting your own art collection
There are over 1,000 works in the Summer Exhibition – and most of them are for sale. So how do you choose? Here are our top tips for buying your first pieces of original art.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Nine eyebrow-raising moments from the Summer Exhibition
From the time we rejected Banksy to Turner’s “gunshot in the gallery”, the Summer Exhibition has regularly ruffled the feathers of British art in its 254 years. Here are some of our favourite moments!
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Introducing our 2023 exhibitions
From rare treasures created in Spain and the Hispanic world, to re-performances of Marina Abramović’s best-known works, our 2023 programme gives everyone something to look forward to.
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 Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Meet everyone in ‘Whistler’s Woman in White’
You’d be forgiven for thinking our exhibition ‘Whistler’s Woman in White’ was all about Whistler, but there’s a whole host of artists, models and writers in the show. Get to know them here…
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Frogs and Fart Battles: Kyōsai in 60 seconds
Meet one of the most exciting Japanese painters of the 19th century.
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
8 questions to ask yourself about Kawanabe Kyōsai
Wondering what you need to know about Kawanabe Kyōsai before you visit the exhibition of his work at the RA? Here are some questions to ask yourself about the artist’s life and work.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Francis Bacon: “I’m always labelled with horror”
Listen to Francis Bacon talk about how he paints and how his images form.
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
Who was Whistler’s Woman in White?
Take a tour of the exhibition ‘Whistler’s Woman in White: Joanna Hiffernan’ with its curators, and delve into the life of the artist’s principal model.
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
Inside ‘Francis Bacon: Man and Beast’ with curator, Michael Peppiatt
We spoke to Francis Bacon’s friend, Michael Peppiatt, about the exhibition ‘Man and Beast’ and how Bacon’s vision of humanity was shaped by his interest in animals.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Quiz: which artist are you?
Are you the sort who goes to a calligraphy party and comes home with a raging hangover, or are you more likely to nip down the road for a seance with friends?
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
> 2 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.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
13 things to know about Francis Bacon
Think you know Bacon? Here’s our guide to the life of the 20th-century master.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Animals, humans and violence: Frederick Douglass and Francis Bacon
Ahead of ‘Francis Bacon: Man and Beast’, Isaac Julien RA explores how the violence of slavery equated humans and animals.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
John Constable’s struggle to become a Royal Academician
If you have ever struggled for the acceptance and glory you obviously deserve, take heart from this story of John Constable RA’s decades-long struggle to become a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
“She has brought to architectural photography a mysterious dimension”: Daniel Libeskind on Hélène Binet
We’ve filled our galleries with Hélène Binet’s stunning photography. Here, the architect of the Jewish Museum in Berlin and many other wonders details what sets Binet’s timeless, elusive images apart.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Late Constable Tour with Curator Anne Lyles
Explore the exhibition of late works by one of Britain’s best-loved artists.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Documentary: inside ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists’ exhibition
Our sold-out exhibition, ‘Gauguin and The Impressionists’, makes its big screen debut this winter thanks to our friends at ‘Exhibition on Screen’. Experience the show from home with this exclusive 10-minute clip, featuring curator Anna Ferrari and Secretary and Chief Executive, Axel Rüger.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Video: Annette Fernando at the Summer Exhibition 2021
Annette Fernando – a first-time exhibitor at the Summer Exhibition – talks us through her work, ‘Stop being so damn understanding’ which is so intricate, it’s often mistaken for a photo.
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 Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Light Lines Tour with Hélène Binet
Explore the exhibition of stunning architectural photographs.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Five works to know in the 2021 Summer Exhibition
We enlisted art historian and founder of @ablackhistoryofart, Alayo Akinkugbe, to uncover five gems in this year’s show that capture Yinka Shonibare RA’s vision to ‘Reclaim Magic’.
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 Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
The Artists of the Summer Exhibition 2021
Meet some of the artists on show at the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2021 Tour with Yinka Shonibare RA
Explore our most diverse and inclusive Summer Exhibition ever.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Harry Hill at the Summer Exhibition 2021
Comedian and amateur artist Harry Hill talks us through his artworks at the Summer Exhibition 2021.
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
Step inside Hélène Binet’s London studio
We meet the photographer in her studio to discuss her upcoming exhibition ‘Light Lines’, her love of music, and her ability to ‘draw’ with light.
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.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Inside the Summer Exhibition 2021 with Yinka Shonibare RA
Summer Exhibition coordinator Yinka Shonibare RA explains his vision for this year’s show
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
10 expert tips on visiting the Summer Exhibition
Faced with more than a thousand artworks, how can an art lover make the most of their annual pilgrimage to the Summer Exhibition? Veteran critic Mark Hudson draws from his professional experience to offer 10 useful pointers.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Video: painting on Lubugo bark cloth
Artist Michael Armitage paints on a material called Lubugo, which is made by the Baganda people of southern Uganda. Discover how Lubugo’s crafted, and how Armitage incorporates its imperfections into his work.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Francis Bacon to Women Modernists: introducing our 2022 exhibitions
From Francis Bacon’s eerie reflections on man and beast, to South Africa’s most celebrated living artist William Kentridge, our 2022 programme gives everyone something to look forward to.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
How to paint ‘en plein air’ like Hockney and Constable
David Hockney works outdoors to capture his vibrant spring scenes – in a tradition that goes right back to Constable and the masters of the 18th century. Artist and tutor Andy Pankhurst shares some tips to get you started…
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
How well do you know Hockney?
