The Permanent Collection on display in the John Madejski Fine RoomsHigh Art: Reynolds and History Painting 1780-1815 History painting was regarded as the pinnacle of High Art and strongly promoted by Sir Joshua Reynolds above other genres such as portraiture, landscape and still life. This display includes major works given by early Members of the Royal Academy to the Collection including biblical subjects by Benjamin West, John Singleton Copley and John Francis Rigaud, as well as Henry Fuseli’s fantastical Thor Battering the Midgard Serpent (above). >More ... High Life: Celebrating the loan of W.P. Frith's Private View at the Royal Academy 1881  This display focuses on the loan of WP Frith's Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881. Painted in 1883, this is Frith's last major panoramic painting and shows the Victorian elite seeing and being seen at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition of 1881. Hung alongside this picture are subject paintings by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Briton Riviere, a portrait of Lord Leighton by GF Watts and HH Armstead's marble relief of The Ever Reigning Queen. >More ... 
This exhibition focuses on the prints produced by Robert Austin (1895-1973) in the 1920s and '30s, which were among the most admired and collectable of the period. Austin led a revival of the technique of pure engraving in the tradition of German masters of more than four centuries earlier, such as Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Dürer. >More ... Searching the CollectionsThe Royal Academy Collections include paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, historic books, archives, historic photographs and plaster casts. To search any of these categories either use the quick search box above or for more advanced searches visit Search all collections to search across all media, or narrow your search by choosing to search Works of art, Books or Archives. Alternatively you can browse by the Name A-Zor visit Help. Currently, only works of art which have been digitised are available on the website. More images are added each month, and in due course all records will be made available. Works of art are mainly by British artists from the 18th century to the present day. >More... The Library and Archive form one of the most significant resources for the study of British Art from 1760 onwards. >More... Academy in the 18th Century The Royal Academicians in General Assembly by Henry Singleton was painted in 1795 and shows artists gathered in the Academy's rooms at Somerset House. In this interactive you can explore the people, including Benjamin West PRA, and the first two women members of the Royal Academy, as well as the objects and pictures shown in this painting. >More Benjamin West PRA - History Painter to the King Watch a series of interviews in which Loyd Grossman and Curators from the Collection discuss Benjamin West’s meteoric career, his apocalyptic subjects and a satirical print which reveals how West and other Academcians were duped into buying a fake manuscript which purported to reveal the secret techniques of the Old Masters. More> Artist of the Month - July 2009 Elmore was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1857 and choose to present as his Diploma work a scene from one of Shakespeare's comedies. The mid-19th century saw an increased fascination with Shakespearean subjects. >More.... Object of the Month - July 2009 Edward Bawden's watercolour of Lindsell Church, Essex evokes the atmosphere of a stormy day with occasional shafts of light breaking through the clouds onto the medieval building. Lindsell is situated near Great Bardfield, where the artist lived. >More.... John Frederick Lewis RA: An Album of early drawings by Lewis and his family In this interactive you can explore over 170 drawings from an album of works by J. F. Lewis and his family. You can also listen to curators Briony Llewellyn and Sally Doust discussing how the album was put together; the importance of this artistic family, Lewis's enthusiasm for drawing animals and his later career as an Orientalist painter. More> |