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    Tacita Dean in her studio, Los Angeles, 2018

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Articles

Archives

Loyset Liédet, Pasiphaë

RA Recommends

> 1 year ago

Five of the best London archives

The RA archive is a treasure trove of stories, memories and recordings about art and artists from the past 250 years. In honour of Explore Your Archive week, we introduce some of its highlights and four more London archives to explore, holding everything from American performance art footage to rare Japanese prints.

The RA Library

Inside the Academy

> 2 years ago

Meet our new Head of Collections

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.

Archivist Mark Pomeroy displays an item from the archive

Our Collection

3 years ago

On the Reynolds trail in the RA archive

On the eve of a major exhibition in London dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, we delve into the RA’s archive to learn more about the Academy’s founding president.

Canadian War Memorials exhibition catalogue cover, 1919

Inside the Academy

> 3 years ago

RA exhibitions: reflecting a world at war

As the conflict continued, the Royal Academy adapted its exhibition programme to support the war effort.

Unknown photographer, Gallery IX, Burlington House after the explosion of a German bomb in 1917, ca. September 24 1917

Inside the Academy

> 3 years ago

Consequences of war

The First World War took a heavy toll on the Royal Academy’s artists, staff and students - and left indelible scars on our building.

Models of a World War I Dazzle Camouflage Ship

Inside the Academy

> 3 years ago

Dazzle ships and the Royal Academy

How the RA played a role in the development of a dazzling new form of camouflage.

United Arts Volunteers Rifles on parade in the courtyard of Burlington House, 1914

Inside the Academy

> 3 years ago

The Royal Academy joins the war effort

With volunteers drilling in the courtyard and the Red Cross taking over the galleries, the RA soon found itself at the centre of the war effort.

United Arts Volunteers Rifles photographed leaving the courtyard of Burlington House on a route march, 1914

Inside the Academy

> 3 years ago

4 August 1914: the declaration of war

A snapshot of the Royal Academy on 4 August 1914, with the country poised on the brink of war.

The RA Library

Our Collection

< 4 years ago

James Ward RA’s ‘Defence of the Beard’

A small pamphlet, discovered deep within our archives, shows that the beard as the defining feature of hipster facial fashion has been around longer than you might think.

J.S. Sargent RA, Detail of the portrait of Henry James O.M. after being damaged by a suffragette, May 1914

Our Collection

< 4 years ago

‘Deeds not words’: Suffragettes and the Summer Exhibition

On the 100 year anniversary of Mary Wood’s attack on Sargent’s portrait of Henry James, we delve into the Royal Academy’s archive to find out how the Academy, and the public, reacted.

Piccadilly site

Burlington House, Piccadilly,
London, W1J 0BD

Burlington Gardens site

6 Burlington Gardens,
London, W1S 3ET

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