Search the Collection
Search the Collection
Look for people, works of art, books, archive materials, exhibition catalogues and frames from within the RA Collection.
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Highlights from the Collection
![Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA, Theory]()
![Angelica Kauffman RA, Design]()
![Thomas Banks RA, The Falling Titan]()
![John Constable RA, The Leaping Horse]()
![Sir John Everett Millais Bt. PRA, A Souvenir of Velazquez]()
![Dame Laura Knight RA, A Misty Sunrise]()
![Sir Anthony Caro RA, Cascade Series 'Mouchoir']()
![Dame Tracey Emin RA, Trying to Find You 1]()
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Read more about our Collection
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![RA cast display installation]()
Our Collection
7 months ago
Video: Historic casts are re-installed at the RA Schools
After years in storage, watch as our cast collection is re-installed around the RA Schools.
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![Richard Cosway RA, Richard and Maria Cosway, and Ottobah Cugoano (detail)]()
Our Collection
1 year ago
Untold Stories
Recent research reveals how the Royal Academy’s founding artists worked amidst Britain’s imperial expansion in the 18th century, the transatlantic slave trade, and a growing abolitionist movement.
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![Sir Joshua Reynolds PRA,, Self-portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA]()
Our Collection
< 2 years ago
Creative inspiration today from the first President of the Royal Academy
The RA’s founding President Joshua Reynolds may have shaken up the art world when he delivered his ‘Discourses’ lectures, but are they still relevant now? We take a closer look at what artists and art-lovers can learn from the series today.
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![Emma Stibbon RA, Collapsed Whaling Station, Deception Island, Antarctica]()
Our Collection
< 2 years ago
Video: Apocalyptic printmaking and extreme environments with Emma Stibbon RA
Watch Emma Stibbon describes the unforgiving conditions and dramatic landscapes that inspired her display in the Collection Gallery.
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![RA Library]()
Our Collection
> 2 years ago
RA Collections Decolonial Research Project
Over the past year, our team has been investigating the links between the RA and its colonial past. In our first post on this subject, we offer an update on this work, and capture how we’re documenting associations between 18th- and 19th-century Royal Academicians and colonial activities
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![Yinka Shonibare RA, Cheeky Little Astronomer (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 3 years ago
A slow look: Yinka Shonibare’s ‘Cheeky Little Astronomer’
Take ten minutes to meditate as we guide you through a slow, mindful look at Yinka Shonibare RA’s sculpture.
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![Oriana Georgiana Reinagle, Study of trees (recto); view of a church (verso)]()
Our Collection
> 3 years ago
A slow look: Oriana Reinagle’s ‘Study of trees’
Enjoy five blissful minutes of mindfulness and art with this guided meditation.
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![John Aldridge RA, Artichokes and Cathay Quinces]()
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
A slow look: John Aldridge’s ‘Artichokes and Cathay Quinces’
Take ten minutes to meditate as we mindfully guide you through John Aldrige’s still life painting ‘Artichokes and Cathay Quinces’.
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![Rodney Burn RA, Bracklesham Sands]()
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
A slow look: Rodney Burn’s ‘Bracklesham Sands’
Spend 10 mindful minutes on a guided meditation through the details of Rodney Burn RA’s ‘Bracklesham Sands’.
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![Russell Westwood, Sir Henry Rushbury R.A. with students in the Life Room in the Royal Academy Schools]()
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
Naked truth: the story of female life models at the RA
What does a 230-year-old household bill tell us about life modelling in the 18th-century? Here, we explore the historical role of the female nude life model at the RA.
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![Alfred Ansell, Life drawing of a reclining male nude. This drawing was produced by Alfred Ansell while he was a student at the Royal Academy Schools.]()
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
Victorian women and the fight for arts training
19th-century women faced an uphill struggle to get equal access to training at the Royal Academy Schools. Here, we delve into the RA Archive to learn more about women’s fight for equality.
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![JW Waterhouse, The Mermaid (detail)]()
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Waterhouse’s ‘A Mermaid’
Spend 60 seconds exploring the dark mythology behind John William Waterhouse RA’s ‘A Mermaid’.
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![Life drawing live thumbnail]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
7 life drawing shorts to do at home
In 2018, we hosted the world’s first-ever livestreamed life drawing class from the Royal Academy’s famous Life Room, #LifeDrawingLive. Grab a pencil and have a crack at each pose by life model Andrew Crayford.
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![John Flaxman RA, Scylla]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
How to read it: Flaxman’s ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’
The 18th-century British artist John Flaxman was an established sculptor, but it was his drawn illustrations of ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’ that made him a sensation across Europe.
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![Annie Swynnerton ARA , The Letter (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
How to read it: Annie Swynnerton’s The Letter
In 1922, the Royal Academy elected its first female member in over 150 years, Annie Swynnerton – here’s how to read her enigmatic painting of a young woman.
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![Meredith Frampton RA, Still Life]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
How to read it: Meredith Frampton’s Still Life
This meticulous and mysterious work by Meredith Frampton is full of contrasting symbolism. Our Collections team guide you through it in this three-minute read.
