RA Collection: People and Organisations
Founded in 1871, largely through a bequest to University College London from Felix Slade, collector and benefactor.
The first UCL Slade Professor was Sir Edward Poynter, who established a curriculum based around life drawing. Frederick Brown (Professor from 1892-1917) did much to reform teaching practices at the Slade, ordering that all staff be working artists and encouraging an individualistic approach to student practice. The college, based in a university and surrounded by museums and galleries, has since nurtured a reputation that is strongly flavoured by enquiry, research and experiment.