Articles
Ra250 Objects

Our Collection
> 2 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 Objects: Doodles
Doodling is not a modern phenomenon. Artists throughout time have let their minds wander, distracted in meetings or at dinners, filling pages with odds and ends of experimental creativity. As the coronavirus keeps many of us in our homes, we’ve uncovered 10 of our favourite doodles from the RA Collection for use as inspiration for the daily doodle challenges on our Twitter.

Our Collection
> 2 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 Objects: Dogs
This one’s for dog and art-lovers everywhere, as well as the cat people yet to be converted. We went for walkies through our Collection and found a pack of misfit mutts, and perfect pooches depicted by artists across the centuries. Here is a selection showing that today’s obsession with cute dog pics has its roots in art history.

Our Collection
> 2 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 Objects: Self-Portraits
Inspired by our exhibition ‘Lucian Freud: The Self-Portraits’, we looked through the RA Collection to find self-portraits by our own Academicians. From conventional portrayals of the artist at work to some more unusual manifestations of the self – here are the 10 top self-portraits from the RA Collection.

Our Collection
> 3 years ago
The RA in 250 objects: War
As the RA turns 250 years old, we’re exploring 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. In this edition, we mark 100 years since the Armistice, looking at how artists have experienced war and conflict over the centuries.

Our Collection
> 3 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Architecture
To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re exploring 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. With an exhibition of the architect Renzo Piano currently taking place at the RA, in this online exhibition we look at the some of the architectural works in the RA collection, from models to poems.

Our Collection
< 4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: The Summer Exhibition
To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. In this edition, with the Summer Exhibition on display, and another RA exhibition – The Great Spectacle – looking back at its history, we explore some works in the Collection from Summers gone by.

Our Collection
< 4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: How artists learned to draw
For our 250th birthday, we highlighted 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. With a free display exploring how artists have traditionally learnt to draw, in this edition we head into the Royal Academy’s historic schools…

Our Collection
4 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.

Our Collection
4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Clouds
To celebrate our 250th birthday, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection in 25 themes. In this edition – inspired by the beautiful cloud drawings of Tacita Dean, currently on display in her ‘LANDSCAPE’ exhibition – take a few minutes to drift through the clouds that have been etched, sketched, printed and painted throughout history.

Our Collection
4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Around the World
To celebrate our 250th birthday this year, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection across 25 themes. In this edition, we’re setting forth across the seven seas to discover works by artists who voyaged across the globe, drawing what they saw.

Our Collection
> 4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Tales of the unexpected
To celebrate our 250th birthday this year, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection across 25 themes. In this edition, curator Annette Wickham talks us through some of the more surprising objects you’ll stumble across down in the depths of the Collection, from a lock of Napoleon’s hair to a rather fancy tea set…

Our Collection
> 4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Mythical monsters
To celebrate our 250th birthday this year, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from the RA Collection across 25 themes. In this edition, we’re looking at the fearsome mythical beasts lurking in the shadows of our archives, from the colossal serpents of Norse legend to hideous hydras from Greek myth.

Our Collection
> 4 years ago
The RA Collection in 250 objects: Anatomy
The RA will turn 250 on 10 December this year. To celebrate, we’re highlighting 250 beautiful, odd and inspiring objects from our Collection across 25 themes. We’re starting with the study of human anatomy, once a key part of the artistic training provided at the RA Schools. Here’s our head-to-toe guide to what happens when fresh corpses and fine art meet…