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![Yinka Shonibare RA, Cheeky Little Astronomer (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Shonibare’s ‘Cheeky Little Astronomer’
Discover how multicultural influences fuse together to create a wider view of global inclusivity in Yinka Shonibare RA’s cheeky sculpture.
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![William Hogarth, Gin Lane]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
In 60 seconds: Hogarth’s ‘Gin Lane’ & ‘Beer Street’
Learn how a pair of engravings by satirical artist William Hogarth were used to alter the drinking habits of the British public in the 18th century.
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![Frank Cadogan Cowper RA, Vanity (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 4 years ago
How to read it: Frank Cadogan Cowper’s Vanity
Combining allusions to both Renaissance and Pre-Raphaelite painting, Frank Cadogan Cowper’s Vanity celebrates beauty while cautioning against excessive self-regard. Unravel the painting’s influences in this three-minute read.
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![Dame Laura Knight RA, Ella Naper in the Apple Orchard at Trewoolfe]()
Our Collection
< 5 years ago
How to read it: Dame Laura Knight RA’s ‘Ella Naper in the Apple Orchard at Trewoolfe’
Dame Laura Knight RA was denied access to nude models throughout her studies. In Cornwall, she found the freedom and the friends to make up for lost time.
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![Alice Wilding RA and Cathie Pilkington RA with their installation 'The Ancestors']()
Our Collection
5 years ago
Artists Cathie Pilkington and Alison Wilding on ‘The Ancestors’
Fiona Maddocks meets the former teacher and pupil duo about their co-curated project on their Academy forebears.
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![Gabriella Boyd, Sunhead]()
Our Collection
> 5 years ago
How to read it: Gabriella Boyd’s “Sunhead”
In Gabriella Boyd’s “Sunhead”, familiar shapes are given a surreal twist. The painting floats on the edge of reality where nothing is certain. But what does it mean? Where did the head go? And why is this painting in the RA’s Collection anyway?
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![Sir Frank Brangwyn RA, Sunflowers]()
Our Collection
> 5 years ago
How to read it: Frank Brangwyn’s ‘Sunflowers’
Frank Brangwyn’s ‘Sunflowers’ is an explosion of colour that captures the vibrancy of a much-loved plant. But did Brangwyn copy Van Gogh? And why sunflowers, anyway?
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![Giampietrino and Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio, Copy of Leonardo's The Last Supper]()
Our Collection
< 6 years ago
How to read it: our copy of Leonardo’s Last Supper
Within the RA’s Collection Gallery is a full-size copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’, painted by one or more of his pupils. What can it tell us about the original masterpiece?
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![Richard Earlom, The Exhibition at the Royal Academy in Pall Mall in 1771]()
Our Collection
> 6 years ago
How to read it: The Exhibition of the Royal Academy in Pall Mall, 1771
How much has the Summer Exhibition changed in 250 years? As the Great Spectacle exhibition looks back at the masterpieces from its history, we head back to 1771 to explore a work that documented the exhibition itself.
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![J.S. Sargent RA, Detail of the portrait of Henry James O.M. after being damaged by a suffragette, May 1914]()
Our Collection
> 6 years ago
‘Deeds not words’: Suffragettes and the Summer Exhibition
The Great Spectacle charts 250 years of Summer Exhibitions – including 1914, when Suffragette Mary Wood attacked a John Singer Sargent portrait with a meat cleaver. We delve into the Royal Academy’s archive to find out how the Academy, and the public, reacted.
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![Sir Thomas Lawrence PRA, Satan summoning his Legions]()
Our Collection
> 6 years ago
How to read it: Thomas Lawrence’s Satan Summoning his Legions
As you enter the RA’s new Collection Gallery, a very large (and slightly absurd) figure of Satan towers over you – in what looks suspiciously like the Tory “power stance”. Here’s the story behind the painting…
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![, Photographs of procedures for the Summer Exhibition, 1930]()
Our Collection
> 6 years ago
Quiz: which great British artwork are you?
To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re finally putting the treasures of our Collection on free display all across the RA. Each artwork has its own unique character, so which one matches yours?
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![Sir Henry Raeburn RA, Boy and Rabbit]()
Our Collection
< 7 years ago
How to read it: Henry Raeburn’s Boy and Rabbit
Take a closer look at Henry Raeburn’s Boy and Rabbit, an intimate family portrait from the RA Collection.
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![Edward Burne-Jones, The Summer Snow]()
Our Collection
7 years ago
How to read it: Edward Burne-Jones’s The Summer Snow
Edward Burne-Jones and his fellow Pre-Raphaelites are famed for their paintings, but their illustrations, which were an important part of their early careers, are less well-known. Here’s a closer look at one of Burne-Jones’s wood engravings.
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![Bill Woodrow RA , Fingerswarm]()
Our Collection
7 years ago
How to read it: Bill Woodrow RA’s Fingerswarm
Bill Woodrow RA’s Fingerswarm is part of a new display of sculpture curated by Richard Deacon RA. Woodrow held a swarm of bees on his bare hand at a beekeeping course, sparking the idea for this surreal sculpture.
