Behind-the-scenes snippets and stories from our staff.
Our magazine turns 40 this autumn. Editor Sam Phillips looks back through the archive to pick out his highlights from the past four decades.
Watch our team refresh our iconic Poster Bar for the first time since 2018, featuring 21 new posters from our past exhibitions.
If you’re visiting our exhibitions this summer why not explore some of our other favourite places around the RA?
On the 300th anniversary of the birth of our first president Sir Joshua Reynolds, we’ve digitised his diary for the first time. Here’s what we’ve learnt from this intriguing historical document.
When an artist is elected to the Royal Academy, it’s a tradition that they give one of their works to our Collection. Known as Diploma Works, we’ve gladly received quite a few in our 254-year history. So, can you name the artist behind these?
Get to know Fanny Eaton, a Jamaican woman who became a popular artist’s model in Victorian England and featured in many Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces.
Vinu Daniel, founder of India-based firm Wallmakers, explains his unique approach to architecture and what winning the Dorfman Award means to him.
We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of our Patron, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. It has been a privilege and an honour for the Royal Academy of Arts to have had such a close and enduring association with The Queen over her long reign.
If you spotted the Royal Academy’s starring role in Netflix’s biggest series, you might be wondering what was fact and what was fiction. Thankfully, our Librarian Adam Waterton is here to debunk some myths and answer our Bridgerton questions.
As our name suggests, the Royal Academy of Arts has close ties with the Sovereign, but just how royal is the Royal Academy?
The Sovereign has been the RA’s “Patron, Protector and Supporter” since our foundation by King George III in 1768. To mark The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we’ve taken a look back at visits Her Majesty made to the RA throughout her 70-year reign.
The art-loving Spanish chef shares the secrets of the Iberian menu at his new RA restaurant – and dishes the artistic inspiration behind his indulgent truffle sandwich.
A statement from the Royal Academy of Arts.
Two legs good, four legs better? Grab your pencils and sketch this tiny pony in two short poses from our 2019 event #LifeDrawingLive: the anatomy class.
From locking down to looking forward: join President Rebecca Salter and Axel Rüger, Secretary and Chief Executive, for a holiday message from the Academicians’ Room.
No artist is an island, as Charlotte Jansen found when she met students and their mentors at the RA’s art school.
Ahead of their mid-course show, ‘Premiums’, the Academy’s second-year post-graduate students reflect on the writing that has informed their practice.
In an historic vote, the leading painter and printmaker, Rebecca Salter, has been elected the RA’s 27th – and first female – President.
The RA Schools has been nurturing, challenging and championing art students for 250 years. Before work begins on a big anniversary renewal, we took a look inside to find out what it’s like studying there in 2019.
From Leonardo da Vinci to George Stubbs, artists have long been inspired by the wonders of human and animal anatomy. In this special online class, we take a look at what lies underneath the skin and also draw from real-life models. Take the class and send us your drawings!
Amy Sherlock addresses the slump in art teaching in Britain’s schools, and the effect this has on the art education ecosystem.
Artistic director Tim Marlow gives a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Royal Academy of Arts.
We don’t know if we’ve mentioned it, but the Royal Academy has had a major transformation – welcome to the new RA! Here are nine things you can expect from London’s new home for art and ideas.
As the Royal Academy opens its doors after a major redevelopment to mark our 250th birthday, we caught up with its architect, David Chipperfield RA, to hear about his vision for the new RA.
The RA started out with two female Academicians, then took over a century to elect any more. As we celebrate our 250th anniversary, we take a look back at the women who fought the odds to be a part of our history – and the ones helping to secure our future.
We believe in the vital importance of creativity – for everyone. Join the community of over 50,000 people who have come together online to take the world’s first ever live-streamed life drawing class. Take the free class below.
From a collective encouraging communities in Bogotá to self-organise to build, to a woman architect mentoring the next generation in Ethiopia, the shortlist for the first RA Dorfman Award recognises global talent from around the world. Find out more about the architects hoping to pick up the prize.
He shot to fame as a painter, but for the past 20 years Gary Hume RA has also made prints. Amy Macpherson visits him at the RA Schools’ print workshop ahead of his selling show in the Keeper’s House.
Celebrating The Queen’s 90th birthday with a reception and awards ceremony, the Academy was delighted to welcome our Royal Patron to honour contributions in the fields of visual arts and architecture.
At the RA Schools, post-graduate students have three years to develop their ideas and work. Here second-year students reveal how the course is changing their art, as they prepare their first group show at the RA, Premiums: Interim Projects.
From visiting artists in their studios to advising Art Sales buyers, Katherine Oliver’s role at the RA is ever-evolving.
New spaces at the Academy in 2018 will showcase the RA’s superb art collection. Laura Gascoigne delves into the bequest of Carel Weight RA, an artist who donated outstanding works.
A review of the RA Collection has turned up a vital historical document, the Royal charter of the Society of Artists. RA archivist Mark Pomeroy explains.
In the first of a new blog series, our incoming Head of Collections explores his new stomping grounds – the RA’s jewel-like library, print room and archive.
As his biography of Benjamin West PRA is published, Loyd Grossman reveals how this founding member of the Academy broke with the past like no other artist of his era.
Our trusted Red Collars are a combination of visitor host, security and guide – and a fount of knowledge about the RA. Here, we chat to their Chief, Mick O’Halloran, about his role.
The RA Schools’ Head of Sculpture and Printmaking led a life-drawing masterclass as part of our first Friends week. Here he shares five key pieces of advice.
As he prepares to open a new retrospective of the work of Eileen Cooper RA, we chat to Morgan Feely about his daily life at the RA.
As she launches her new book, Lucy Williams discusses her time at the RA Schools and tells us how her block colour, architectural collages bring a fresh perspective to urban landscapes.
Before she departs for a residency in Connecticut, Mary Ramsden discusses her time at the RA Schools and tells us what she’s been up to since graduating in 2013.
As she prepares for Dementia Awareness Week 2015, we chat to Access Manager Molly Bretton about her daily life at the RA.
How do you get your first big break in the creative industries? We caught up with an RA creative apprentice to find out.
Our Outreach programme has been bringing life drawing workshops to schools for over 20 years. Tutor Paul Brandford tells us what’s involved.
Mike Leigh’s new film brings to life one of British art’s brightest stars and features several scenes set at the RA. We take a look at the supporting cast of Turner’s friends and rivals at the Academy.
Summer holiday fun for tiny Turners and kid Constables.
How the RA played a role in the development of a dazzling new form of camouflage.
As part of the RA Outreach programme we give school students across the UK the chance to take part in life drawing workshops to discover the important role that drawing can play in developing creativity. But what’s it like to be a life model and pose for these budding young artists?
New Royal Academicians are awarded a Diploma that has been printed by hand from the same copper plate since 1769. We visited Simon Lawson to take you through the elaborate printing process.
This Friday, we welcome the theatre company Small Things, who will present a performance that challenges perceptions of age and ageing.
As the V&A celebrates the highly influential artist and designer, we reveal how William Kent’s career came to life with his work for Burlington House – now the home of the Royal Academy.
Recent years have seen a host of new innovations here at the RA, but the election process for new Academicians has hardly changed in almost 250 years. Here is how it all works.
Culture, history and rejection in the Google era.