With a popular Hockney exhibition in our galleries, we know you love Hockney – but do you know your stuff? Take the David Hockney quiz and find out…
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Meet the artists in the Young Artists’ Summer Show
Get to know the inspiring artists of tomorrow as we take a look around this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Virtual tour: Michael Armitage, Paradise Edict
Can’t visit the RA right now? Explore the colourful, dreamlike works of Kenya-born artist Michael Armitage from your sofa, in our latest virtual tour.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Inside the exhibition: ‘Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict’
Join Michael Armitage as he introduces his works exploring paradise, the 2017 Kenyan Elections and a selection of East African artists who have informed his own practice.
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
Video: David Hockney on his celebration of spring
With David Hockney’s joyful exhibition of spring works filling our galleries – but the artist back at home in his Normandy studio – curator Edith Devaney catches up with him from the RA, pandemic-style.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Virtual tour: David Hockney, ‘The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020’
If you haven’t been able to visit our David Hockney exhibition in person, here’s your chance to experience it from home. Make a calming cup of tea, press play, and enjoy the arrival of spring through Hockney’s eyes.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Michael Armitage
Get to know an exciting force in painting and how his work is rooted in an East African tradition.
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 Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Introducing three artists in ‘Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict’
Artists Sane Wadu, Elimo Njau and Asaph Ng‘ethe Macua have played an important role in shaping figurative painting in Kenya – they have also had a profound impact on Armitage’s own artistic development. Learn more about these artists in our short video series.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Yinka Shonibare’s vision for the Summer Exhibition 2021
Summer Exhibition co-ordinator Yinka Shonibare explains how he’s “reclaiming magic” in this year’s show.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Hockney to Constable: introducing our 2021 exhibitions
From David Hockney’s joyous springtime works, to the exciting new force in painting, Michael Armitage, our updated 2021 programme gives everyone something to look forward to.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffman: the RA’s founding women
Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser were the only two female founders of the Royal Academy. Here, we take a closer look at their careers and the challenges they faced within the RA.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
Virtual tour – Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul
Explore the dark territories and raw emotions distilled in the artworks of Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch in this virtual tour of our landmark exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Lisa Wright’s ‘Porcelain Gaze’
From Thetford forest to the Medici Venus, unmask the influences behind the work of painter and sculptor, Lisa Wright.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
Inside the exhibition: ‘Tracey Emin / Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul’
Join Tracey Emin RA as she introduces her selection of masterpieces by Edvard Munch alongside her own works.
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 Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
10 works on grief and loneliness by Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch
From ‘My Bed’ to ‘The Scream’, Tracey Emin and Edvard Munch are two artists who are able to distill pure, raw emotion into their works. Here are 10 that encapsulate those feelings of anxiety, grief and loneliness.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
Revisiting the exhibition: Antony Gormley
Six tonnes of steel mesh, a gallery flooded with seawater, a body you could walk through and an experience like no other. Relive our 2019 Antony Gormley exhibition with behind-the-scenes videos, inspiration from the man himself and works from the show.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
Cristina Iglesias: the artist who transforms public space
Cristina Iglesias, whose sculptures bring out the otherworldliness of the cobbles, stones, bricks and mortar of cities, speaks to Debika Ray about winning the 2020 RA Architecture Prize.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Sarah Gillespie’s ‘White Plume Moth’
See how artist Sarah Gillespie turns drawings of drowsy moths into beautiful mezzotint prints – raising awareness of a species that is often overlooked.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Meet the artists of the Young Artists’ Summer Show 2020
Hear from some of the UK’s most talented young artists who are exhibiting in this year’s Young Artists’ Summer Show.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Virtual tour: Summer Exhibition 2020
Explore the first ever winter Summer Exhibition like never before and discover a myriad of works by household names and emerging artists inside this virtual tour.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Munch’s influence on women artists
Art historian Patricia Berman traces Edvard Munch’s surprising influence on women artists, from Tracey Emin RA and Marlene Dumas Hon RA, to Louise Bourgeois and Maria Lassnig.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Inside the Summer Exhibition 2020 with Jane and Louise Wilson RA
Join coordinators Jane and Louise Wilson RA as they introduce the 252nd Summer Exhibition and discuss the challenges of putting it all together during a pandemic.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Watch Anne Desmet RA create ‘Wood Engraver’s Tower’
Learn the story behind Anne Desmet RA’s engraving, which commemorates the centenary year of the Society of Wood Engravers and features in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Origins of the Ordrupgaard Collection
Our latest exhibition, Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces of the Ordrupgaard Collection, has humble roots in the home of Wilhelm and Henny Hansen. In this video produced by Ordrupgaard, discover how the Hansens transformed their private home into a jewel in the crown of the Danish art scene.
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.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
The enduring appeal of Impressionism
In bustling Parisian street scenes, windswept seascapes and shimmering portraits, the Impressionists sought immediacy in their art. Writer Deborah Levy finds their approach as radical today as ever, in the masterpieces on show from the Ordrupgaard Collection.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Meet the winners of the 2020 Young Artists’ Summer Show
Discover who won the People’s Choice award, as well as the most inspiring artworks in each key stage chosen by our President, Rebecca Salter.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Inside the first-ever socially distanced Summer Exhibition
For the first time in its 252-year history, the Summer Exhibition will fall in winter. Amy Sherlock speaks to this year’s co-ordinators, film and photography duo Jane and Louise Wilson RA, who are steering the show into new waters.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
Virtual tour: ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces of the Ordrupgaard Collection’
Step into our galleries to experience ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection’, including 60 works – many of which have never been seen in the UK.
