The principal society of artists
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is a charity, museum, school and members’ club that has played a leading role in British art since its founding in 1768. Its function as an independent institution run by and for artists continues, with a group of elected Royal Academicians (all practicing artists and architects) key to its governance. The earliest members included Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough and Angelica Kauffman; John Everett Millais became its youngest ever student in the 19th century and later its president. More recently the architect Amanda Levete and artists Tracey Emin, Michael Armitage, John Akomfrah and Eva Rothschild have joined the roster. As an academy the RA offers free postgraduate courses, which are among the UK’s most competitive.
The RA is known for its Summer Exhibition, the largest open-submission art exhibition in the world, and its famed “Sensation” show of 1997 helped launch the Young British Artists. Anish Kapoor became the first living artist to display a solo exhibition in the RA Galleries in 2009 and spotlights on leading figures including Tacita Dean, Renzo Piano and Marina Abramović have followed. Permanent galleries feature work by Academicians including John Constable and Anthony Caro. In 2018, the RA celebrated its 250th year with a renovation designed by Sir David Chipperfield RA.
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