Articles

Summer Exhibition 2018

Inside the Academy

4 years ago

10 highlights of our 250th year

2018 was a big year for the RA. We turned 250, united our two buildings on Piccadilly and Burlington Gardens, and held the most provocative Summer Exhibition yet. Oh, and did we mention The Duchess of Sussex dropped by?
Richard Earlom, The Exhibition at the Royal Academy in Pall Mall in 1771

Our Collection

> 4 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.
Charles Sims RA, Clio and the Children

Our Collection

> 4 years ago

The RA Collection in 250 objects: The Summer Exhibition

To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. In this edition, with the Summer Exhibition on display, and another RA exhibition – The Great Spectacle – looking back at its history, we explore some works in the Collection from Summers gone by.
Installation view of Mike Nelson's 'Untitled (public sculpture for a redundant space)', Summer Exhibition 2018

RA Exhibitions

> 4 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.
J.S. Sargent RA, Detail of the portrait of Henry James O.M. after being damaged by a suffragette, May 1914

Our Collection

> 4 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.
Banksy's 'Vote to Love' in the 250th Summer Exhibition

RA Exhibitions

> 4 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.
Grayson Perry in The Sackler Wing of Galleries, part of the 250th Summer Exhibition

RA Exhibitions

> 4 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.

Ten of the twelve committee members for the 2018 Summer Exhibition

RA Exhibitions

< 5 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

> 5 years ago

Introducing 2018 at the Royal Academy of Arts

Next year’s exhibitions will take us from a legendary British collection to the far seas of the South Pacific, and from centuries past to a glimpse into the future of art. The RA’s Artistic Director introduces the programme for our 250th anniversary year.