Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

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File:Royal academy summer exhibition varnishing day 2015 room scene.jpg
View of one of the main rooms, June 2015
File:Frith A Private View.jpg
A Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881 by William Powell Frith, depicting Oscar Wilde and other Victorian worthies at a private view of the 1881 exhibition

The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, architectural designs and models, and is the largest and most popular open exhibition in the United Kingdom.<ref name="telegraph2011">Template:Cite news</ref> It is also "the longest continuously staged exhibition of contemporary art in the world".<ref name="Apollo">Template:Cite journal</ref>

When the Royal Academy was founded in 1768, one of its key objectives was to establish an annual exhibition, open to all artists of merit, which could be visited by the public. The first Summer Exhibition took place in 1769; it has been held every year since without exception.<ref name="telegraph2011" />

History

File:The Council of the Royal Academy Selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875.png
The Council of the Royal Academy Selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875 by Charles West Cope

In 1768, a group of artists visited King George III and sought his permission to establish a society for Arts and Design. They proposed the idea of an annual exhibition and a school design. King George III approved of the idea, and the first exhibition, in 1769, included 136 works.<ref name="Apollo"/> The name Summer Exhibition dates from 1870.<ref name="Apollo"/>

Selection process

Today, around 1,000 works are selected each year from as many as 32,000 entries representing some 16,000 artists.Template:Citation needed Any artist (living, known or unknown) may submit up to two works at a fee of £40 per piece for selection by The Summer Exhibition Selection and Hanging Committee.Template:Citation needed Due to the significant increase in the volume of entries over recent years, the number of entries per artist was reduced to 2 (from 3) and the fee was increased per piece. The committee is formed from the Council of Academicians (the governing body of the RA) and is traditionally chaired by the President of the Royal Academy. In addition to those works selected by the committee, all 80 Academicians are entitled to have six of their own pieces in the exhibition.

For the 2006 exhibition, the academy received a statue and a plinth from David Hensel. By mistake, the two parts were judged independently, resulting in the statue being rejected and the plinth put on display.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Some artists apply repeatedly before being selected: in 2024 Alison Aye's accepted piece Shifting to the Moon was her 31st submission.<ref name="fisher">Template:Cite news</ref>

Exhibition

File:Royal academy summer exhibition varnishing day 2015 arrival at St James's edited.jpg
Participants in the RA Summer Exhibition 2015 at St. James, Piccadilly, on Varnishing Day

The RA Summer Exhibition usually opens to the public in early June, preceded by a series of private viewings. The main event is called "Varnishing Day", the day that, according to popular legend, artists would come to add a final coat of varnish to their paintings (compare: vernissage). Traditionally, artists walk in procession from Burlington House to St James's Church, Piccadilly, where a service is held. At the opening reception, the shortlists for various prizes are announced.

Some years have particular themes. The 2005 exhibition theme was "Printmaking and the multiple". In 2006, the theme was "From Life." In 2008, the theme was "Man Made". The theme for 2010 was "Raw".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011, the selection committee agreed to have no specific theme.Template:Citation needed

Almost all exhibited works are for sale; the Academy receives 30% of the purchase price. In 2003, this amounted to a sum of some £2,000,000 for the institution, which receives no financial support from the state or crown.Template:Citation needed

Coordinators

Awards

Over £70,000 prize money, including the £25,000 Charles Wollaston Award, is awarded each year at the Summer Exhibition. In addition, a £10,000 architectural prize is awarded.<ref>R. Waite, "Cash prizes return for Royal Academy Summer Exhibition" Template:Webarchive, architectsjournal.co.uk, 22 February 2015.</ref>

