RA Exhibitions
RA Exhibitions
4 days ago
Painting on the threshold: Ian McKeever RA on Diebenkorn and abstraction
As the Academy celebrates the American master, painter Ian McKeever RA explores Richard Diebenkorn’s profound inquiry into the nature of abstraction.
RA Exhibitions
8 days ago
Barbara Rae RA on Richard Diebenkorn
Richard Diebenkorn has long been hailed as a ‘painter’s painter’. Here, Barbara Rae RA reflects on the impression he made upon her when they met.
RA Exhibitions
18 days ago
Podcast: An introduction to ‘Rubens and His Legacy’
Curator Arturo Galansino considers the artistic legacy of Peter Paul Rubens in this introductory lecture.
RA Exhibitions
23 days ago
Podcast: Charles Stewart lunchtime lecture
Curator Amanda Doran, in conversation with Sue Bradbury, former editorial director of the Folio Society, discusses the illustrator Charles Stewart.
RA Exhibitions
24 days ago
Richard Diebenkorn: a beginner’s guide
This March the RA celebrates the fascinating career of Richard Diebenkorn, one of the great twentieth-century masters of American painting.
RA Exhibitions
25 days ago
A dating guide to Rubens
Date this weekend? Rubens is open on Friday and Saturday evenings. Here are the works not to miss – and what (not) to say about them.
RA Exhibitions
1 month ago
How well do you know Rubens? Take the quiz
Rubens and His Legacy explores the artist’s influence across art history. Let’s see what you know about this Baroque master…
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
The extraordinary life of Charles Stewart
Charles Stewart’s illustrations to the Gothic novel Uncle Silas hint at an unusual life. Here are five surprising facts.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
The story of Uncle Silas
A young girl is trapped in a mansion with her mysterious uncle and a sinister governess. With Charles Stewart’s illustrations to this Gothic novel in our Tennant Gallery, the curator walks us through the story.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Rubens: a beginner’s guide
In January the RA opens a groundbreaking exhibition dedicated to Peter Paul Rubens – not only his great paintings, but his lasting legacy too.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Video: dressing an Italian countess
What was it like to wear the elaborate clothes of a Renaissance aristocrat, as seen in the portraits of Giovanni Battista Moroni? Award winning actor Mark Rylance reveals all.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Baroque ‘n’ roll: Rubens and his enduring artistic legacy
From his battle scenes to royal portraits, landscapes and altarpieces, Rubens’s extraordinary output occupies a uniquely heroic position in the history of art. Waldemar Januszczak argues that art was one thing before him – and another thing after.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Podcast: Art critic Jonathan Jones discusses Moroni’s portrait ‘The Tailor’
Jonathan Jones of The Guardian explores the reasons why Giovanni Battista Moroni’s portrait ‘The Tailor’ is one of the greatest paintings in London.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Podcast: Anselm Kiefer’s Heroic Symbols
A panel discussion reconsiders Anselm Kiefer’s 1969 book ‘Heroic Symbols’ which documented his provocative performance art project known as ‘Occupations’.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
From Mayfair to Beijing: planning an exhibition with Ai Weiwei
How to put a major exhibition together when the artist in question can’t leave his home country? Ai Weiwei has a virtual tour of our galleries before curator Adrian Locke visits him (and his cats) in Beijing.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Podcast: An introduction to Moroni by curator Arturo Galansino
From the small northern Italian town of Bergamo emerged one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th-century. Who was Giovanni Battista Moroni?
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
How to read an Anselm Kiefer
Rich in both material and meaning, the powerful paintings of the German artist reward repeated viewing. We take a deeper look at ‘Black Flakes’, one of the works in the show.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Curator’s picks: Anselm Kiefer
Kathleen Soriano, curator of our Anselm Kiefer exhibition, introduces five key works from the show.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Why Moroni should be as famous as Titian
As visitors to the RA discover the work of Giovanni Battista Moroni, James Hall looks at the particular genius of this overlooked Renaissance portraitist – and why he lost out to the likes of Titian.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
A tailor meets ‘The Tailor’
We ask a Savile Row tailor to give us an insider’s perspective on Moroni’s iconic portrait ‘The Tailor’.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Curator’s picks: Giovanni Battista Moroni
Curator Arturo Galansino chooses his favourite five works from the critically-acclaimed exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Podcast: Curator Kathleen Soriano on Kiefer’s iconography
How does artist Anselm Kiefer use mythology, history, literature, philosophy and science in his work? What meanings do lead, straw, fire, earth, and water hold for him?
