Royal Academy summer exhibition
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The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture, architectural designs and models and is the largest and most popular open exhibition in the United Kingdom.
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.
Today, around 1,000 works are selected each year from as many as 10,000 entries representing some 5,000 artists. Any artist may submit up to three works at a fee of 18 pounds per piece as of 2004) for selection by The Summer Exhibition Selection and Hanging Committee. 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.
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 million pounds for the institution, which receives no financial support from the state or crown.
The exhibition, which runs during the summer months of July and August, is traditionally opened with a procession to the nearby St. James's Church, Piccadilly, led by the Archbishop of Westminster.
The 2005 exhibition theme was Printmaking and the multiple. In 2006 the theme was "From Life."
Over £70,000 prize money, including the £25,000 Charles Wollaston Award, is awarded each year at the Summer Exhibition. In 2006, winner of the Charles Wollaston Prize was Chantal Joffe.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Summer Exhibition 2005 — retrieved July 2005
