Articles
Videos
From artist interviews to curator-led tours of our exhibitions, catch up on our latest online videos.
RA Exhibitions
13 days ago
Video: Tracey Emin RA on her largest-ever text piece
Hanging from the vast Victorian glass roof of St Pancras International, I Want My Time With You is the latest in the Terrace Wires public art series. In this video, Tracey Emin discusses the origins of the work and why she chose these particular words.
RA Exhibitions
2 months ago
Video: Artemisia Gentileschi in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Artemisia Gentileschi, one of very few women who carved out a career in the 17th-century art world.
Inside the Academy
2 months ago
RA250 stories: putting Hercules back together again
How do you take decades of dirt off a sculpture without damaging its original surface, or reassemble and attach missing parts of a historic statue? Find out in the latest edition of our behind-the-scenes video series, revealing our preparations for unveiling of The New RA.
RA Exhibitions
2 months ago
Video: Van Dyck in 60 seconds
With our Charles I exhibition celebrating the monarch’s extraordinary art collection, we take a closer look at one of his favourite painters – the Baroque superstar Anthony van Dyck.
RA Exhibitions
3 months ago
Video: a close-up look at Charles I’s Holbein drawings
As the RA prepares to show the great works of Charles I’s art collection, we go behind the scenes at Windsor Castle to see some rarely-shown Holbein drawings that are coming to the exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
4 months ago
Video: what you need to know about Duchamp’s Fountain
2017 marks 100 years since a porcelain urinal changed the course of modern art. In this video, Professor Dawn Ades tells the story behind Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Video: what is encaustic painting?
Encaustic is an ancient painting method in which wax and pigment are fused onto a surface with heat. Watch a demonstration of this versatile technique by Royal Academician Terry Setch, recorded in his Cardiff studio.
RA Exhibitions
5 months ago
Video: Marcel Duchamp in 60 seconds
What was it that made Marcel Duchamp such an influential figure? Here’s a quick introduction to the man dubbed the father of conceptual art.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Inside the show: Matisse in the Studio
From African masks to ornate furniture, the objects that Henri Matisse collected throughout his life played a key role in his art. Learn more in these videos with curator Ann Dumas.
Inside the Academy
6 months ago
RA250 stories: Look up! The six-metre ceiling painting back at the RA
Before we unveil the New RA for our 250th anniversary in 2018, we’re restoring some of the original features of our 18th-century home on Piccadilly. This video shows the reinstallation of a vast ceiling painting by William Kent.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Video: Salvador Dalí in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Salvador Dalí, the Spanish surrealist who became the first art superstar of the television age – and whose surprising friendship with Marcel Duchamp is currently in the spotlight at the RA.
RA Exhibitions
6 months ago
Video: Jasper Johns in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a quick introduction to Jasper Johns, one of the 20th century’s great artistic innovators, who continues to make work today.
RA Exhibitions
9 months ago
Video: Henri Matisse in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow gives a 60-second introduction to Henri Matisse, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
Inside the Academy
10 months ago
RA250 stories: building a bridge that’s a sculpture
In 2018, our two historic sites at Burlington House and Burlington Gardens will be linked together for the first time. In this video, we look at the complex process of connecting two listed buildings, with a sculptural bridge that traces the line of an original garden path from 350 years ago.
Artists
10 months ago
Exploring watercolour with Christopher Le Brun PRA
Think you know watercolour? Think again. Join the President of the Royal Academy in his London studio as he debunks some of the myths about this versatile medium and its possibilities.
Inside the Academy
12 months ago
RA250 stories: hidden treasures of the RA Collection
In 2018 we’re unveiling new spaces to display the Royal Academy’s Collection. In this video, we take a look at some of the treasures that will be on show, including the UK’s only sculpture by Michelangelo.
Artists
12 months ago
Video: Gilbert & George in conversation with Tim Marlow
“We wanted to have an art that could deal with emotion, with life and death and hope and fear and friendship.”
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Inside the show: art of the Russian Revolution
In these videos, take a look inside our exhibition of post-revolutionary Russian art and learn more about the vast 1932 exhibition in Leningrad that inspired it.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Video: Edward Hopper in 60 seconds
In our latest 60-second guide, Tim Marlow introduces Edward Hopper, perhaps the most important American realist painter of the early 20th century.