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: the story so far
As we prepare for an exhibition of this eccentric and distinctive portraitist, we caught up with co-curator MaryAnne Stevens to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Richard Diebenkorn: the story so far
The works of one of America’s finest abstract painters, Richard Diebenkorn, come to the RA next spring. We caught up with Royal Academy curator Edith Devaney to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Joseph Cornell: the story so far
Next year’s exhibition of Joseph Cornell will give a unique opportunity to view the magical works of this incomparable artist. We caught up with curator Sarah Lea to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Giovanni Battista Moroni: a beginner’s guide
In October, the RA opens an exhibition of work by one of the greatest portrait painters of all time, Giovanni Battista Moroni. But he is comparatively little known – certainly when compared to the giants of Italian painting like Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. We spoke to exhibition curator Arturo Galansino to find out more about what sets Moroni apart.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Rubens and His Legacy: the story so far
Our upcoming Rubens show is the first major exhibition to look at the Flemish master’s influence on four centuries of art history. We caught up with curator Arturo Galansino to learn about the genesis of the show.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
A visit to Ai Weiwei’s Beijing studio
As the RA prepares for a major Ai Weiwei exhibition in 2015, we visited the honorary Royal Academician at his studio in China.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Anselm Kiefer and the German Forest
Art Historian Christian Weikop leads us into the ‘deep dark wood’ of Anselm Kiefer’s paintings to learn why representations of trees and forests feature so often in his work.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Giovanni Battista Moroni: Cut from a different cloth
One of the greatest of all portraitists, Giovanni Battista Moroni captured his sitters’ psychology with exceptional honesty and insight. As the Academy stages the biggest survey in Britain of the Renaissance painter’s work, novelist Sarah Dunant evokes the many characters who emerged from his canvases.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Anselm Kiefer: A beginner’s guide
This week the RA welcomes the works of German artist Anselm Kiefer: from intimate watercolours and artist’s books, to vast paintings, complex sculpture, and installations on a monumental scale.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Anselm’s alchemy
Throughout his career, the German artist Anselm Kiefer has confronted the weight of the past and the power of myth on a monumental scale. As the RA stages a major retrospective, Martin Gayford chronicles the extraordinary vision and transformative force of this colossus of contemporary art.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Allen Jones RA on display at the RA: Step this way
One of the key moments in modern British art occurred one day in 1965, when Allen Jones RA, then in his late 20s, first stepped inside an American casino. Kelly Grovier spotlights the Pop artist’s first step towards iconic status, as the Academy mounts a major show of his work.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Curator’s picks: Dennis Hopper
The exhibition curator highlights four moments of 1960s America immortalised through Hopper’s unique photographs.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Summer Exhibition Edit: Amber Jane Butchart
We’ve challenged three guest speakers to choose the five works in this year’s Summer Exhibition that intrigue them the most. Fashion historian and DJ Amber Jane Butchart guides us through her favourite works.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Summer Exhibition Edit: Will Gompertz
We’ve challenged three guest speakers to choose the five works in this year’s Summer Exhibition that intrigue them the most. BBC’s Arts Editor Will Gompertz attempts to narrow down his top picks from the plethora of works on display.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Summer Exhibition Edit: Susie Allen
We’ve challenged three guest speakers to choose the five works in this year’s Summer Exhibition that intrigue them the most. Curator Susie Allen guides us through her picks, which all relate to the concept of space.
