Behind the scenes: stars of the RA Collection
Evening session
Wednesday 20 September 2017 6 - 8pm
The Library, Burlington House, Royal Academy of Arts
£120. Includes exclusive welcome drinks in the Academicians Room, an expert-led tour of the Academy's collection and a tour of the John Madejski Fine Rooms.
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An exciting opportunity to explore highlights from the Royal Academy’s collection with Annette Wickham, Curator of Works on Paper, including drinks, for a unique Royal Academy experience.
The Royal Academy’s remarkable library and collection reflects its near 250-year history at the heart of the art world. Acquired from the RA’s foundation in 1768, and spanning up to the present day, the collection has been both a practical teaching tool and a resource for research and scholarship, informing and inspiring artists and scholars over the centuries. With many works donated by practising artists themselves, as well as their families, the collection reflects the membership of the Royal Academy (Academicians), as well as its supporters and the activities of the prestigious RA Schools. The Collection provides a unique insight into the history of the arts and culture in Britain.
Led by Annette Wickham, Curator for Works on Paper, the evening will include an introduction to the formation of the RA Collection, stories of its hidden treasures and exclusive highlights, with the exciting opportunity to view rarely seen works on paper including prints, drawings and watercolours, first hand and in a small group setting.
The evening will include a visit to the John Madejski Fine Rooms, the gracious suite of rooms that comprise the original 18th-century town-palace of Burlington House on Piccadilly, historically one of the grandest private houses in London before it became home to the Royal Academy in 1867.
There will be a chance to see works by British masters, including the founding President of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as renowned painters such as George Stubbs and JMW Turner, who shaped art history and culture in Britain and beyond. Also included are exciting works by contemporary Academicians including Eileen Cooper, Norman Ackroyd and Humphrey Ocean, who continue to challenge and enrich our understanding of the arts and architecture.
The evening will begin with a warm welcome and refreshments in the Academicians' Room followed by a private tour of the Collection.
6.00pm – Welcome and drinks reception in the Academicians' Room
6.30-8.00pm – Private tour of highlights of the RA Collection and Q&A
About the tutor
Annette Wickham
Annette Wickham is Curator of Works on Paper for the Royal Academy Collections. She has curated and contributed to numerous exhibitions at the Academy including John Gibson RA: A British Sculptor in Rome, Daniel Maclise: The Waterloo Cartoon, Drawing: The Lines of Time with Ann Christopher RA, and Constable, Gainsborough and Turner and the Making of Landscape. She has published on these subjects and regularly gives talks and papers focusing on aspects of the history of the Royal Academy, its Collections and its Schools. Annette studied History of Art at Manchester University and the Courtauld Institute and was previously an Assistant Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where she contributed to two major projects: the British Galleries and the redisplay of the Hereford Cathedral Choir Screen.
About the Royal Academy Library
The Royal Academy Library is the oldest institutional fine art library in the country, established in 1768 for the use of the Members of the Academy and its students. It is housed in an evocative, hidden space tucked away next to the Sackler Galleries on the top floor of Burlington House. Entrance is via the Library Print Room, which opens onto a main reading room filled with thousands of historic books on art and art theory, architecture, archaeology and much more. This impressive room was once a Victorian sculpture gallery and was redesigned in the late 1980s by the architects Betty and H.T. Cadbury-Brown to hold the Library.
In the build-up the RA’s 250th anniversary in 2018, we are digitising 10,000 new items from the Academy’s collection – from works of art to letters and sketches. In this film, we take a look at how these works are chosen and what they can tell us about the history of art practice in the UK.
Our courses and classes programme
Our programme of short courses and classes offers the opportunity to explore a range of subjects, led by expert tutors and practising artists.