RA Exhibitions
1 year ago
Video: Grant Wood in 60 seconds
Tim Marlow introduces Grant Wood, the artist whose portrayals of small-town life in America include one of the most recognisable paintings of all time.
Inside the Academy
> 1 year ago
RA250 stories: how to restore a façade
How do you repair historic stone when that stone is no longer quarried? This video series reveals the ideas, people and challenges behind transforming the RA ahead of our 250th anniversary in 2018, and in this episode we come to the restoration of 6 Burlington Gardens and its historic statues.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: Abstract Expressionists in 60 seconds
Got a minute? In these short videos, the RA’s Artistic Director introduces five of the key figures of Abstract Expressionism.
Artists
> 1 year ago
How to… make a wood engraving, with Anne Desmet
In the first part of our new video series looking at artistic techniques, Anne Desmet RA demonstrates each step in creating a wood engraving, from tracing the original drawing through to printing a first proof.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
David Bailey in conversation with Tim Marlow
Watch a video of legendary photographer and filmmaker David Bailey in conversation with the RA’s Artistic Director Tim Marlow, discussing his influential work and innovative portrait photographs from the last 60 years.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
What’s coming up in 2017 at the Royal Academy of Arts
The RA’s Artistic Director introduces our 2017 exhibition programme, which explores some of the most momentous developments in 20th-century art.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: What’s it like to sit for David Hockney?
Hear from four of the sitters painted by David Hockney for our exhibition ‘David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and 1 Still-life’, from 11-year-old Rufus Hale to the architect Frank Gehry.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
After the deluge: Artist Aono Fumiaki on art as restoration
In this video, artist Aono Fumiaki talks about his work born out of the wreckage of Japan’s 2011 tsunami, on show in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: Zatorski + Zatorski’s skeletal self-portrait
Artist duo Zatorski + Zatorski discuss their unusual self-portrait created from carbonised human skeletons.
RA Exhibitions
> 1 year ago
Video: Kutlug Ataman’s portrait in 10,000 panels
The Turkish artist discusses the origins of his large-scale installation work which is on show in the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
Video: In the studio with David Hockney RA
David Hockney RA talks to curator Edith Devaney about his Royal Academy exhibition ‘82 Portraits and 1 Still-life’.
Artists
< 2 years ago
Making a Japanese woodblock print for the Summer Exhibition
In this video, Rebecca Salter RA explains the traditional tools and techniques used by the Sato Woodblock Workshop in Kyoto when creating her print for the Summer Exhibition 2016.
Opinion
< 2 years ago
Brexit, London housing and building diverse communities
In the headline debate for the London Festival of Architecture, our panellists and audience discuss how architecture can be used to bring people together at a time when Britain’s relationship to Europe and the rest of the world is the subject of intense discussion.
RA Exhibitions
< 2 years ago
In pictures: Summer Exhibition Preview Party 2016
The official launch of the Summer Exhibition 2016 welcomed some of London’s most celebrated artists and art lovers to Burlington House.
Inside the Academy
< 2 years ago
RA250 stories: Digitising the Collection
This video series reveals the ideas and people behind the transformation of the Royal Academy ahead of our 250th anniversary in 2018. In the second episode, we take a look at what’s involved in bringing artworks and documents from the past into the 21st century.
Artists
< 2 years ago
Sex, death and sculpture: Cathie Pilkington’s Top Shelf
The Royal Academician talks about the “Baccahanalian excess” of her sculptural installation Top Shelf, currently on display above the bar in the Academicians’ Room at the RA.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
The masters of Renaissance Venice
With In the Age of Giorgione in our galleries, curator Per Rumberg heads to Venice to track down its elusive masters in the golden age of painting.
Artists
2 years ago
Conrad Shawcross RA’s ‘The ADA Project’ in Hong Kong
The Royal Academician’s sculpture inspired by the mathematician Ada Lovelace goes on show at The Peninsula Hotel.
RA Exhibitions
2 years ago
Video: Kandinsky and the avant-gardeners
For Matisse, Kandinsky and Munch, the garden provided inspiration as they worked towards new styles of painting.
