Articles
RA Exhibitions
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
A beginner’s guide to Michael Armitage
Get to know an exciting force in painting and how his work is rooted in an East African tradition.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Introducing three artists in ‘Michael Armitage: Paradise Edict’
Artists Sane Wadu, Elimo Njau and Asaph Ng‘ethe Macua have played an important role in shaping figurative painting in Kenya – they have also had a profound impact on Armitage’s own artistic development. Learn more about these artists in our short video series.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Documentary: inside our Manet exhibition
Originally released in cinemas, this ‘Exhibition on Screen’ film takes you back in time to visit the Royal Academy’s 2013 ‘Manet: Portraying Life’ exhibition, one of our most visited shows of all time. Take a trip to 19th-century Paris where the story of this modern master unfolds – and peep behind the scenes at the RA, as the curators prepared to tell his story in this major show.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Documentary: inside ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’
Originally released in cinemas, this ‘Exhibition on Screen’ film takes us back to our landmark exhibition, ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’, examining the role gardens played in the evolution of art from the early 1860s through to the 1920s.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Mussolini and the Royal Academy: a 90-year-old controversy
In 1930, the greatest works of the Italian Renaissance drew half a million visitors to the Academy. But there was a darker, political undercurrent to this blockbuster show, explains Katherine Jane Alexander…
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Picasso and Paper: virtual exhibition tour
Experience our ‘Picasso and Paper’ exhibition from home in this video tour of the galleries.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
In 60 seconds: Gauguin and the Impressionists
On 29 March 2020, we were due to open our new exhibition ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists: Masterpieces from the Ordrupgaard Collection’. Since you can’t come to us, we thought we would bring a taste of it to you. In this video series, see a bite-sized biography of Gauguin, and take a deep dive into Renoir’s ‘Le Moulin de la Galette’ and Manet’s ‘Woman with a Jug’.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: ‘Léon Spilliaert’ - virtual exhibition tour
While the RA doors are temporarily closed, you can still experience our exhibition on Belgian artist Léon Spilliaert in this video tour of the galleries.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Léon Spilliaert: an artist that embraced the dark
Insomniac artist Léon Spilliaert wandered Ostend at night, finding in its empty streets and endless beach the exterior equivalent of his inner isolation. Matthew Beaumont explores the solitude at the heart of his paintings.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Four artists on their favourite Impressionist paintings in the Ordrupgaard Collection
The Impressionists are renowned for their enduring scenes of people and places, whether energetic seascapes or portraits of young women. Four artists – Hughie O‘Donoghue RA, Maggi Hambling, Ishbel Myerscough and Mali Morris RA – describe works that resonate with them in our upcoming exhibition ‘Gauguin and the Impressionists’.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year 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
> 1 year ago
Quiz: How Picasso are you?
Sure, Picasso was a master of everything from papier maché to poetry – but you’re a creative too. Perhaps you even have a touch of the Pablo personality. As our ‘Picasso and Paper’ exhibition opens, let’s find out just how Picasso you are…
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
On the paper trail of Pablo Picasso
Antique drawing sheets, Paris metro tickets and lavish wallpapers – the medium of paper was a living ground for the unassailable creative genius of Pablo Picasso. Julian Bell previews our groundbreaking exhibition, Picasso and Paper.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
A beginner’s guide to Félix Vallotton
From bohemian Paris to the battlefields of the First World War, Félix Vallotton’s art was shaped by a tumultuous epoch – but his vision remained distinctly his own.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
What would Michelangelo make of Bill Viola?
With the work of contemporary artist Bill Viola on show alongside works by Michelangelo, the exhibition’s co-curator imagines what the Renaissance master might have had to say about it, in a fictional letter to his nephew…
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: scenes from the extremities of life
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of birth, art historian Ingrid Rowland reveals how both artists confront the particular and the universal in the cycle of life.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: art as a search for meaning
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of mortality, the former bishop Richard Holloway writes that art and religion are driven onwards by the fact of our death.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Bill Viola / Michelangelo: expressing the inexpressible
We asked four writers to respond to key themes in ‘Bill Viola / Michelangelo’. On the subject of transcendence, poet and novelist Ben Okri argues that art’s power lies where understanding leaves off, beyond thought and word.
Opinion
< 3 years ago
Being a sitter for Egon Schiele
With their direct eye contact and powerful stances, Egon Schiele’s drawings of women were some of the first to recognise female autonomy. But who were the artist’s models and how did their relationships with Schiele play out on paper?
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
My art agenda: Sarah Pickstone
Sarah Pickstone, alumna of the RA Schools, discusses the inspiration behind her new works in Burlington House, her co-operative studio and the democratic nature of drawing.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Video: Oceania and the art of tattooing
Tattoo has a long history in the South Pacific, as shown by a number of historic treasures and contemporary artworks in our Oceania exhibition. In this video, a traditional tā moko (Māori tattoo) artist talks about his work.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
A quick interpretation of Cornelia Parker’s PsychoBarn
With Cornelia Parker’s Hitchcock-inspired barn in the Royal Academy’s courtyard, Sam Jacob takes a look at the psychological, architectural and social layers of this imposing installation.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
The beauty of watercolour
The heyday of British watercolour is reflected at the RA in a free exhibition of works from the BNY Mellon Collection, says Ian Warrell.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Klimt, Schiele and the meaning of art
As the drawings of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele go on show at the Royal Academy, Jill Lloyd reveals how these two giants of 20th-century Viennese modernism fuelled one another’s innovations on paper to push the boundaries of art and depict the human figure as never before.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Renzo Piano: 8 buildings to know
With an RA exhibition profiling the work of Renzo Piano, we introduce eight of the architect’s landmark projects, from New York’s Whitney Museum to London’s iconic Shard.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Renzo Piano: “my buildings are explorations”
He gave us the Shard in London, and in Paris the Centre Pompidou. On the eve of his first exhibition in the capital for 30 years, Renzo Piano meets Jonathan Glancey and reflects on a life of making buildings.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Introducing our 2019 exhibitions at the Royal Academy of Arts
From the genius of the Renaissance to immersive new work created specially for our galleries, next year’s exhibitions promise to exhilarate and inspire. The RA’s Artistic Director, Tim Marlow, introduces our packed programme for 2019.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
A journey through the art of Oceania
As the RA mounts its groundbreaking exhibition on the art of the peoples of the Pacific Islands, Maia Jessop Nuku introduces its themes of voyaging, encountering and place-making.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
The art of Oceania: seven stories
Curators and scholars give us a glimpse of the remarkable diversity, ancient and modern, that marks out Oceania on the world’s art map.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Watch as he works: Zhang Enli hits London
Renowned Chinese artist Zhang Enli will make a site-specific installation in the RA’s Life Room, in an open studio setting where the public can watch him work.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Did Banksy get into the Summer Exhibition?