RA Exhibitions
4 years ago
10 young artists who will restore your faith in art
The Young Artists’ Summer Show is our free, open submission exhibition for young people aged 5–19. Their art will inspire you, challenge you and, most importantly, make you smile.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Two women artists who broke into the boys’ club
How do you succeed as an artist in 19th-century Paris when male social circles are closed to you? Berthe Morisot and Eva Gonzalès are two women artists who found a way.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Inside the exhibition: Gauguin and the Impressionists
Join curator, Anna Ferrari, as she introduces Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces of the Ordrupgaard Collection, including works by Manet, Pissarro, Degas and Morisot coming to the UK for the first time.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
From Manet to Morisot: 10 Impressionist paintings coming to the UK for the first time
Wilhelm Hansen scoured 20th-century Paris collecting Impressionist paintings – even buying one from his dentist. Now, these paintings are coming to the UK for the first time in Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Revisiting the exhibition: Sensing Spaces
In 2014, an architecture exhibition took over the Royal Academy that invited audiences not just to step inside it, but to touch it, smell it and feel it. With a curator’s introduction, a documentary from the show and interviews with the architects, we take a trip back to the monumental exhibition, ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Documentary: inside our Manet exhibition
Originally released in cinemas, this ‘Exhibition on Screen’ film takes you back in time to visit the Royal Academy’s 2013 ‘Manet: Portraying Life’ exhibition, one of our most visited shows of all time. Take a trip to 19th-century Paris where the story of this modern master unfolds – and peep behind the scenes at the RA, as the curators prepared to tell his story in this major show.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Video: inside the artists’ gardens
Join curator Ann Dumas on a tour through the gardens of Claude Monet, Pierre Bonnard, Emile Nolde, Max Liebermann and Henri Le Sidaner. Filmed ahead of our 2016 exhibition, ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’, take a moment to escape to the idyllic rural wilderness.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Documentary: inside ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’
Originally released in cinemas, this ‘Exhibition on Screen’ film takes us back to our landmark exhibition, ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’, examining the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s.
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 Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Documentary: inside two blockbuster Hockney exhibitions
Originally released in cinemas, this ‘Exhibition on Screen’ film takes us back to two of our landmark exhibitions by the iconic British artist, David Hockney RA. Sit back and enjoy, as we revisit 2012’s ‘A Bigger Picture’, and ‘82 Portraits and One Still-Life’ from 2016.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Picasso and Paper: virtual exhibition tour
Experience our ‘Picasso and Paper’ exhibition from home in this video tour of the galleries.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Gauguin and the Impressionists
On 29 March 2020, we were due to open our new exhibition ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection’. Since you can’t come to us, we thought we would bring a taste of it to you. In this video series, see a bite-sized biography of Gauguin, and take a deep dive into Renoir’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ and Manet’s ‘Woman with a Jug’.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Video: ‘Léon Spilliaert’ - virtual exhibition tour
While the RA doors are temporarily closed, you can still experience our exhibition on Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert in this video tour of the galleries.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Léon Spilliaert: an artist that embraced the dark
Insomniac artist Léon Spilliaert wandered Ostend at night, finding in its empty streets and endless beach the exterior equivalent of his inner isolation. Matthew Beaumont explores the solitude at the heart of his paintings.
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 Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Video: Inside the exhibition – Picasso and Paper
Join curator Ann Dumas in exploring our new exhibition, ‘Picasso and Paper’. See how the iconic artist innovated by tearing, burning, sculpting and collaging with any paper he could get his hands on.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Video: watch Picasso make a masterpiece
Filmed in 1956, ‘Le Mystère Picasso’ is a documentary capturing Picasso in full creative flow. Three of the works he’s seen making in the film are now the walls of the RA, in ‘Picasso and Paper’ – watch how one of them came to be, in this short film…
RA Exhibitions
< 5 years ago
Video: meet insomniac artist Léon Spilliaert
Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert was an insomniac. He wandered the streets of Brussels at night in search of inspiration. In this video, delve into the solitude and mystery that encompasses the artist’s evocative paintings.
RA Exhibitions
< 5 years ago
Quiz: How Picasso are you?
Sure, Picasso was a master of everything from papier maché to poetry – but you’re a creative too. Perhaps you even have a touch of the Pablo personality. As our ‘Picasso and Paper’ exhibition opens, let’s find out just how Picasso you are…
RA Exhibitions
< 5 years ago
On the paper trail of Pablo Picasso
Antique drawing sheets, Paris metro tickets and lavish wallpapers – the medium of paper was a living ground for the unassailable creative genius of Pablo Picasso. Julian Bell previews our groundbreaking exhibition, Picasso and Paper.
RA Exhibitions
< 5 years ago
Can artists and designers help save the world?
Our exhibition, ‘Eco-Visionaries’, not only reflects a planet undergoing profound change but proposes ways to adapt without succumbing to apathy or inertia.
RA Exhibitions
< 5 years ago
Video: Lucian Freud’s painting technique
The 50 Lucian Freud self-portraits currently on show at the RA reveal how the artist developed his distinctive painting technique throughout his career. Find out more in this video.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
Some thoughts on painting, by Lucian Freud
“The painter’s obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work…” As his self-portraits go on show at the RA, we share Lucian Freud’s only published statement on his creative process. It reveals the uncompromising intensity behind his approach to painting.