Winners of Charles Wollaston Award

Year Artist Artwork Medium Exhibited View Ref.
1978 Peter Greenham Lady Bonham Carter Oil on canvas Gallery I Tate <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1979 Roger de Grey Marennes Oil on canvas Gallery III <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1980 Anthony Gross
1981
1982 Robert Buhler
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987 John Bellany
1988
1989
1990
1991 Neil Jeffries <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1992 Sandra Blow Whisperings Acrylic Gallery III <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1993
1994 Robert Medley Preparation for the Execution Oil on canvas Gallery II Royal Academy <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1995 Barry Flanagan The Cricketer Bronze Courtyard Jesus College, Cambridge <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1996 Jeffery Camp <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1997 R. B. Kitaj Sandra Three Mixed media — view installation Gallery II Centrepiece at Astrup Fearnley Museet
1998 John Hoyland Tree Music 6.3.98 Acrylic on cotton Gallery VI Private Collection <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1999 David Hockney A Bigger Grand Canyon Oil on sixty canvases Lecture Room National Gallery of Australia <ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
2000 Gerard Hemsworth Between Heaven and Hell 1998 Acrylic on canvas Gallery IV <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2001 Marc Quinn Catherine Long Marble Large Weston Room <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2002 Alan Charlton Vertical Painting in 20 Acrylic on canvas Gallery IV <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2003 Jake and Dinos Chapman Marriage of Reason and Squalor II Painted Bronze Gallery I <ref>"Chapman brothers win £25,000 prize" Template:Webarchive, The Guardian, 27 June 2003.</ref>
2004
2005
2006 Chantal Joffe Blond Girl - Black Dress Oil on board Gallery III <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2007 Gavin Turk Dumb Candle Wood Gallery I <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2008 Jeff Koons Cracked Egg (Blue) 1994-2006 High chromium stainless steel with transparent colour coating Central Hall
2009 Richard Wilson
2010 Yinka Shonibare Crash Willy Mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton textile, leather, fibreglass and metal Wohl Central Hall <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2011 Alison Wilding Take a Deep Breath… Painted foam, copper and fibreglass resin Lecture Room <ref>"Alison Wilding wins the Charles Wollaston Award 2011" Template:Webarchive, cornerhousepublications.org, 20 June 2011.</ref>
2012 Anselm Kiefer Samson Oil, acrylic, steel, pastel and charcoal Large Weston Room
2013 El Anatsui TSIATSIA – searching for connection Aluminium (bottle tops, printing plates, roofing sheets) and copper wire Courtyard

(facade of the RA)

<ref>"El Anatsui wins the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award for his work at the Royal Academy of Arts, 245th Summer Exhibition" Template:Webarchive, octobergallery.co.uk.</ref>
2014 Wolfgang Tillmans Greifbar 1 Inkjet print Gallery IX <ref>"Summer Exhibition 2014, Royal Academy of Arts" Template:Webarchive, The Huffington Post, 24 June 2014.</ref>
2015 Rose Wylie Herr Rehlinger In White Armour Oil on canvas Gallery III
2016 David Nash Big Black Charred redwood Gallery IV
2017 Isaac Julien Western Union: Small Boats Five screen projection Gallery X
2018 Mike Nelson Untitled (Public sculpture for a redundant space) Sleeping bag, concrete and rubble The Annenberg Courtyard & Staircase Royal Academy
2019 Joe Tilson Finestra Venezia Thirty-six Murano glass works for the Grande Albergo Ausonia and Hungaria Gallery II
2020
2021 Naomi Gakunga Wetereire – Waiting Stainless steel wire, sheet metal and paper Lecture Room
2022 Uta Kögelsberger Cull Video Small Weston Room
2023 Kara Walker The Omicron Variations Ink on paper Gallery III <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
2024 Tracey Emin Did it Ever Get Any Better Acrylic on canvas Gallery III
2025 Sikelela Owen KNITTING Oil Gallery VIII <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Reception

The exhibition has received both admiration and criticism.<ref name="Apollo"/> Jonathan Jones described it in 2019 as the "bloated corpse of a tradition ... [with] a tired, inward looking, end-of-the-road quality".<ref name="Guardian_2019"/>

An exhibition about the history of the Summer Exhibition, The Great Spectacle, was held in 2018.<ref name="Guardian_2018">Template:Cite news</ref>

References

Template:Reflist Template:Commons category

Further reading

  • Template:Cite book (see index)
  • The Great Spectacle: 250 Years of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (2018), by Mark Hallett and Sarah Victoria Turner
  • Posters: A Century of Summer Exhibitions at the Royal Academy (2015), by Mark Pomeroy
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