Opinion
2 years ago
Re-viewing the past: three new shows of video art
RA Magazine takes a look at three shows of video art that reinvent the documentary form.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Video: a visit to three artist gardens in northern France
Take a tour of three beautiful gardens which inspired paintings in our forthcoming exhibition on the garden in art.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Between the Land and the Sea: inside the show
Barbara Rae RA introduces our latest Art Sales range, currently on display in the Keepers’ House.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Jean-Etienne Liotard: inside the show
In this video series, curator MaryAnne Stevens takes us inside the Sackler Wing exhibition devoted to the 18th century Swiss master, Jean-Etienne Liotard, and picks out a few highlights.
Artists
> 2 years ago
David Remfry RA on his portraits of people and dogs
In this video, the Royal Academician discusses his new book which brings together portraits of friends and neighbours with their canine companions.
Artists
> 2 years ago
Lessons in life, love and art from Marina Abramovic
From losing consciousness to sitting motionless every day for three months, the inimitable artist pushes her body to its limits. Watch her in conversation with Bryan Appleyard.
Artists
> 2 years ago
Bob and Roberta Smith RA at the William Morris Gallery
Bob and Roberta Smith’s exhibition of his recent campaigning art finds a natural home at the London gallery dedicated to designer and radical socialist William Morris.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Edmund de Waal: video highlights of ‘white’
Artist and writer Edmund de Waal gives a tour of his new project in the RA Library and Print Room.
Artists
> 2 years ago
Fred Cuming RA: portrait of an artist
Fred Cuming RA reflects on his long career as a painter in this short film, shot in and around his East Sussex home.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
From Monet to Hockney: 2016 at the Royal Academy
The Royal Academy’s Artistic Director explains what’s in store in for the next year as we launch our 2016 exhibition programme.
Artists
> 2 years ago
Annual Architecture Lecture: Bjarke Ingels
Danish architect Bjarke Ingels delivered the 25th Annual Architecture Lecture in the unique setting of the Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Richard E Grant at the Summer Exhibition 2015
A long-time fan of the Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition, actor Richard E Grant takes us on a whistle-stop tour of his favourite works of art in this year’s show.
RA Exhibitions
> 2 years ago
Inside the show: Joseph Cornell
Take a look inside the exhibition ‘Joseph Cornell: Wanderlust’ in these short video clips with our curators.
Inside the Academy
> 2 years ago
RA250 stories: The architects
Our new video series goes behind the scenes to reveal the ideas and people behind the transformation of the Royal Academy ahead of our 250th anniversary in 2018. In the first episode, members of the project team from David Chipperfield Architects discuss how they’re taking it from concept to reality.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Video: How Joseph Cornell became an artist
The curator of our Cornell exhibition describes how this singular artist’s life in early 20th century New York shaped his first forays into the art world.
Artists
< 3 years ago
Postcards from the edge of the Earth: Emma Stibbon’s polar art
A new exhibition showcases the Academician’s artistic response to her Arctic and Antarctic journeys.
Inside the Academy
< 3 years ago
Henry Coleman’s ‘The Greater Order’
Have you noticed something different about our banners? Artist Henry Coleman has co-opted them in a sculptural response to the Academy’s forthcoming architectural transformation.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
In pictures: Summer Exhibition Preview Party
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
< 3 years ago
Video: the making of Conrad Shawcross’s courtyard installation
Take a look behind the scenes at the making of ‘The Dappled Light of the Sun’.
RA Exhibitions
< 3 years ago
Video: Stanley Anderson’s scenes of rural life
The curators of our Stanley Anderson exhibition discuss his portrayals of the traditional crafts of the English countryside.
Artists
3 years ago
Fiona Rae RA: “I’ve always had an experimental approach to painting”
The Royal Academician explains how turning away from colour has had an invigorating effect on her work.
RA Exhibitions
3 years ago
Richard Diebenkorn: inside the show
Take a look inside our Richard Diebenkorn exhibition in these short videos presented by the exhibition’s curators.
Artists
3 years ago
Hughie O’Donoghue RA: “painting is archaeology in reverse”
The Royal Academician explains how the nature of memory and a sense of place are driving forces in his latest series of paintings.
Artists
3 years ago
Bryan Kneale RA at Pangolin London
An exhibition of five decades of Bryan Kneale’s sculpture and works on paper gives the Academician a chance to see his work afresh.
Artists
3 years ago
Anish Kapoor’s new paintings at Lisson Gallery
The Royal Academician explains how his new series of paintings in silicone and resin have a close connection to his blockbuster 2009 show at the RA.