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Lucian Freud
As we unite more than 50 of Lucian Freud’s self-portraits for the first time ever, here’s a handy guide to get to know the man whose painted, printed and drawn figure is in our galleries this autumn.
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
Picasso to Abramović: introducing our 2020 exhibitions
From the 18th century right up to the present and from fragile paper masterpieces to groundbreaking performance art, the RA’s Artistic Director Tim Marlow introduces our exhibition programme for the coming year.
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 Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Antony Gormley: 10 works to know
From chewing his way through 600 loaves of bread to making the world’s largest angel, Antony Gormley has never been afraid to pull out all the stops in the name of art. As we prepare for his biggest UK exhibition in over a decade, here are 10 works you need to know from across his career.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Thomas Houseago: Summer Exhibition 2019
“There’s an experience that art can offer which is this strange combination of activating the eyes, the mind, the body and a kind of emotional spectrum.”
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Inside the 2019 Summer Exhibition
Zip around this year’s Summer Exhibition from the comfort of your phone and sample the myriad ways artists are responding to climate change, sustainability, identity politics – and teacakes.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Video: meet the artists of the Young Artists’ Summer Show
Hear from some of the talented artists in our Young Artists’ Summer Show, which celebrates the creativity of young people aged 7-19.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Video: Félix Vallotton in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Félix Vallotton, the Swiss-born painter and printmaker whose portrayals of Belle Epoque Paris reveal a truly distinctive artistic vision.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Novelist Tessa Hadley on the intriguing world of Félix Vallotton
With their secret trysts and satirical twists, the paintings and prints of the Paris-based Swiss artist Félix Vallotton prompt more questions than answers. Novelist Tessa Hadley gives her personal response to the artist’s enigmatic world.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2019 prizes announced
Printmaker, painter and sculptor Joe Tilson RA has won the 2019 Charles Wollaston award for the “most distinguished work” in the Summer Exhibition.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Video: Alexa Chung at the Summer Exhibition
Join presenter and fashion designer Alexa Chung for a (very) private view of this year’s Summer Exhibition, as she picks out some of her favourite works.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Exploring Finland in the footsteps of Helene Schjerfbeck
To coincide with our exhibition of works by Helene Schjerfbeck, Sam Phillips returned to the places the Finnish artist called home, and along the way saw what Finland’s art scene had to offer.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Félix Vallotton
From bohemian Paris to the battlefields of the First World War, Félix Vallotton’s art was shaped by a tumultuous epoch – but his vision remained distinctly his own.
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…
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
“There’s more than just the surface of life… the real thing is underneath” – Bill Viola
For video artist Bill Viola, water is a powerful and recurring theme, and one that’s central to our landmark exhibition, ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo: Life, Death, Rebirth’. In this interview, the artist traces this back to a formative incident in his childhood.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Bill Viola
Bill Viola is considered one of the most important artists of his generation. As the RA prepares to show his vast, immersive installations alongside works by Michelangelo, it’s time to brush up on your knowledge of this American video art pioneer.
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.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Artists of Oceania: John Pule
Artist John Pule, who is from Niue and New Zealand, introduces his five-panel painting ‘Kehe tau hauaga foou (To all new arrivals)’ in our Oceania exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Artists of Oceania: Lisa Reihana in conversation
With her panoramic video installation currently on show in our Oceania exhibition, watch acclaimed New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana discuss her practice with the RA’s Artistic Director Tim Marlow.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Video: Learn about this spectacular headdress in Oceania
This huge feather headdress from Papua New Guinea is 100 years old and has rarely been shown in public due to its delicate nature.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Video: Egon Schiele in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Egon Schiele, whose extraordinary works on paper are on show in our exhibition ‘Klimt / Schiele’.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Artists of Oceania: Mata Aho Collective
New Zealand’s Mata Aho Collective introduce their spectacular 11-metre installation ‘Kiko Moana’, which hangs in the opening room of our Oceania exhibition.
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 Exhibitions
6 years ago
Video: Gustav Klimt in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Gustav Klimt, one of the two Viennese masters whose works on paper are shown side-by-side in our exhibition ‘Klimt / Schiele’.
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
Video: Oceania and the art of tattooing
Tattoo has a long history in the South Pacific, as shown by a number of historic treasures and contemporary artworks in our Oceania exhibition. In this video, a traditional tā moko (Māori tattoo) artist talks about his work.
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: 8 buildings to know
With an RA exhibition profiling the work of Renzo Piano, we introduce eight of the architect’s landmark projects, from New York’s Whitney Museum to London’s iconic Shard.
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.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
Introducing our 2019 exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts
From the genius of the Renaissance to immersive new work created specially for our galleries, next year’s exhibitions promise to exhilarate and inspire. The RA’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow, introduces our packed programme for 2019.
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
Summer Exhibition 2018 prizes announced
Sculptor and installation artist Mike Nelson RA has won the 2018 Charles Wollaston award for the “most distinguished work” in the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Tracing British art through 250 years of the Summer Exhibition
The Summer Exhibition has filled the RA’s galleries every year since 1769 – it’s been a witness (and a player) in many of British art history’s biggest moments. Jenny Uglow takes a look at the art that’s caused drama, changes, protests and celebration over the past quarter millennium.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Did Banksy get into the Summer Exhibition?
