250 years of antics at the RA
Tuesday 3 July 2018 11am - 12pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts
£10, £6 concessions.
Join three of the RA’s resident raconteurs for a ramble through some of the horrors and wonders of the Royal Academy’s 250-year history.
A thread of satire has always run through the gilded fabric of the Royal Academy. Taking a sideways glance at this stalwart of the British art establishment, our three RAs (Resident Anecdotalists, that is), Head of Collections Maurice Davies, Curator of Works on Paper Annette Wickham and Archivist Mark Pomeroy unearth some of the stories, myths and rumours that have accumulated over 250 years of artistic revelry, rivalry, rancour and dispute.
As the 18th-century Royal Academician William Beechey once said, a dinner at the RA was not considered over “until a duke and a painter were both put under the table from the effects of the bottle”.
Join us for this irreverent tribute to “the grand dame of Piccadilly” as we take a ramble through some of the horrors and wonders of the RA’s history from Thomas Gainsborough to Tracey Emin.