Articles
Women In Art
Inside the Academy
1 year ago
A “female invasion” 250 years in the making
The RA started out with two female Academicians, then took over a century to elect any more. As we celebrate our 250th anniversary, we take a look back at the women who fought the odds to be a part of our history – and the ones helping to secure our future.
Artists
2 years ago
The International Women’s Day art quiz
Know your O‘Keeffe from your Kahlo? For International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating a few of the great female artists who deserve a wider audience. Take the quiz and let’s see how much you know.
RA Recommends
> 2 years ago
Three female gallerists who changed the course of British art
Despite the image of art dealing as a man’s world, women played a crucial role in the display, promotion and sale of 20th-century British art. Gill Hedley profiles three female gallerists who promoted British artists.
Opinion
< 3 years ago
Hidden from history: the Royal Academy’s female founders
While the past decade has seen more female artists becoming Academicians, they have been a rare sight for much of the RA’s existence, and were even excluded from Zoffany’s famed painting of the Academy’s founders. Historian Amanda Vickery delves into the archives to discover the pioneering women who wielded the brush.
Opinion
3 years ago
Podcast: Women in focus
Does being a female artist influence how a work is created and perceived? Our panel discuss.
Opinion
3 years ago
10 inspirational women in the arts
To mark International Women’s Day, we asked some of the great women in the UK art world, from artists to editors, where things stand when it comes to equality. Here’s what they said.
Opinion
4 years ago
Podcast: Women in today’s art world
At an event celebrating International Women’s Day, a panel of female Academicians and students discuss their experience as 21st-century artists.
Our Collection
4 years ago
Naked truth: the story of female life models at the RA
What does a 230-year-old household bill tell us about life modelling in the 18th-century? Find out in this article exploring the historical role of the female nude life model at the RA.
Our Collection
4 years ago
“Striving after excellence”: Victorian women and the fight for arts training
Amy Bluett discovers how 19th-century women aspiring to be artists had an uphill struggle to get equal access to training at the Royal Academy Schools.
Our Collection
4 years ago
Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffman: the RA’s founding women
Amy Bluett discovers how women at the Royal Academy have fought for equality from 1768 up to the present, beginning with a closer look at founding Members Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser.
Opinion
< 5 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.