On a winter’s day in 1768, architect Sir William Chambers visited the king, George III. He brought with him a petition signed by 36 artists and architects including himself, all of whom were seeking permission to ‘establish a society for promoting the Arts of Design’. What’s more, they also proposed an annual exhibition and a School of Design. Lucky for us, the King said yes. And so the Royal Academy of Arts, the Royal Academy Schools, and what you know today as the Summer Exhibition, were born. They set up home in Pall Mall, renting a gallery that was just 30 feet long.
A multicultural bunch, of the 36 founding Members, four were Italian, one was French, one Swiss, one American and one Chinese. Among the number were two women, Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffmann.
Above, you can see Johan Zoffany’s famous portrait of the founders, set in the Life Drawing Room of Old Somerset House. It was completed in 1772 and includes our first president Sir Joshua Reynolds, seen in a black suit left of centre. Zoffany probably hoped his painting would please the King, and he was successful: the King bought it for 500 guineas, or about £65,000 in today’s money.
In 1775, Sir William Chambers won the commission to design the new Somerset House. It would become, among other things, our new home and first official residence. The Exhibition Room was a thing of beauty, 32 feet high and situated at the top of a steep winding staircase, it was described by literary critic Joseph Baretti as “undoubtedly at the date, the finest gallery for displaying pictures so far built”.
In the 1830s, we moved to Trafalgar Square to share premises with the newly-founded National Gallery. However, with space at a premium, we were on the move again in 1867 to Burlington House, where we remain to this day. Fortunately, our President at the time, Francis Grant, drove a hard bargain and secured our new home for an annual rent of £1 for 999 years.
The story of our second President is a fascinating one. Benjamin West was born in Pennsylvania in 1738 and grew up in a world where art was little known. But with pioneering spirit, he travelled to Europe for his education and found success in Rome.
Later arriving in England, he became a close friend of the King and his 'History Painter'. He never returned to America but is considered the founding father of the American school of painting. He was so popular that he was elected President by his fellow members with just one opposing vote. He also had a first-rate eye for talent and once comforted a down-hearted young Constable after he’d had a work rejected by the Academy with these words, “Don’t be disheartened young man, we shall hear more of you again; you must have loved nature before you could have painted this.”
We have a somewhat chequered history when it comes to equality of the sexes. Although Mary Moser and Angelica Kauffman flew the flag for women in 1768, it took another 168 years before another woman was elected as a full Academician, Laura Knight in 1936.
In 1879, the Council of the day came to the conclusion that our original Instrument of Foundation did not allow for women RAs. Eventually, they relented and passed a resolution to make women eligible, but only on the condition of restricted privileges. A few years later in 1913, we invoked the wrath of the suffragettes and a demonstration was held in the galleries. One woman slashed a portrait of Henry James by Sargent while another hacked at a painting by George Clausen. Catastrophe was also narrowly averted when one protestor attempted to start a fire in the toilets.
The Royal Academy of Arts, or as it is often abbreviated, the RA, was founded in 1768 by a group of artists headed by portrait painter Joshua Reynolds. Under Reynolds, the academy functioned as a school aimed at teaching drawing, painting, and sculpture to young artists.
The Academy had its roots in private English schools of art popular in the early part of the 18th century. Most prominent of these schools was the St. Martin's Lane Academy, headed by William Hogarth. In 1755 a group of wealthy art enthusiasts calling themselves the Dilletanti Society proposed a national school of the arts to the St. Martin's Lane Academy. However, discussions foundered over the thorny question of who would control the school.
At the same time the Society of Artists, a sort of art guild composed of the leading artistic talents of the day, such as Hogarth himself, Joshua Reynolds, and Thomas Gainsborough, was being riven by internal squabbles and petty politics. The architect William Chambers split from the Society of Artists after losing a battle for the presidency. Chambers used his royal connections to get George III's approval for a new society, to be called the Royal Academy of Arts. Chambers' proposal was accepted in 1768, and the academy itself came into being the following year.
Although the academy was officially under the patronage of King George III (hence the "Royal" in the title), it received no official funding beyond the initial grant for small premises in Pall Mall, and was free to operate in its own way. The Academy was formed of 40 Academicians and 20 Associates. The number of Associates was later increased to 30.
Academy classes were provided free of charge, and scholarships were available to help needy students and to provide opportunities to pursue studies abroad. Lacking royal funding, the academy survived by charging attendance fees for public exhibitions of work by members.
For the first 3 years of its existence the Academy occupied its quarters in Pall Mall, but in 1771 it moved to Somerset House. In 1837 those premises were required by the government for administrative offices, so the Academy moved to Trafalgar Square, where it shared building space with the National Gallery. In 1868 it made a final move to permanent quarters at Burlington House.
Aside from its avowed aims as an art school, the Academy offered aspiring artists the chance to make a name for themselves by sponsoring an annual Summer Exhibition. This juried exhibition, held from May to August, acted as a launching pad for numerous prominent artists. Some artists who attended the Royal Academy include William Blake and JMW Turner.
The Royal Academy has extended its mandate over the years since its founding. Now, in addition to teaching classes, the RA hosts regular exhibitions of art work drawn from around the world. As such, it is one of the most prestigious art galleries in the world, and it continues its instruction of approximately 60 young and aspiring artists each year. Although the RA has been criticized in the past for its conservative approach, it remains one of the most influential teaching and exhibition centres of the art world.