As the 250th Summer Exhibition opens, Banksy has revealed that he entered the public submission exhibition under a pseudonym… Here’s the inside story.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Video: Grayson Perry inside the Summer Exhibition
Take a look inside the 250th Summer Exhibition in this video with coordinator Grayson Perry RA, as he shows us some of his highlights of this year’s show.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Behind the scenes at the 250th Summer Exhibition
What’s it like to put together the Summer Exhibition? We spoke to this year’s coordinator, Grayson Perry RA, and his band of fellow artists in charge of selecting and hanging the world’s largest open-submission art show.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Monet, Hockney, Van Gogh: remember these RA blockbusters?
As our transformed campus lays the foundations for another 250 years of blockbuster art exhibitions, Artistic Director Tim Marlow takes stock of some of the RA’s most popular shows since 1768.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Video: Tracey Emin RA on her largest-ever text piece
Hanging from the vast Victorian glass roof of St Pancras International, I Want My Time With You is the latest in the Terrace Wires public art series. In this video, Tracey Emin discusses the origins of the work and why she chose these particular words.
RA Exhibitions
We need to talk about Charles I’s “pet dwarf”
With a portrait of “The Queen’s Dwarf” on display at the RA, Tom Shakespeare argues we need to look beyond the painting’s spectacle to consider the person it’s depicting – and the uncomfortable truths it still carries today.
> 6 years ago
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 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 Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Video: Artemisia Gentileschi in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Artemisia Gentileschi, one of very few women who carved out a career in the 17th-century art world.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Chantal Joffe RA: “If I can paint it, I can deal with it”
With a nude self-portrait currently on show in our From Life exhibition, Chantal Joffe discusses her models, inspiration and artistic process with the show’s curator, Adrian Locke.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
Strike a pose: 250 years of life drawing at the RA
As our ‘From Life’ exhibition explores the past, present and future of representing bodies in art, we look back at the Royal Academy’s 250-year tradition of drawing nude models.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
Princes and painters: a who’s who of Charles I’s court
Before you visit our blockbuster ‘Charles I’ exhibition, refresh your knowledge of Stuart history with our introduction to all the major players surrounding the King, matching up big names with impeccably painted faces.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
360 video: how Jonathan Yeo turned virtual reality into bronze
As part of our From Life exhibition project, painter Jonathan Yeo has been depicting his own body in virtual reality. In this 360 degree video, explore his studio as he creates a virtual self-portrait to be 3D-printed as a sculpture.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
Video: what you need to know about Duchamp’s Fountain
2017 marks 100 years since a porcelain urinal changed the course of modern art. In this video, Professor Dawn Ades tells the story behind Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
“It’s a trick on consciousness” – Antony Gormley on virtual reality
To celebrate our From Life exhibition, filmmakers followed artists and architects including Antony Gormley, Farshid Moussavi, Yinka Shonibare and Humphrey Ocean as they experimented with virtual reality in their practices. Watch five clips from the documentary here.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
From pencil and paper to virtual reality: working from life today
With our current exhibition exploring the past, present and future of working from life, art critic Ben Luke explores how today’s artists are rethinking this seemingly traditional process in innovative, unexpected ways.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
Sex, death and religion in Jasper Johns’s ‘Dancers on a Plane’
A tribute to the artist’s lifelong choreographer friend, this painting is full of symbols and allusions that aren’t immediately clear. Here, art historian Simon Wilson takes a close look at the work’s testicles, cutlery and fancy footwork.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years ago
Video: what is encaustic painting?
Encaustic is an ancient painting method in which wax and pigment are fused onto a surface with heat. Watch a demonstration of this versatile technique by Royal Academician Terry Setch, recorded in his Cardiff studio.
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.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
Six secrets from Matisse’s studio
When Henri Cartier-Bresson photographed Matisse in his seventies sketching in his studio, he also captured many of the objects that inspired the artist throughout his career. Here we take a closer look at six items that surrounded Matisse at work.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
Inside the show: Matisse in the Studio
From African masks to ornate furniture, the objects that Henri Matisse collected throughout his life played a key role in his art. Learn more in these videos with curator Ann Dumas.
RA Exhibitions
7 years ago
Jasper Johns: 10 works to know
Over the past six decades, Jasper Johns’s paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints have left an indelible mark on art. With the RA showing a major survey of his practice to date, here’s a closer look at ten of his key works.
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 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 Exhibitions
7 years ago
Jasper Johns: a beginner’s guide
In autumn 2017 we celebrate the work of pioneering American artist Jasper Johns. The exhibition spans over six decades of ground-breaking work, exploring this highly innovative artist through an extraordinary selection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Matisse’s studio: “an interior world of his own making”
With our Matisse in the Studio exhibition now open, Nicholas Watkins reveals the artist’s working practice – orchestrating objects and models in his French ateliers to explore colour, line and space.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Video: Henri Matisse in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a 60-second introduction to Henri Matisse, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2017 prizes announced
Filmmaker and installation artist Isaac Julien wins the prestigious £25,000 Charles Wollaston award for the “most distinguished work” in the Summer Exhibition.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
In pictures: 40 years of exhibition posters
This year marks 40 years of our Friends of the RA scheme, and 40 years of the exhibitions they’ve visited. As a display of posters goes on show as part of Friends Week, here’s a reminder of just a few – and an invitation to vote for your favourites!
RA Exhibitions
“No one should be ashamed of their art hero”
Mentioning the quirky, non-conformist style of Anthony Green at my art school interview drew sniggers – but it was Green’s very idiosyncrasies that taught me to think for myself, says artist and RA Schools tutor Mark Hampson.