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![Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema RA, A Family Group (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 7 years ago
How to read it: Lawrence Alma-Tadema RA’s A Family Group
This painting-within-a-painting by Lawrence Alma-Tadema depicts his artist wife and her siblings examining an earlier work by the couple, painted to symbolise their marriage.
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![Charles Tunnicliffe RA, Chinese Geese]()
Our Collection
> 7 years ago
How to read it: Charles Tunnicliffe’s Chinese Geese
Pattern and design are as important as accuracy in this wood engraving by Charles Tunnicliffe RA. Come and take a closer look…
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![Henry Tuke RA, A Bathing Group (detail)]()
Our Collection
> 7 years ago
How to read it: Henry Tuke’s A Bathing Group
The year 2017 was the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality, marked at Tate Britain with an exhibition of ‘Queer British Art’, featuring Henry Tuke’s A Bathing Group from our collection. Take a closer look…
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![Michelangelo Buonarroti, The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John (The 'Taddei Tondo')]()
Our Collection
> 7 years ago
How to read it: Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo
The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John, known as the Taddei Tondo, is the only marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti in a UK collection.
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![John Constable, Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour]()
Our Collection
< 8 years ago
How to read it: Constable’s Flatford Mill study
Painted quickly to develop ideas before the final work, this is one of 16 oil sketches by John Constable RA in our collection. Here’s an introduction to Flatford Mill from a Lock on the Stour.
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![Eric Ravilious , December Snow]()
Our Collection
< 8 years ago
The 12 days of gifmas
Merry Christmas, art-lovers! This morning we bring you some light entertainment from the RA Collection – which, it turns out, is chock-a-block with pipers piping, french hens and maids a-milking. We’ve made just a few festive alterations…
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![Sir William Chambers RA, Design of a capital illustrating the supposed origin of the Corinthian order: elevation]()
Our Collection
8 years ago
How to read it: “the origin of the Corinthian order”
Sir William Chambers’s beautiful 18th-century drawing tells an ancient story about the beginnings of architecture.
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![John Gibson RA , Cupid pursuing Psyche]()
Our Collection
> 8 years ago
How to read it: John Gibson’s Cupid and Psyche
Take a closer look at how one of Britain’s most celebrated 19th-century sculptors tackled an ancient Roman tale in marble.
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![Archivist Mark Pomeroy displays an item from the archive]()
Our Collection
< 10 years ago
On the Reynolds trail in the RA archive
On the eve of a major exhibition in London dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, we delve into the RA’s archive to learn more about the Academy’s founding president.
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![Film still from 'Mr Turner']()
Our Collection
10 years ago
Video: how we made Mr. Turner
Who was Mr. Turner? A contradiction, Timothy Spall told us at a recent panel discussion on Mike Leigh’s biopic. Watch the event and a behind-the-scenes video about the film here.
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![The Saloon, in the John Madejski Fine Rooms]()
Our Collection
10 years ago
Explore the John Madejski Fine Rooms rehang
Learn more about some of the highlights of our Collection that have recently gone on show in the John Madejski Fine Rooms.
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![Ruskin Spear RA, The Old Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 1943]()
Our Collection
> 10 years ago
Artist of the Month: July 2014
As a flamboyantly self-styled “working-class cockney”, Ruskin Spear RA found subjects for painting in the pubs, snooker halls and streets of Hammersmith, Fulham, Shepherd’s Bush and Chiswick.
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![Printmaking materials in the studio of Norman Ackroyd RA]()
Our Collection
> 10 years ago
From aquatints to woodcuts: a visual glossary of original prints
We take a look at the main printmaking techniques and some of the terminology you’ll encounter when looking at original prints.
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Start exploring the RA Collection
read more- Explore art works, paint-smeared palettes, scribbled letters and more...
- Artists and architects have run the RA for 250 years.
Our Collection is a record of them.
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![William Lionel Wyllie RA, The Portsmouth Fishing Fleet: The Breeze Falls Light]()
Prints on demand
High-quality prints of images from the Royal Academy’s Collections are available to order online, framed or unframed, on a choice of papers or canvas.
Highlights include Frederick Gore’s vivid Spanish landscapes, John William Waterhouse’s famous Mermaid and John Constable’s lively seascape oil sketches, as well as charming illustrations from the RA Library’s book collections.
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The Picture Library
The Picture Library can supply reproduction-quality, high-resolution files or colour transparencies of works in the Royal Academy’s Collections, together with reproduction licenses.
Please note that we are unable to supply images of works in our temporary exhibitions as we do not own the rights to these images. A selection of exhibition merchandise is available in our shop.
How to contact us
Telephone: +44 20 7300 5915
Email: picturelibrary@royalacademy.org.uk
Write to:
The Picture Library
Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London
W1J 0BD![Walter Crane, Appearance of the Crab]()
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Downloadable guides