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David Hockney, 'The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011 (twenty eleven). Oil on 32 canvases (each 91.4 x 121.9 cm), 365.8 x 975.4 cm; one of a 52-part work. Courtesy of the artist © David Hockney. Photo credit: Jonathan Wilkinson.
Johan Zoffany RA, The Sharp Family (detail), 1779-81. Oil on canvas, 115.6 x 125.7 cm. By courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Lloyd-Baker Trustees.
Talks
Download the Spring 2012 What's on leaflet 
Ruptures
RA Forum
13 February 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £12/£6. Richard Wilson RA and Liza Fior of MUF present projects that explore ruptures and dislocations in the urban environment.
Interact at the RA: Hockney Lipspeaking Talk
17 February 2012
6–7pm; £3. This interactive lipspeaking talk introduces ‘David Hockney: A Bigger Picture’, followed by a visit to the exhibition.
Read more about Interact at the RA: Hockney Lipspeaking Talk
Imagining Hawksmoor
RA Forum
27 February 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £12/£6. Ptolemy Dean and Iain Sinclair discuss how the work of one of Britain’s most original architects has left its mark on our imaginations.
Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP: The Houses of Parliament
Critic's Choice: London's Most Important Building
5 March 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £15/£7. Dominating the Thames at Westminster, the Houses of Parliament is viewed by Attorney General, the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP, as a building of world renown.
Read more about Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP: The Houses of Parliament
Curators' Gallery Talk
LithORRgraphy: Chris Orr and the Art of Chemical Printing
6 March 2012
In The Tennant Gallery, one of the John Madejski Fine Rooms
A curator of the RA's Collection introduces the exhibition 'LithORRgraphy: Chris Orr and the Art of Chemical Printing'
Johan Zoffany: A Question of National Identity
Free Lunchtime Lecture
12 March 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
FULLY BOOKED A lecture by Dr Martin Postle, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art. This event will be made accessible to deaf, deafened and had of hearing visitors through speech to text transcription...
Read more about Johan Zoffany: A Question of National Identity
Grafton Architects: Architecture as the New Geography
Evening Lecture
12 March 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–7.45pm; £12/£6. Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell, co-founders of Grafton Architects.
Read more about Grafton Architects: Architecture as the New Geography
16 March 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
6.30–8pm; £16/£12/£7. Sheila Hancock CBE, Sir Richard MacCormac RA, Nigel Hartley, and Peter Hewitt consider how the prospect of death offers us the possibility to reconceptualise our own story.
Read more about Personal Landscapes: Views from the End of Life
David Hockney and the English Landscape Tradition
Free Lunchtime Lecture
19 March 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
FULLY BOOKED A lecture by Stephen Daniels, The University of Nottingham.
Read more about David Hockney and the English Landscape Tradition
Jeanne Gang
Evening Lecture
21 March 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–7.45pm; £12/£6. Jeanne Gang discusses how the Studio explores the full technology and material spectrums and creates projects that treat cities as interconnected, ecological systems.
‘Nothing is but what is not’: Zoffany’s Paintings of the Theatre
Evening Lecture
23 March 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
6.30–7.30pm; £16/£12/£7. Zoffany’s paintings of theatrical scenes appear to be realistic–was he as dedicated to creating an illusion as the plays and players he depicted?
Read more about ‘Nothing is but what is not’: Zoffany’s Paintings of the Theatre
Simon Fanshawe: Soho
Critic's Choice: London's Most Important Building
26 March 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £15/£7. Writer and broadcaster Simon Fanshawe explores how pleasure and its counterpart, guilt, shaped the architecture of the Soho.
David Hockney’s Poetic Imagination
Evening Lecture
30 March 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
6.30–7.30pm; £16/£12/£7. RA poet in residence Pele Cox curates an evening of readings evoking Hockney’s strong links to poetry.
Curators' Gallery Talk
W.P. Frith's 'Private View at the Royal Academy', 1881
3 April 2012
In the John Madejski Fine Rooms
3.30pm; free with an exhibition ticket. An introduction to W.P. Frith's 'Private View at the Royal Academy', 1881.
Hawksmoor’s London
Free Lunchtime Lecture
16 April 2012
FULLY BOOKED A lecture by Owen Hopkins, exhibition curator.
Sean Godsell
Evening Lecture
16 April 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–7.45pm; £12/£6. Australian architect Sean Godsell has built an international reputation for his exquisitely crafted private houses and ‘compassionate infrastructure’ projects.
Stephen Poliakoff: The Natural History Museum
Critic's Choice: London's Most Important Building
23 April 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £15/£7. Acclaimed playwright, screenwriter and director Stephen Poliakoff selects the Natural History Museum, the setting for his short film Astonish Me (2011).
Read more about Stephen Poliakoff: The Natural History Museum
Urbanus and its Critical Urban Practice
Evening Lecture
26 April 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–7.45pm; £12/£6. Xiaodu Liu discusses how Urbanus executes its design approaches through “reading architectural programme from the viewpoint of the urban environment in general, and...
27 April 2012
In the Reynolds Room, a John Madejski Fine Room
6.30–7.30pm; £21/£16/£10. Gulliver Ralston brings alive the sound of Zoffany’s paintings with works by Mozart, Handel, J. C. Smith and Thomas Arne.
Read more about Soundscapes and Portraits: an Evening of Zoffany and Music
Curators' Gallery Talk
LithORRgraphy: Chris Orr and the Art of Chemical Printing
8 May 2012
In The Tennant Gallery, one of the John Madejski Fine Rooms
A curator of the RA's Collection introduces the exhibition 'LithORRgraphy: Chris Orr and the Art of Chemical Printing'
Urban Narratives
RA Forum
16 May 2012
At the Geological Society, Piccadilly
6.30–8pm; £12/£6. The city can stimulate different parts of our psyches, bringing about perceptions and experiences which convey and structure possibilities for new narratives.
Royal Connections: Johan Zoffany RA, the Court and the Royal Academy of King George III
Free Lunchtime Lecture
28 May 2012
Free
1–2pm. A lecture by MaryAnne Stevens, exhibition curator, Royal Academy of Arts.