> 7 years ago
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
10 of the most parodied artworks of all time
With ‘American Gothic’ in the UK for the first time, we take a look at some of the other iconic works that have attracted moustaches, Muppets and other mimicry across art history.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
A timeline of events in the Russian Revolution: 1917-1932
Have the artworks in our Russian Revolution exhibition got you hankering for a little more history, or are you wanting to brush up on a few key dates before you see the show? Maybe our timeline can help…
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Inside the show: art of the Russian Revolution
In these videos, take a look inside our exhibition of post-revolutionary Russian art and learn more about the vast 1932 exhibition in Leningrad that inspired it.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Video: Edward Hopper in 60 seconds
In our latest 60-second guide, Tim Marlow introduces Edward Hopper, perhaps the most important American realist painter of the early 20th century.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Five graphic design ideas from the Russian Revolution
Soviet designers gave us dynamic geometry, bold typography and minimalist colour that feels right at home in 2017. Designer and author Steve Heller shares five key ideas you need to know.
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 Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Miss Piggy’s American Gothique: the making of a (near) masterpiece
As Grant Wood’s American Gothic goes on show at the RA, the former Creative Director of the Muppets explains how he came to make a painstaking tribute to it – and why he owes Piggy an apology. We begin our story in Bermuda…
RA Exhibitions
> 7 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.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
The Russian painting that’s so controversial it’s in storage
As the RA prepares for a major exhibition of Russian art, we go behind the scenes at Moscow’s State Tretyakov Gallery to discover a seldom-seen painting that will be making the trip to London.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
Six views of America
As a new term in the White House divides America, we look back to another time of social upheaval and economic anxiety. Here are six snapshots of a changing country, as depicted by 1930s artists in the RA’s upcoming exhibition, ‘America after the Fall’, and then by contemporary painters in 21st century USA.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
What virtual reality means for art
With a display of virtual reality art opening in January, we spoke to HTC’s Rikard Steiber about the rise of VR and its potential impact on art and artists.
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 Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
Dreams, demons and seismic doodling: Timothy Hyman RA on James Ensor
In this extract from his new book, Timothy Hyman explores how the visionary Belgian painter remade figurative painting in his own macabre manner.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
“I taught Jack that” – Thomas Hart Benton and his student, Jackson Pollock
Ahead of our America After the Fall exhibition, Debra N. Mancoff spotlights Hart Benton’s paintings of idealised rural life during the Great Depression – and his mentorship of an emerging young artist, Jackson Pollock.
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 Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
“I’m a creampuff gone rotten” – James Ensor on art and life
An anti-establishment artist with plenty to say, James Ensor’s scribblings are just as eccentric as his paintings. As an insight into his whimsical works, here’s a selection of Ensor’s inner musings – on art, critics and his naughty pug.
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.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
Video: Abstract Expressionists in 60 seconds
Got a minute? In these short videos, the RA’s Artistic Director introduces five of the key figures of Abstract Expressionism.
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 Exhibitions
8 years ago
Six Academicians on the Abstract Expressionists
The power and complexity of Abstract Expressionist art lies in the diverse sensibilities of its artists. Here six Royal Academicians respond to some of the movement’s greatest painters.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
Hockney: “People like pictures – they won’t go away”
In an extract from their forthcoming book, A History of Pictures, David Hockney RA and Martin Gayford discuss the impact of the digital age on art. Will painting survive?
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
Quiz: which Abstract Expressionist are you?
Are you a sensible socialite or a bar brawler? Are you ruled by ideals or impulses? Take the quiz to find your kindred Abstract Expressionist spirit, as its biggest characters take over our galleries.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
The Portrait: a short story inspired by Hockney
How can a portrait describe the relationship between an artist and a sitter? How does that differ in a written portrait? In our creative writing course, participants were asked to take inspiration from our current Hockney Portraits exhibition to create a short story.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
Odd couples: Artists you never knew were friends
In autumn 2017, we explore the little-known relationship between two of modern art’s greatest masters – Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp. Here, we take a look at their peculiar friendship, and five other artist pairs you would never have guessed.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
What’s coming up in 2017 at the Royal Academy of Arts
The RA’s Artistic Director introduces our 2017 exhibition programme, which explores some of the most momentous developments in 20th-century art.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
New York nights: the Manhattan of the Abstract Expressionists
New York’s legendary Cedar Tavern and the surrounding galleries became the hub of the New York art scene in the 1940s and ‘50s. Morgan Falconer walks the streets where reputations were on the line.
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.
RA Exhibitions
8 years ago
Video: What’s it like to sit for David Hockney?
Hear from four of the sitters painted by David Hockney for our exhibition ‘David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life’, from 11-year-old Rufus Hale to the architect Frank Gehry.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Video: In the studio with David Hockney RA
David Hockney RA talks to curator Edith Devaney about his Royal Academy exhibition ‘82 Portraits and 1 Still-life’.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
How I got into the Summer Exhibition
Every year there are around 13,000 public entries to the Summer Exhibition, with about 700 making it through to hang in the galleries. We asked 2016’s selected artists to share their creative secrets.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2016 prizes announced
David Nash RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
How to read a Renaissance painting
Renaissance painters combined technical innovation with a richly symbolic visual language. But what did it all mean? The RA’s Lucy Chiswell zooms in on an example from our exhibition In the Age of Giorgione.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Britain’s top 10 maverick buildings
To celebrate the end of our Mavericks season, we asked you to nominate your favourite boundary-pushing buildings in the UK. Here’s what you came up with.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
The director who designs blockbuster exhibitions
Meet Robert Carsen, the leading opera and theatre director who designed our exhibition Painting the Modern Garden.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
Video: Kandinsky and the avant-gardeners
For Matisse, Kandinsky and Munch, the garden provided inspiration as they worked towards new styles of painting.