Artists
3 years ago
Richard Wilson’s ‘Hang On A Minute…’ travels to Hong Kong
The Royal Academician’s sculpture inspired by ‘The Italian Job’ goes on show at The Peninsula Hotel.
Artists
3 years ago
Zaha Hadid RA in conversation with Alain Elkann
The eminent architect discusses her approach to her work and her thoughts on the past, present and future of architecture.
Artists
3 years ago
Cornelia Parker’s poppies at the Whitworth
A survey of work by Cornelia Parker RA is the opening show at Manchester’s newly renovated Whitworth Gallery – featuring a room hung with the negatives from a poppy factory.
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.
Inside the Academy
3 years ago
Behind the scenes of ‘Premiums: Interim Projects’
We went behind the scenes in the RA Schools to follow the progress of second-year students putting together their interim exhibition.
Opinion
3 years ago
Podcast and video: Rubens and body image in art
Professor Germaine Greer, Dr Tom Shakespeare, Grayson Perry RA and Professor Mary Beard discuss the role art plays in creating and communicating body image.
Artists
3 years ago
Chantal Joffe RA at Jerwood Gallery
We speak to painter Chantal Joffe RA in her new exhibition at Jerwood Gallery in Hastings.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years 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.
Inside the Academy
> 3 years ago
Video: a multi-sensory tour of the Royal Academy
A recent event for blind and visually impaired visitors engaged the senses of smell, touch, taste and hearing to explore our building’s architecture and history.
Our Collection
> 3 years ago
Video: how we made Mr. Turner
Who was Mr. Turner? A contradiction, Timothy Spall told us at a recent panel discussion on Mike Leigh’s biopic. Watch the event and a behind-the-scenes video about the film here.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Kiefer and Chipperfield talk space and creativity
In a discussion chaired by the RA’s Tim Marlow, Anselm Kiefer and David Chipperfield RA explore the ways art and architecture interact in Kiefer’s practice.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 years 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’.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Anthony Eyton RA and the bell ringers of Spitalfields
The Academician’s lifelong artistic engagement with the East End neighbourhood now includes the bell ringers of its iconic Hawksmoor church.
Inside the Academy
> 3 years ago
Who’s who in ‘Mr. Turner’?
Mike Leigh’s new film brings to life one of British art’s brightest stars and features several scenes set at the RA. We take a look at the supporting cast of Turner’s friends and rivals at the Academy.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Tess Jaray RA reads from ‘The Blue Cupboard’
The Royal Academician shares a chapter from her new memoir.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Interview: William Tucker RA
As a new exhibition of his work opens in London, the US-based Academician reflects on an artistic discovery that moulded his approach to sculpture.
Inside the Academy
> 3 years ago
Q&A: Cultural historian Robert Hewison on Effie Gray
Ahead of a special event at the RA, one of our panellists tells us about the figures behind a 19th-century love triangle that scandalised the art world.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Conrad Shawcross RA on ‘The ADA Project’
The Royal Academician discusses his robot installation inspired by Ada Lovelace.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Tracey Emin RA: “It’s like being at art school again”
The Royal Academician describes tackling the medium of bronze as her major new exhibition opens in London.
RA Exhibitions
> 3 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.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Art Party: coming to a cinema near you
A new film by Bob and Roberta Smith RA and Tim Newton has its first screening at the RA.
Artists
> 3 years ago
Behind the scenes: Anselm Kiefer’s studio at Barjac
In the lead-up to his major RA exhibition this autumn, we take a look inside the artist’s huge “gesamtkunstwerk” in the south of France.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years 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
< 4 years 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
< 4 years ago
A look inside ‘Radical Geometry’
Explore some of the highlights in our exhibition of groundbreaking abstract art from 20th-century South America
Our Collection
< 4 years ago
RA Collection acquires first film work
The film ‘Love has no reason’ by RA Schools graduate Julie Born Schwartz has been added to the Royal Academy’s historic Collection.
Artists
< 4 years ago
Tracey Emin talks about ‘My Bed’
Tracey Emin RA’s ‘My Bed’ (1998), one of the seminal works of the Young British Artist generation, goes up for sale at Christie’s on Tuesday 1 July.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years 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
< 4 years ago
Varnishing Day at the Summer Exhibition 2014
Celebrating with the artists in this year’s Summer Exhibition.
