Burlington House Entrance Hall and Ramp
RA Schools alumna Sarah Pickstone pays tribute to 18th-century painter Angelica Kauffman, as part of our celebratory programme marking 250 years of the RA.
Swiss-born artist Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807) was one of only two women among the Royal Academy’s founding members in 1768. The Academy commissioned her to paint four ceiling paintings, and when the RA moved to Burlington House they were installed in the entrance hall. Called The Elements of Art, these roundels depict female figures representing colour, design, composition and invention.
Artist Sarah Pickstone has created a two-part homage to these paintings. The Rainbow is a six-metre-wide reinterpretation of Kauffman’s Colour and will hang in the ramp space outside the RA Cafe. The second painting, Belvedere, is a response to Kauffman’s Design, which is currently on display in our new Collections Gallery. Belvedere will fill Design’s former space in the ceiling of the front entrance hall of Burlington House.
Kauffman’s figures are actively painting and drawing, in contrast with traditional, passive representations of women. By focusing on their active gaze and gesture, Pickstone re-sees the history of the Royal Academy and of women artists in general.
Sarah Pickstone studied at the Royal Academy Schools, completed the Rome Scholarship in Painting from 1991–92 and won the John Moores Painting Prize in 2012. She lives in London and exhibits internationally.
Free
Burlington House Entrance Hall and Ramp
Watch artist Sarah Pickstone as she creates her six-metre-wide painting The Rainbow.
Sarah Pickstone would like to thank the following sponsors for their generous support for An Allegory of Painting 2018:
Manuela Wirth
Catherine Vlasto
Kate Gibbons
Jill Hackel
For all your summer reading needs, we’ve picked 10 contemporary novels inspired by art and artists. Escape to the studios of 1970s New York, the courts of 15th-century Paris, or the deathbed of Francis Bacon…
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!
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.
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.
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?
The RA started out with two female Academicians, then took over a century to elect any more. As we celebrate our 250th anniversary, we take a look back at the women who fought the odds to be a part of our history – and the ones helping to secure our future.
Catch up on our series of events exploring possible feminist futures – from the power of art practice as a catalyst for social change to automation in architecture, moving image as language, and alternative artistic platforms.
While the past decade has seen more female artists becoming Academicians, they have been a rare sight for much of the RA’s existence, and were even excluded from Zoffany’s famed painting of the Academy’s founders. Historian Amanda Vickery delves into the archives to discover the pioneering women who wielded the brush.
Child prodigy Angelica Kauffman went on to be a founder-member of the Royal Academy. Her paintings and drawings were widely reproduced and were particularly popular in England, often being used in interior decorations.