RA Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
11 beautiful art gardens to see before you die
From Frida Kahlo’s courtyard to a tropical sculpture park in Brazil, art and the outdoors meet to spectacular effect across the world. With Monet’s paintings of Giverny in our galleries, here are 11 more must-see gardens for art-lovers.
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 Exhibitions
> 8 years ago
The portrait debate: Giorgione or Titian?
Who painted this young Venetian nobleman? When it comes to Giorgione, questions of attribution have divided opinion for centuries. We invited two experts to argue it out – read both sides then cast your vote.
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.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
12 mavericks of architecture
From championing ground-breaking styles of architecture to famously abandoning commissions before completion, these British architects broke the mould. Meet the mavericks, as our new architecture display goes on show.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
Video: a visit to three artist gardens in northern France
Take a tour of three beautiful gardens which inspired paintings in our forthcoming exhibition on the garden in art.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
Working in pure pigment: artists’ tips on using pastel
Inspired by Jean-Etienne Liotard’s pastel virtuosity? Find out more about this versatile medium with some tips from the experts.
RA Exhibitions
< 9 years ago
Art history 101: what is trompe l’oeil?
Liotard was a skilled portrait painter – but he also liked a joke, and was a key exponent of trompe l’oeil. Here’s a quick introduction to this strange phenomenon in art history.
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.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: inside the show
In this video series, curator MaryAnne Stevens takes us inside the Sackler Wing exhibition devoted to the 18th century Swiss master, Jean-Etienne Liotard, and picks out a few highlights.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Ai Weiwei’s rules for life and art
With a promise never to be silenced, China’s most famous artist has become known for his pithy, poetic words on freedom and creativity. We share 21 Weiwei-isms.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Art and activism: can it change the world?
Performance and protest is key to the work of Ai Weiwei, as it is to many of his contemporaries. But in the face of global crisis, can art really effect change? Professor Jen Harvie explores the role of the artist-activist.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: a beginner’s guide
Who was Jean-Etienne Liotard? We introduce one of the most idiosyncratic figures of the 18th century, a master portrait-painter whose works are characterised by their warts-and-all realism and technical virtuosity.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
James Ensor: a beginner’s guide
In 2016 the RA celebrates the life and work of James Ensor, whose macabre paintings of crowds and carnivals made him one of Belgium’s most prominent artists of the early twentieth century.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Giorgione’s Venice: a beginner’s guide
Coming to the RA this spring are iconic works by Giorgione, Dürer, Bellini, Titian and more, in a celebration of Venetian painting in the early 16th century. Here are six key insights into one of the most influential moments in art history.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Abstract Expressionism: a beginner’s guide
Autumn 2016 sees a landmark exhibition of Abstract Expressionism taking place in the main galleries at the Royal Academy.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Six of the best: artist-gardeners
In 2016, the Royal Academy explores the influence that gardens exerted on the evolution of art from the 1860s to the 1920s. Here we pick out six of the greatest artist-gardeners from ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
From Monet to Hockney: 2016 at the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy’s Artistic Director explains what’s in store in for the next year as we launch our 2016 exhibition programme.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
My studio life: Edmund de Waal
We visited Edmund de Waal in his south London studio, where he told us about creating a space for both making and writing.
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 Weiwei: 13 works to know
Ai Weiwei has worked in everything from paint to readymades. As our landmark exhibition examines work from 1993 up to the present day, we take a look at some of the key works to know from across Ai’s career.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Make an Ai Weiwei artwork
In an exclusive extract from a new book of DIY projects by artists and designers, we share one by Ai Weiwei, as this provocative artist takes over our main galleries.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Ai Weiwei: a beginner’s guide
From surveillance cameras to smashed ceramics, Ai Weiwei is uncompromising in his fight for the freedom of expression. Here’s what you need to know about China’s most famous artist.
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.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Art history 101: what is a cartoon?
As the extraordinary 13 metre-wide Waterloo cartoon goes on display at the RA, our curator of works on paper offers a quick introduction to the technique used by the likes of Maclise and Raphael.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Fun for kids: make a box like Cornell
We invited families to create their own shadow boxes inspired by the work of Cornell. Here’s how to do it…
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Daniel Maclise
His prestigious wall-painting commission is still in the Houses of Parliament and Dickens’s last public appearance was a tribute to him. So why don’t we know Daniel Maclise? As his epic cartoon goes on show, here’s a quick guide.
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.