RA Exhibitions
< 4 years ago
An introduction to ‘Radical Geometry’
This summer the RA presents an exhibition of some of the most exciting geometric abstract art ever made.
Artists
< 4 years ago
Paint inspiration: Ken Howard RA
Ken Howard RA’s range of interior paints created specially for the Royal Academy is inspired by his beloved Venice, a city where he has had a studio for the past 10 years.
Artists
< 4 years ago
Paint inspiration: David Mach RA
The artist’s new paint range for the RA draws inspiration from his life and work.
RA Exhibitions
4 years 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.
Opinion
4 years ago
Wandering Words
‘Sensing Spaces’ was a transformative exhibition for the RA in lots of ways and from the beginning we wanted to break new ground in the types of events we organised for it.
RA Exhibitions
4 years 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
4 years 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
4 years 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.
Inside the Academy
4 years ago
Vanessa Jackson: Curvature and Common Sense
Artist Vanessa Jackson presents the RA Schools Annual Lecture 2014.
RA Recommends
4 years ago
Charlie Billingham, Sarah Lucas and Ann Christopher RA
From contemporary maritime art to disemboweled books: everything worth seeing this week.
RA Recommends
4 years ago
Gifted, Victor Burgin, and Sean Scully RA
From 100 works on paper to Asian art in London: everything worth seeing this week.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura
More than any other architects, Álvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura have made me look with a fresh eye at the Royal Academy’s galleries and architecture.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Kengo Kuma
It may seem a strange term for an architect to coin, but Japanese architect Kengo Kuma has been developing an idea of what he calls “weak architecture”.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Diébédo Francis Kéré
When putting together this group of architects I purposefully sought out those who would bring a variety of perspectives on how we think about architecture and the spaces around us.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Li Xiaodong
It was when sitting with Li Xiaodong in a courtyard garden in the Huairou district, a mountainous area near the Great Wall, an hour north of Beijing, that many of his observations of Chinese culture and sensibilities became much clearer for me.
Inside the Academy
> 4 years ago
A taste of Sensing Spaces
Sensing Spaces will transform the RA’s Main Galleries with structures, light, sounds and smells. Hear from behind the scenes as the exhibition installation gets underway.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Sofia von Ellrichshausen and Mauricio Pezo
Spending some time with the Chilean architects who ‘consider’ rather than ‘design’.
Artists
> 4 years ago
Meet the architects: Grafton
“Buildings tell the stories of our lives in built form… We walk through and feel spaces with our whole bodies and our senses, not just with our eyes and with our minds. We are fully involved in the experience; this is what makes us human.”
Inside the Academy
> 4 years ago
Nicolas Bourriaud: What is the exform?
Culture, history and rejection in the Google era.
RA Exhibitions
> 4 years ago
Who’s who in Sensing Spaces
Introducing the architects taking part in ‘Sensing Spaces: Architecture Reimagined’.
RA Recommends
< 5 years ago
RA Schools Show 2013: Students discuss ther work
This year, 17 students will reach the end of their three-year postgraduate fine art course at the RA.
Opinion
< 5 years ago
Archive: RA on set: ‘Summer in February’
If you like ‘Downton Abbey’, you’ll love ‘Summer in February’, starring Dominic Cooper as Alfred Munnings, future President of the Royal Academy.
Inside the Academy
5 years ago
Reading in the Life Drawing Room
A one-day symposium concerned with the management of reading, with Lucy Skaer, Angie Keefer, Nina Power, Cally Spooner and Natasha Soobramanien.
Inside the Academy
5 years ago
Chris Kraus: A Very Literary Confession
Theory, fiction, criticism, confession?
RA Exhibitions
5 years ago
RA Schools students discuss Premiums 2013
The 2013 ‘Premiums: Interim Projects’ exhibition is an opportunity to see the work of RA Schools students at the midway point of their three-year course.
Inside the Academy
< 6 years ago
Bringing dance to the RA’s Courtyard
Choreographer Katie Green created a site-specific dance to accompany Chris Wilkinson RA’s ‘From Landscape to Portrait’.
Opinion
< 6 years ago
Edmund de Waal discusses his exhibition at Waddesdon
The artist gives RA Magazine an exclusive video tour of highlights from the show.