RA Exhibitions
7 months ago
Curator’s picks: Radical Geometry
‘Radical Geometry’ is now in full swing and with such a wealth of inspiring works on view, we asked co-curator Adrian Locke to choose his favourites.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
Summer Exhibition 2014: First time exhibitors
Six of the artists from this year’s Summer Exhibitions share their thoughts on being selected for the first time.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
Peter Fonda in Conversation
In celebration of the RA’s exhibition ‘Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album’, the BFI hosted a special event with Peter Fonda.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
Carlos Cruz-Diez in conversation
The legendary Venezuelan artist Carlos Cruz-Diez discusses his experiments with colour and movement, and how he engages viewers with his art.
RA Exhibitions
8 months ago
A look inside ‘Radical Geometry’
Explore some of the highlights in our exhibition of groundbreaking abstract art from 20th-century South America
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Intercontinental connections
Artist John Carter RA explains how his work resonates with Buenos Aires artists in ‘Radical Geometry’.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Dennis Hopper’s photography comes to the RA
Dennis Hopper was the epitome of 1960s American counter-culture. As an exhibition of the actor and director’s photographs comes to the RA, Jonathan Romney assesses this diverse body of work to reveal an astute chronicler of the art, celebrity and tense American politics of the period.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Modern Art of South America comes to the RA
How does an art movement travel to a new continent? As the RA’s ‘Radical Geometry’ opens, Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro maps the cultural and political changes that were crucial to the development of abstraction in South America.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Dennis Hopper: Icon of Oblivion
In celebration of the RA’s forthcoming exhibition ‘Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album’ the BFI is launching a Dennis Hopper retrospective in July, showcasing a selection of Hopper’s finest films.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Judging the A-level Summer Exhibition Online
The judging panel of this year’s A-level Summer Exhibition Online discusses their selection process.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Summer Exhibition 2014 prizes announced
Wolfgang Tillmans RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
RA Schools students discuss their upcoming final show
As students from the RA Schools prepare for their final show, what are their feelings about leaving after three intensive years of study? Some of them discuss the issues they face with Schools tutor Brian Griffiths and Phyllida Barlow RA, who has been involved in art education for 45 years.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Opening the Summer Exhibition in style
The Summer Exhibition Preview Party is one of the most glamorous events in the London calendar - and a major fundraiser for the RA.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
An introduction to the 246th Summer Exhibition by Cornelia Parker RA
Cornelia Parker RA explains what’s different about this year’s Summer Exhibition and the inspiration behind her ‘Black and White’ themed room.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Varnishing Day at the Summer Exhibition 2014
Celebrating with the artists in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Curator’s picks: Renaissance Impressions
As the exhibition comes to an end this weekend, curator Arturo Galansino selects his favourite works in the show.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Summer Exhibition 2014: Turning the tables
Can an establishment institution like the Royal Academy be a radical force? As this year’s Summer Exhibition focuses on an influx of newly elected Royal Academicians, Ben Luke puts the question to Members old and new.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Looking good on paper
How does the RA ensure the works of art it borrows remain in exemplary condition? Eleanor Mills charts the conservation challenges of bringing the woodcut prints in ‘Renaissance Impressions’ to the UK.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Tasting architectural drawings
Neil Bingham, curator of the RA exhibition ‘Dream Draw Work: Architectural Drawings of Norman Shaw RA’ confesses to a curatorial crime.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Experimentations in Chiaroscuro: Beccafumi’s Prints, Oil Sketches and Marble Intarsia
National Gallery curator, Dr. Jennifer Sliwka, discusses the works of Domenico Beccafumi.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Summer Exhibition 2014: Judging
In the second of our behind-the-scenes videos about the RA Summer Exhibition 2014, we take a look at the judging process and speak to the exhibition’s coordinator Hughie O‘Donoghue RA.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Artists submit their work for the Summer Exhibition
In the first of our behind-the-scenes videos about the RA Summer Exhibition 2014, we speak to some of the artists submitting their work.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Lynn Chadwick sculptures go on display
A group of sculptures by Lynn Chadwick RA (1914 - 2003) has been installed in the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard, as part of celebrations to make the centenary of his birth.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Lundahl & Seitl introduce ‘Symphony of a Missing Room’
Swedish-born artists Lundahl & Seitl are bringing their experiential artwork ‘Symphony of a Missing Room: Archive of the Forgotten and Remembered’ to the RA this summer.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Renaissance Impressions: An Introduction
Exhibition curator Arturo Galansino introduces ‘Renaissance Impressions’.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Anselm Kiefer in conversation with Tim Marlow
Watch our video of Anselm Kiefer Hon RA discussing his work with broadcaster and art historian Tim Marlow ahead of his major UK retrospective this autumn.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Announcing Anselm Kiefer at the RA
Today is an exciting day for the Royal Academy. We launched our next single artist show to the press: Anselm Kiefer.