RA Exhibitions
9 years ago
Inside Joseph Cornell’s studio
Packed full with “sketchboxes” and folders, carefully arranged in his own unique filing system, Joseph Cornell’s studio was like a laboratory for his art experiments. The curator of our show takes us inside.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Richard E Grant at the Summer Exhibition 2015
A long-time fan of the Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition, actor Richard E Grant takes us on a whistle-stop tour of his favourite works of art in this year’s show.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
From Dalí to Warhol: Joseph Cornell’s artist friends
Often misunderstood as an outsider, Cornell’s contacts read like a Who’s Who of the New York art scene. The curator of our exhibition introduces the gang.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Ai Weiwei is refused a UK business visa
RA Artistic Director Tim Marlow comments on the news – which could affect the artist’s attendance at his upcoming exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Introducing Ai Weiwei’s ‘Tree’
Curator Adrian Locke on the monumental installation that will be coming to the RA’s courtyard alongside our Ai Weiwei exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Joseph Cornell: a beginner’s guide
This July, the Royal Academy opens a landmark exhibition devoted to the beguiling works of Joseph Cornell – one of the most original artists of the 20th century.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
How to be an armchair voyager like Cornell
A unique figure in American art, Joseph Cornell worked in his own, extraordinary medium – the shadow box. Now we’re inviting you to capture your dreams in boxes too, in our Instagram challenge.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Rebecca Salter RA on the tradition of Japanese woodblock printing
The Academician has spent her career studying and promoting the threatened art of Japanese woodblock printing. Here, she tells us about her new prints, commissioned for the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Joseph Cornell and his poets
The Ted Hughes Poetry Prize-nominated author and leader of our Joseph Cornell-inspired short course explores the poets whose writings had a profound effect on the artist.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2015 prizes announced
Rose Wylie RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Richard Diebenkorn: inside the show
Take a look inside our Richard Diebenkorn exhibition in these short videos presented by the exhibition’s curators.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Five masters who looked to Rubens
Rubens was one of the most influential artists of all time. Here, we profile his relationship with five major artists that came after him.
RA Exhibitions
> 9 years ago
Notes to myself: Diebenkorn’s 10 rules for painting
Sometime in his later career, Diebenkorn wrote down ten points of artistic intention. Sharing them here, we also begin a new series of notes, asking artists to share their own creative wisdom.
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.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
Richard Diebenkorn: a beginner’s guide
This March the RA celebrates the fascinating career of Richard Diebenkorn, one of the great twentieth-century masters of American painting.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
How well do you know Rubens? Take the quiz
Rubens and His Legacy explores the artist’s influence across art history. Let’s see what you know about this Baroque master…
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
The extraordinary life of Charles Stewart
Charles Stewart’s illustrations to the Gothic novel Uncle Silas hint at an unusual life. Here are five surprising facts.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
The story of Uncle Silas
A young girl is trapped in a mansion with her mysterious uncle and a sinister governess. With Charles Stewart’s illustrations to this Gothic novel in our Tennant Gallery, the curator walks us through the story.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
Peter Paul Rubens: a beginner’s guide
The influence of the Flemish Baroque master can be seen across art history, from the portraits of Van Dyck to the prints of Picasso. Here’s a quick intro to “the prince of painters”.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
Video: dressing an Italian countess
What was it like to wear the elaborate clothes of a Renaissance aristocrat, as seen in the portraits of Giovanni Battista Moroni? Award winning actor Mark Rylance reveals all.
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.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
How to read an Anselm Kiefer
Rich in both material and meaning, the powerful paintings of the German artist reward repeated viewing. We take a deeper look at ‘Black Flakes’, one of the works in the show.
RA Exhibitions
< 10 years ago
Curator’s picks: Anselm Kiefer
Kathleen Soriano, curator of our Anselm Kiefer exhibition, introduces five key works from the show.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: the story so far
As we prepare for an exhibition of this eccentric and distinctive portraitist, we caught up with co-curator MaryAnne Stevens to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Joseph Cornell: the story so far
Next year’s exhibition of Joseph Cornell will give a unique opportunity to view the magical works of this incomparable artist. We caught up with curator Sarah Lea to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Giovanni Battista Moroni: a beginner’s guide
In October, the RA opens an exhibition of work by one of the greatest portrait painters of all time, Giovanni Battista Moroni. But he is comparatively little known – certainly when compared to the giants of Italian painting like Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. We spoke to exhibition curator Arturo Galansino to find out more about what sets Moroni apart.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Giovanni Battista Moroni: Cut from a different cloth
One of the greatest of all portraitists, Giovanni Battista Moroni captured his sitters’ psychology with exceptional honesty and insight. As the Academy stages the biggest survey in Britain of the Renaissance painter’s work, novelist Sarah Dunant evokes the many characters who emerged from his canvases.
RA Exhibitions
10 years ago
Anselm Kiefer: a beginner’s guide
This week the RA welcomes the works of German artist Anselm Kiefer: from intimate watercolours and artist’s books, to vast paintings, complex sculpture, and installations on a monumental scale.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 10 years ago
A look inside ‘Radical Geometry’
Explore some of the highlights in our exhibition of groundbreaking abstract art from 20th-century South America
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 10 years ago
Varnishing Day at the Summer Exhibition 2014
Celebrating with the artists in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
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
Pezo Von Ellrichshausen: to the Pacific edge
Curator Kate Goodwin visits a “heroic” house perched high, overlooking the ocean in Chile.
RA Exhibitions
> 11 years ago
Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910-1940
The only thing matching the political turmoil of the Mexican Revolution was the creative outpouring that would inspire artists far beyond Mexico’s borders.
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
Mariko Mori: Rebirth
This Japanese artist is re-imagining ancient myths, creating mesmerising installations using state-of-the-art technology.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 12 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2012
Now in its 244th year, the Summer Exhibition is the world’s biggest open submission show. Co-ordinator and painter Tess Jaray RA explains why she thinks small is beautiful.
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.
RA Exhibitions
13 years ago
Degas and the Ballet
Discover how photographic inventions helped Degas animate his figures in pastel and paint.