The Royal Academy of Arts will mark the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, with a series of displays and events.
Peter Greenham, R.A., Study for a Portrait of Her Majesty the Queen, 1964. Oil on canvas, 244.50 x 122.40 x 5.0 cm. Photo: ©Royal Academy of Arts, London; Photographer: Prudence Cuming Associates Limited.
Peter Greenham’s Study for a Portrait of Her Majesty the Queen (1964) will go on show in the RA’s entrance hall, while displays in the John Madejski Fine Rooms will celebrate the long-standing connection between the monarchy and the Royal Academy from its foundation in 1768 to the present day.
THE QUEEN’S ARTISTS THE JOHN MADEJSKI FINE ROOMS 25 May – 12 August 2012
The Queen’s Artists will feature a selection of paintings, drawn from the Royal Academy’s Collection, by Royal Academicians elected during the early part of the Queen’s reign. The display in the Reynolds Room and Council Room will include works by Jean Cooke, Frederick Gore and Ruskin Spear. Subjects range from Richard Eurich’s fanciful reminiscence of a summer spent in Whitby in 1911 to Carel Weight’s depiction of people observing the two minute silence on Remembrance Sunday.
The Saloon will house a fascinating selection of sculptures, paintings and drawings prepared by Royal Academicians for the nation’s coinage and royal seals, on loan from the Royal Mint Museum. Portraits of the Queen by Edward Bawden and Sir Charles Wheeler, never before shown in public, will be exhibited alongside designs by current Royal Academicians James Butler, Tom Phillips and Christopher Le Brun PRA. Sir Anthony Caro’s new coin design for the London 2012 Games will also be on show. This display will be supported by the Royal Mint Museum.
THE KING’S ARTISTS: GEORGE III’S ACADEMY TENNANT GALLERY THE JOHN MADEJSKI FINE ROOMS 25 May – 21 October 2012
The King’s Artists: George III’s Academy in the Tennant Gallery will bring to light George III’s instrumental role in the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768 and his influence upon the choice of artists invited to form its original membership. Dominating the exhibition will be the imposing portraits of George and Queen Charlotte, painted by the Royal Academy’s first President, Sir Joshua Reynolds. These served as reminders of the RA’s great patrons, presiding over the institution in its resplendent, purpose-built, new apartments in Somerset House.
A newly discovered pencil study by Reynolds for his grand portrait of the monarch will be shown for the first time alongside the finished oil painting. On loan from a private collection, this sketch was hurriedly taken in one of the brief sittings that the king allowed and is a poignant reminder of how George and Joshua were obliged to put aside mutual antipathy for the sake of their Academy. The King’s Artists: George III’s Academy will be supported by Lowell Libson Ltd.
The John Madejski Fine Rooms
The John Madejski Fine Rooms are the former state rooms of Burlington House, originally one of London’s great private town mansions. These magnificently restored 18th century rooms house important works from the Royal Academy’s Collection of British art from the last 250 years.
Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J OBD
PUBLIC INFORMATION, call 020 7300 8000 and www.royalacademy.org.uk