RA Exhibitions
11 months ago
Celestine’s castle
Elodie Biegman is eight years old. Her mother is one of our Patrons, and they recently attended the Patrons family morning of the Sensing Spaces exhibition. Here’s what Elodie made of it…
RA Exhibitions
12 months ago
Short stories with William Boyd and Ed Stoppard
William Boyd and Ed Stoppard read short stories in the galleries of ‘Sensing Spaces’.
RA Exhibitions
12 months ago
Take home a taste of ‘Sensing Spaces’
What happens to the works in our exhibitions once the final visitor has departed? In the case of ‘Sensing Spaces’ we’re offering the exclusive opportunity to take home your favourite pieces.
RA Exhibitions
12 months ago
Creating ‘Sensing Spaces’
Curator Kate Goodwin explains the process behind the development and creation of this exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
12 months ago
Premiums: Meet the artists
Meet some of the RA Schools students exhibiting in this year’s ‘Premiums: Interim Projects’
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Making verses
The third Friday in February saw us host a multi-sensory experience in the spectacular setting of ‘Sensing Spaces’.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Out of the shadows
As exceptional examples go on display in ‘Renaissance Impressions’, printmaker Anne Desmet RA reveals the story behind this pivotal development and discusses why these rare prints continue to dazzle us today.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
New prints on the block
There is a fresh spirit of experimentation at this year’s London Original Print Fair, which takes place in the RA’s Main Galleries. Mark Hampson, the RA Schools’ Head of Material Processes, picks the printmakers to watch.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Under the influence
What is in the minds of art students today? We find out what’s feeding the imaginations of RA Schools’ second-year students – and what direction their work is taking – ahead of their group exhibition in the Royal Academy’s galleries.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Seeing scents
Fragrance designer Jo Malone has a nose for architecture as well as scent, as we discovered on a visit Kengo Kuma’s aromatic installation in our ‘Sensing Spaces’ exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Hide and seek
Certain exhibitions are especially rewarding to put together, and ‘Norman Stevens ARA: Selected Prints’ is definitely one of them. Not only has the project had close input from the artist’s family and friends, but it also feels long overdue.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Becoming an architect
Ivan Harbour and Tracy Meller of Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners discuss what attracted them to architecture as a career
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
A serendipitous moment and a hint of what’s to come
Shortly after I had been sent the initial ideas by Siza and Souto de Moura I headed into the Main Galleries to consider how they would work.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Honoré Daumier and Quentin Blake
Illustrator Quentin Blake is in conversation with arts educator Ghislaine Kenyon to discuss Daumier’s journalism.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Pezo Von Ellrichshausen: to the Pacific edge
Curator Kate Goodwin visits a “heroic” house perched high, overlooking the ocean in Chile.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
The Antipodean dream
Catch up on our fascinating event with ‘Australia’ exhibition artist Imants Tillers.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Land and landscape: the colonial encounter
A lecture by Ron Radford, Director of the National Gallery of Australia.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Grafton: from Chandigarh to Cordoba
In my last post, I discussed how Grafton Architects wanted to explore what ‘being present’ in an architectural space means. But what spaces have been in their minds as they design their interventions to our galleries? Which spaces have awakened their senses?
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
A tale of two countries
Catch up with the podcast of our lecture with Dr Sarah Scott, from the Australian National University.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Doors of perception
How do buildings make us feel? In the RA’s ‘Sensing Spaces’ exhibition, leading international architects build extraordinary new structures in the Academy’s galleries for visitors to explore. Jay Merrick responds to the ideas behind this groundbreaking project.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Who’s who in Sensing Spaces
Introducing the architects taking part in ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.