As the 250th Summer Exhibition opens, Banksy has revealed that he entered the public submission exhibition under a pseudonym… Here’s the inside story.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years ago
Tacita Dean: “I don’t care about the long run. I care about now.”
With three landmark exhibitions in London this year – including the inaugural show of the RA’s new galleries – the artist discusses mysteries of the cosmos, classical mythology and chance encounters at her LA studio.
Opinion
< 6 years ago
10 of our most-loved blogs from 2015
From a note from Diebenkorn’s diary that went viral to a peep inside our latest show, these were some of the features our readers loved most this year.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Ai Weiwei’s rules for life and art
With a promise never to be silenced, China’s most famous artist has become known for his pithy, poetic words on freedom and creativity. We share 21 Weiwei-isms.
Opinion
< 6 years ago
Author Ma Jian on Ai Weiwei and freedom of expression in China
Ma Jian is renowned for his novels exploring subjects censored in China, where his books are banned, and he has been barred from entering the Chinese mainland. Ahead of Ai Weiwei’s RA retrospective, we asked the writer about his admiration for the artist, and about the limits of free expression in China.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
James Ensor: a beginner’s guide
In 2016 the RA celebrates the life and work of James Ensor, whose macabre paintings of crowds and carnivals made him one of Belgium’s most prominent artists of the early twentieth century.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Giorgione’s Venice: a beginner’s guide
Coming to the RA this spring are iconic works by Giorgione, Dürer, Bellini, Titian and more, in a celebration of Venetian painting in the early 16th century. Here are six key insights into one of the most influential moments in art history.
RA Exhibitions
< 6 years ago
Six of the best: artist-gardeners
In 2016, the Royal Academy explores the influence that gardens exerted on the evolution of art from the 1860s to the 1920s. Here we pick out six of the greatest artist-gardeners from ‘Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse’.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: pastel pioneer
The Swiss artist Jean-Etienne Liotard was one of the great portraitists of the Enlightenment. Christopher Baker introduces the idiosyncratic Orientalist whose travels through the courts of Europe and beyond resulted in works of exceptional delicacy.
Opinion
6 years ago
Ai Weiwei’s alternative vision for Beijing’s buildings
With a display on Beijing’s Caochangdi in our Architecture Space, our curator discusses the Ai Weiwei-designed buildings of this artists’ region, and their place in a rapidly developing city.
RA Exhibitions
6 years ago
Ai Weiwei at the RA: Sharing our vision for the show
Our collaboration with Ai Weiwei has extended to producing the exhibition’s poster image, catalogue and multimedia guide, explains curator Adrian Locke.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Joseph Cornell and his poets
The Ted Hughes Poetry Prize-nominated author and leader of our Joseph Cornell-inspired short course explores the poets whose writings had a profound effect on the artist.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Podcast: curator Robert Meyrick on printmaker Stanley Anderson RA
Professor Robert Meyrick, co-curator of the RA’s Stanley Anderson exhibition, introduces the artist, best known for his series of prints memorialising England’s vanishing rural crafts.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Joseph Cornell: Pioneer of assemblage art
Joseph Cornell created curious worlds of long ago and far away in his boxes of found objects. We examine the work of this American trailblazer ahead of his RA exhibition.
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.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Podcast: Allen Jones, ‘Chair’
This intimate salon explores Allen Jones’s controversial work ‘Chair’ and its changing status as a piece of fine art, an erotic sculpture and an object of attack.
RA Exhibitions
> 6 years ago
Podcast: Richard Diebenkorn, A Riotous Calm
Exhibition curator Sarah C. Bancroft explores Richard Diebenkorn’s consuming attention to detail and improvisational process that led to his magnificent compositions.
Inside the Academy
> 6 years ago
Cats and conversations: laying out the exhibition with Ai Weiwei
At a meeting in his Beijing studio, Ai Weiwei and curator Adrian Locke plan the gallery layout for the artist’s major RA show this year.
Inside the Academy
< 7 years ago
Our top ten blogs of 2014
From life modelling to behind the scenes of ‘Mr Turner’, we round up our most-read blog posts from the past year.
Artists
< 7 years ago
Kept up with your culture? Take the 2014 quiz
Here at the RA, we’re keen to make sure you’re getting your recommended annual intake of art. Find out now!
Inside the Academy
< 7 years ago
In the studio: a glimpse into Ai Weiwei’s world
Curator Adrian Locke gets to know artist Ai Weiwei and his studio team on a sunny day in Beijing.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years ago
Curator’s picks: Giovanni Battista Moroni
Curator Arturo Galansino chooses his favourite five works from the critically-acclaimed exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
< 7 years 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
7 years 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.