Articles
RA Magazine Autumn 2015
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
The world of Charles and Ray Eames
Charles and Ray Eames contributed much more to art and design than their iconic chairs, as a Barbican exhibition reveals.
Artists
> 7 years ago
Anne Desmet: Time is of the essence
Anne Desmet RA is known for her prints and collages exploring space and time. But in her new show she combines these with objects in unusual and playful ways.
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
Frieze Masters goes Pop
Looking for something unusual at the October art fairs? Head for Frieze Masters Spotlight section.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
RA Recommends: this autumn in Yorkshire
From the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to the newly opened Centre of Ceramic Art, the county hosts some outstanding shows this autumn.
RA Recommends
> 7 years ago
An honest face: Goya’s groundbreaking portraits
As the first show of Goya’s portraiture opens today, Caroline Bugler considers three ways the Spanish master broke the genre’s boundaries.
Inside the Academy
> 7 years ago
Benjamin West: a very contemporary artist
As his biography of Benjamin West PRA is published, Loyd Grossman reveals how this founding member of the Academy broke with the past like no other artist of his era.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Author Ma Jian on Ai Weiwei and freedom of expression in China
Ma Jian is renowned for his novels exploring subjects censored in China, where his books are banned, and he has been barred from entering the Chinese mainland. Ahead of Ai Weiwei’s RA retrospective, we asked the writer about his admiration for the artist, and about the limits of free expression in China.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 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.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Ai Weiwei’s alternative vision for Beijing’s buildings
With a display on Beijing’s Caochangdi in our Architecture Space, our curator discusses the Ai Weiwei-designed buildings of this artists’ region, and their place in a rapidly developing city.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Edmund de Waal on his new project ‘white’
This autumn, the RA Library and Print Room will host a project by Edmund de Waal: an exploration of the colour white. Here, he takes us through some of the objects on display.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Ai of the tiger: Sam Phillips meets Ai Weiwei in his Beijing studio
Fearless and uncompromising, Ai Weiwei’s art challenges cultural values, confronts injustices and pushes materials to their limit. Sam Phillips talks to the artist about his show at the RA, which he was not expecting to be able to attend.
Artists
> 7 years ago
Damien Hirst in conversation with John Hoyland RA
The late John Hoyland RA told Damien Hirst about meeting Francis Bacon, and what it is to be a painter.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 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.
Inside the Academy
> 7 years ago
The Waterloo Cartoon: a poem by Owen Shears
To mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, and the Academy’s display of Daniel Maclise RA’s extraordinary drawing, Owen Sheers writes a poem considering its significance in the context of war art.
Artists
> 7 years ago
Sean Scully RA pays homage to Catalonia
The abstract art of Sean Scully RA is installed in the 9th century church of Santa Cecilia in Catalonia.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
More than meets the eye: Julian Barnes on art
In his new book of essays, Julian Barnes offers insightful lessons in how to look at – and read about – art.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Hard-won images: Frank Auerbach and Alberto Giacometti
The intensely wrought paintings of Frank Auerbach find their match in Giacometti’s sculptures, as two shows reveal, says Simon Wilson.
Artists
> 7 years ago
In the studio with Sonia Lawson RA
Despite various challenges, including a leaking roof, Sonia Lawson RA is keen to return to her garden studio, says Fiona Maddocks.