Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of 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.^[1] It is also "the longest continuously staged exhibition of contemporary art in the world".^[2]

View of one of the main rooms, June 2015

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

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.^[1]

History

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.^[2] The name Summer Exhibition dates from 1870.^[2]

Selection process

Today, around 1,000 works are selected each year from as many as 32,000 entries representing some 16,000 artists.^{[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.^{[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, with the result that the statue was rejected and the plinth put on display.^[3] Some artists apply repeatedly before being selected: in 2024 Alison Aye's accepted piece Shifting to the Moon was her 31st submission.^[4]

Exhibition

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".^[5] In 2011, the selection committee agreed to have no specific theme.^{[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.^{[citation needed]}

Coordinators

• 2005 Stephen Farthing and Christopher Orr^[6]
• 2010 Stephen Chambers^[7]
• 2011 Christopher Le Brun^[8]
• 2012 Tess Jaray^[9]
• 2013 Eva Jiřičná and Norman Ackroyd^[10]
• 2014 Hughie O'Donoghue^[11]
• 2015 Michael Craig-Martin^[12]
• 2016 Yinka Shonibare^[13]
• 2017 Eileen Cooper^[14]
• 2018 Grayson Perry^[15][16]
• 2019 Jock McFadyen^[17]
• 2020 Jane and Louise Wilson^[18]
• 2021 Yinka Shonibare^[19]
• 2022 Alison Wilding^[20]
• 2023 David Remfry^[21]
• 2024 Ann Christopher^[22]
• 2025 Farshid Moussavi^[23]

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.^[24]

Winners of Charles Wollaston Award

Year	Artist	Artwork	Medium	Exhibited	View	Ref.
1978	Peter Greenham	Lady Bonham Carter	Oil on canvas	Gallery I	Tate	[25]
1979	Roger de Grey	Marennes	Oil on canvas	Gallery III		[26]
1980	Anthony Gross
1981
1982	Robert Buhler
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987	John Bellany
1988
1989
1990
1991	Neil Jeffries					[27]
1992	Sandra Blow	Whisperings	Acrylic	Gallery III		[28]
1993
1994	Robert Medley	Preparation for the Execution	Oil on canvas	Gallery II	Royal Academy	[29]
1995	Barry Flanagan	The Cricketer	Bronze	Courtyard	Jesus College, Cambridge	[30]
1996	Jeffery Camp					[31]
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	[32]
1999	David Hockney	A Bigger Grand Canyon	Oil on sixty canvases	Lecture Room	National Gallery of Australia	[33]
2000	Gerard Hemsworth	Between Heaven and Hell 1998	Acrylic on canvas	Gallery IV		[34]
2001	Marc Quinn	Catherine Long	Marble	Large Weston Room		[35]
2002	Alan Charlton	Vertical Painting in 20	Acrylic on canvas	Gallery IV		[36]
2003	Jake and Dinos Chapman	Marriage of Reason and Squalor II	Painted Bronze	Gallery I		[37]
2004
2005
2006	Chantal Joffe	Blond Girl - Black Dress	Oil on board	Gallery III		[38]
2007	Gavin Turk	Dumb Candle	Wood	Gallery I		[39]
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		[40]
2011	Alison Wilding	Take a Deep Breath…	Painted foam, copper and fibreglass resin	Lecture Room		[41]
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)		[42]
2014	Wolfgang Tillmans	Greifbar 1	Inkjet print	Gallery IX		[43]
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		[44]
2024	Tracey Emin	Did it Ever Get Any Better	Acrylic on canvas	Gallery III
2025	Sikelela Owen	KNITTING	Oil	Gallery VIII		[45]

Reception

The exhibition has received both admiration and criticism.^[2] Jonathan Jones described it in 2019 as the "bloated corpse of a tradition ... [with] a tired, inward looking, end-of-the-road quality".^[17]

An exhibition about the history of the Summer Exhibition, The Great Spectacle, was held in 2018.^[46]