Articles
Artists
Everything we do is driven by artists: from the Royal Academicians who lead us, to the thousands who enter the Summer Exhibition each year and the students in the RA Schools creating exciting new work.
RA Exhibitions
1 month ago
John Constable’s struggle to become a Royal Academician
If you have ever struggled for the acceptance and glory you obviously deserve, take heart from this story of John Constable RA’s decades-long struggle to become a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
9 eyebrow-raising moments from the Summer Exhibition
From the time we rejected Banksy to Turner’s “gunshot in the gallery”, the Summer Exhibition has regularly ruffled the feathers of British art in its 253 years. Here are some of our favourite moments!
Artists
< 2 years ago
Digital premiere: watch the PHYLLIDA documentary
Enjoy this exclusive digital premiere of the film ‘PHYLLIDA’, a documentary portrait of the artist Phyllida Barlow RA. Released on her birthday, this film celebrates her pioneering contribution to the field of sculpture.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: watch Picasso make a masterpiece
Filmed in 1956, ‘Le Mystère Picasso’ is a documentary capturing Picasso in full creative flow. Three of the works he’s seen making in the film are now the walls of the RA, in ‘Picasso and Paper’ – watch how one of them came to be, in this short film…
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: meet insomniac artist Léon Spilliaert
Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert was an insomniac. He wandered the streets of Brussels at night in search of inspiration. In this video, delve into the solitude and mystery that encompasses the artist’s evocative paintings.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Some thoughts on painting, by Lucian Freud
“The painter’s obsession with his subject is all that he needs to drive him to work…” As his self-portraits go on show at the RA, we share Lucian Freud’s only published statement on his creative process. It reveals the uncompromising intensity behind his approach to painting.
Inside the Academy
> 3 years ago
249 years of teaching artists in the RA Schools
At the heart of the Royal Academy, you can find Britain’s longest-running art school, which has been training artists since 1769. As soon-to-be graduates present their final year show, Skye Sherwin speaks to students and tutors to find out what’s changed in the last quarter millennia.
Our Collection
> 3 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Dance
To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. In this edition we put on our dancing shoes to tap, twirl and stomp our way from antiquity to today.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Video: Grayson Perry inside the Summer Exhibition
Take a look inside the 250th Summer Exhibition in this video with coordinator Grayson Perry RA, as he shows us some of his highlights of this year’s show.
Inside the Academy
> 3 years ago
David Chipperfield: “Architecture is the background”
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.
Our Collection
4 years ago
Top picks from the Collection: Anne Desmet RA
Anne Desmet is the only current Royal Academician elected for her work as an engraver. In this online tour, she unearths treasures from the Collection including works by Dürer, Piranesi and William Blake.
Our Collection
4 years ago
Top picks from the Collection: Stephen Farthing RA
“I’ve set out a little curriculum from which you could teach someone to draw,” says artist and teacher Stephen Farthing, as he gives an audio tour of the online collection.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Studio life: tips from the Summer Exhibition artists
As part of our season exploring artists’ studios, we asked the artists of the 2017 Summer Exhibition – from Royal Academicians to first-time exhibitors – to give us a peep inside their working space, and to share their secrets for a successful studio practice.
RA Exhibitions
> 5 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2016 prizes announced
David Nash RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
Artists
> 6 years ago
My studio life: Piers Gough RA
As Piers Gough RA guides us round his practice in Clerkenwell, he tells us what it was like to work with Paul Smith, and what it really takes to be an architect.
RA Recommends
> 6 years ago
The month in architecture
The biggest architecture news, the latest prizes and the wackiest new projects – rounded up into one handy post each month.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2015 prizes announced
Rose Wylie RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
RA Recommends
> 6 years ago
The month in architecture
The biggest architecture news, the latest prizes and the wackiest new projects – rounded up into one handy post each month.
Artists
> 6 years ago
Preview: Lynette Yiadom-Boakye at the Serpentine
The imagined portraits by this RA Schools alumna and Turner Prize nominee are revelations from another world, says Kelly Grovier.
Artists
> 6 years ago
Michael Craig-Martin, man for all seasons
As Michael Craig-Martin RA co-ordinates this year’s Summer Exhibition, the Curator and Head of the RA Schools Eliza Bonham Carter discovers in a new book what makes this leading artist and teacher tick.
Artists
> 6 years ago
In the studio with Louisa Hutton RA
Behind redbrick walls in an old Berlin factory Fiona Maddocks finds architect Louisa Hutton RA in a calm and spacious haven.
Artists
> 6 years ago
Stephen Cox RA and Eric Parry RA: set in stone
Art and architecture combine on a corner of London’s St James’s, where Stephen Cox RA has integrated sculpture into Eric Parry RA’s building. Sam Phillips reports.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Eileen Cooper RA on her secrets of drawing
Eileen Cooper RA’s figures exude a fluid spontaneity. Laura Gascoigne meets the artist, ahead of her show of drawings at the Academy.
Artists
> 6 years ago
David Chipperfield RA meets Conrad Shawcross RA
RA Magazine’s Guest Editor David Chipperfield RA meets Conrad Shawcross RA in Green Park to talk trees and tetrahedrons, ahead of the sculptor’s spectacular work that greets visitors to the Summer Exhibition.
Opinion
7 years ago
Is beauty an essential consideration in architecture?
Ron Arad RA and Sam Jacob discuss whether considerations of beauty are valuable in architecture, or whether they detract from more important issues.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years 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.
Artists
> 7 years ago
Ed Ruscha remembers Dennis Hopper
As the RA prepares for ‘Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album’, Honorary Royal Academician Ed Ruscha reflects on his friendship with the legendary actor, director and photographer in 1960s Los Angeles and beyond.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Summer Exhibition 2014 prizes announced
Wolfgang Tillmans RA announced as winner of the Charles Wollaston award.
RA Exhibitions
> 7 years ago
Varnishing Day at the Summer Exhibition 2014
Celebrating with the artists in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
Opinion
> 7 years ago
Should there be positive discrimination towards female artists?
Eileen Cooper RA and Helena Morrissey discuss whether art institutions need to prioritise women to achieve gender equality or whether positive discrimination is counter-productive.
RA Exhibitions
< 8 years ago
Premiums: Meet the artists
Meet some of the RA Schools students exhibiting in this year’s ‘Premiums: Interim Projects’