Now on

Anthony Green RA: The Life and Death of Miss Dupont

18 January – 25 June 2017

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of Anthony Green’s election as a Royal Academician, this show focuses on a recently-completed work, shown for the very first time. Three metres tall and entitled 'The Fur Coat, “Hazana”', it tells the story of his mother’s second marriage, seen through the eyes of her 13-year-old only child.

Now on

Futures Found: The Real and Imagined Cityscapes of Post-war Britain

18 February — 25 June 2017

This exhibition explores the contrasts between the ambitions for Britain’s new post-war cityscapes and the varied futures that were subsequently created.

Panel discussion

Art and national identity

26 May 2017

In the midst of Brexit and in an age of political upheaval in the UK and abroad, how are ideas about national identity portrayed through art? How can art and spaces for art can define national identity? What is the role of the wider art community in defining national identity?

RA Recommends

The month in art: 10 exhibitions not to miss this May

From work inspired by life inside a Syrian prison to the colourful, geometric work of Rana Begum, here are some of the most unmissable exhibitions open this month.

Feature

10 of the most parodied artworks of all time

With ‘American Gothic’ in the UK for the first time, we take a look at some of the other iconic works that have attracted moustaches, Muppets and other mimicry across art history.

Feature

10 to see at the Venice Biennale

Phyllida Barlow RA’s bulbous sculptures, Robert Cuoghi’s messiah machines and Damien Hirst’s demons – here are ten highlights of this year’s contemporary art spectacular.

Feature

How to read it: Henry Tuke’s A Bathing Group

As Tate Britain’s ‘Queer British Art’ marks the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality, we take a look at the work of Henry Tuke from the RA collection, on display in the show.

Family activity

How to make a relief print

Inspired by the London Original Print Fair, here’s how to scribble, scratch and carve your design into a piece of polystyrene to make a relief print like a pro!

Courses and classes

From antique to life: drawing and painting inside the historic art school

Six-day practical and theoretical summer course

24–29 July 2017

An intensive, expert-led summer course exploring the traditional teaching methods pioneered by the Royal Academy Schools, including working from antique classical casts as well as life models, exploring drawing, watercolour and oil painting.

Coming soon

Dalí / Duchamp

7 October 2017 — 3 January 2018

Take another look at two artistic giants: father of conceptual art Marcel Duchamp, and larger-than-life Surrealist Salvador Dalí. This is the first exhibition to throw light on their surprising relationship and its influence on the work of both artists.

Video

RA250 stories: hidden treasures of the RA Collection

In 2018 we're unveiling new spaces to display the Royal Academy's Collection. In this video, we take a look at some of the treasures that will be on show, including the UK's only sculpture by Michelangelo.

Feature

The reality behind American Gothic

As ‘America after the Fall’ brings some of the country’s most iconic works to Europe for the first time, Sarah Churchwell considers the cultural and political backdrop to Depression Era art.

Feature

“No one should be ashamed of their art hero”

Mentioning the quirky, non-conformist style of Anthony Green at my art school interview drew sniggers – but it was Green’s very idiosyncrasies that taught me to think for myself, says artist and RA Schools tutor Mark Hampson.

Feature

How to read it: Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo

Currently on display at the National Gallery, the Virgin and Child with the Infant St John, known as the Taddei Tondo, is the only marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti in a UK collection. It will return to the RA to be displayed in our new collections displays for our 250th anniversary in 2018.

Feature

In the studio with Wolfgang Tillmans RA

The photographer’s workspace in a former Berlin department store houses giant printers, tropical plants and DJ turntables. Anna Coatman meets the acclaimed artist and EU campaigner.

RA Collection

How to read it: Anthony Green’s 'The Fur Coat'

The story behind a slightly unusual work by Royal Academician Anthony Green, only recently completed and currently on show in the RA’s Tennant Gallery.

Feature

“It’s like making a garden” – Gary Hume RA on printmaking

He shot to fame as a painter, but for the past 20 years Gary Hume RA has also made prints. Amy Macpherson visits the artist at the RA Schools’ print workshop ahead of his selling show in the Keeper’s House.

Opinion

“The 21st century is proving pretty nasty. Let’s reflect on art’s relationship with our times.”

by Bob and Roberta Smith

Should artists get involved in politics like the Russian Constructivists? Or should they remain distant like Thomas Hart Benton during America's Great Depression?

Feature

Six views of America

As a new term in the White House divides America, we look back to another time of social upheaval and economic anxiety. Through the eyes of artists in the RA’s upcoming exhibition, ‘America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s’, here are six snapshots of a changing country.

Feature

Odd couples: Artists you never knew were friends

With our exhibition exploring the little-known relationship between Dalí and Duchamp later this year, we take a look at the friendship between those two great masters of modern art, and five other artist pairs you may never have guessed.

Videos

How to… make a wood engraving, with Anne Desmet

Anne Desmet RA demonstrates each step in creating a wood engraving, from tracing the original drawing through to printing a first proof.

Inside the Academy

Tumblr: From the RA

Discover works from the RA's Collections

We've reached the half-way point on our quest to digitise 10,000 items from the Royal Academy of Arts' vast collections. Visit our Tumblr to discover drawings, sketches, prints, books, oddities and wonders, all revealed by RA staff and a team of volunteers.

Inside the Academy

Redeveloping the Royal Academy

For nearly 250 years, the RA has been a place to make, exhibit and debate art. For our anniversary in 2018 we are opening up the RA as never before, transforming our historic buildings – and inviting Friends and visitors old and new to celebrate with us.

Inside the Academy

The RA Schools

A school of contemporary fine art, right at the heart of the RA.

Friends of the RA

RA Art Tours Worldwide

These expert-led small-group tours, created by travel specialists Cox & Kings, focus on the art, architecture and archaeology of some of the world’s most fascinating destinations.