Royal Academy of Arts

Sydney Lee (1866-1949) was widely acclaimed for his impressive and technically accomplished works, but despite his many achievements, Lee did not gain lasting critical acclaim. This display of more than 50 prints and 2 major paintings brings to light this important and influential artist, whose pioneering contribution to the history of British printmaking is now being acknowledged for the first time

Suitable for

• 11-13
• 16-17
• 18+
• 14-15

Admission

£3

For four months this year, the artist, Blue Firth, is transforming the Architecture Space in an exploration of the ways architecture informs and distorts our understanding of space, myth and history. Through the manipulation of materials and textures, the interaction of digital distortions and a hidden audio track, Firth poses intriguing questions for visitors entering the space, challenging preconceptions about architecture and how we respond to it.

Suitable for

Where

IN THE ARCHITECTURE SPACE

Admission

Free

Sir Hugh Casson PRA (1910-1999) was probably the most popular British architect of his time. As a man of great wit and charm, with a light and fluent touch in design and drawing, Casson bridged the often acrimonious gap which divided traditional and modern artists and architects in the mid to late twentieth century. His drawings and watercolours in this exhibition illustrate how his training in the 1930s as an early modernist was put to highly pragmatic use when during the war years he was responsible for camouflaging airfields.
Thrust into the public eye as Director of Architecture for the 1951 Festival of Britain, Casson established his reputation as an architect with an optimistic approach to design, a deft hand at organizing and a winning way with clients. For The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, Casson created the interiors of the Royal Yacht Britannia and suites of rooms in Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, many still in use today, modern blends of comfort and practicality.

Sir Hugh Casson PRA, The construction of the Dome of Discovery, 1951 Festival of Britain, South Bank, London, 1951. Gouache. (Collection of Alan Irvine)
The art of watercolour seemed to come naturally to Hugh Casson and he became in great demand as an illustrator, a painter of topographical scenes which usually included well-known works of architecture, and of stage designs principally for Glynebourne and Royal Covent Garden opera houses. His drawings and watercolours were published in many books and articles.
Sir Hugh Casson’s career and popularity was capped by his Presidency of the Royal Academy of Arts from 1976 to 1984, turning around the fortunes of the institution by steering it into the modern world with such innovations as establishing the Friends of the Royal Academy which within a few months became the largest arts membership organization in Europe.

Suitable for

Admission

Admission
Complimentary entry with a valid Royal Academy exhibition ticket or £3 General Admission ticket. RA Friends go free.

This exhibition will be the first retrospective of works by American realist painter George Bellows to be held in the UK. When Bellows died at age forty-two, he was considered one of the greatest artists in America. His fascination with New York’s gritty urban landscape, its technological marvels and the diversity of its inhabitants, made him both an artist of the modern city and an insightful observer of the dynamic and challenging decades of the early 20th century.

Suitable for

Admission

Adults £10, 12-18 £6, Under 12s FREE

Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910 – 1940, will examine the intense thirty year period of artistic creativity that took place in Mexico at the beginning of the twentieth century. The turmoil of the revolution between 1910 and 1920 ushered in a period of profound political change in which the arts were placed centre stage. Often referred to as a cultural renaissance, artists were employed by the Ministry of Public Education on ambitious public arts projects designed to promote the principles of the revolution.
The exhibition will explore this period both in terms of national and international artists. Work by significant Mexican artists, such as Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros, will be placed alongside that of individuals who were affected by their experiences in Mexico. These include Josef Albers, Edward Burra, Philip Guston, Marsden Hartley, Paul Strand, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Henrietta Shore, Leon Underwood, Tina Modotti and Edward Weston. 'Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910 – 1940' will reveal a dynamic and often turbulent cultural environment that included some seminal figures of the twentieth century reflecting on their interaction with each other and their differing responses to the same subject: Mexico.

Suitable for

Admission

Adults £10, 12-18 £6, Under 12s FREE

n exhibition exploring the ideas and ethos of internationally renowned architect and urbanist Lord Rogers of Riverside will open in Burlington Gardens next summer. Timed to coincide with Rogers’ 80th birthday, Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out will examine the far reaching effects that Rogers’ active interest in the politics of social justice have had on architecture and public policy for over half a century.

Concept sketch for the National Assembly for Wales. Credit: Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
The exhibition will introduce the public to Rogers’ pioneering ideas about architecture and his important, continuing contribution to the way we think about cities and how we live in them. Radical, rational and beautifully crafted buildings together with public spirited urbanism and city planning have marked a career that continues to surprise and inspire.
Richard Rogers RA: Inside Out will include previously unseen original material, drawings and personal items and form a unique look into the mind of a towering figure in contemporary creative life
someone described by the Prime Minister as ‘one of Britain’s greatest ever exporters of ideas’.

Suitable for

Admission

Free

The story of Australia is inextricably linked to its landscape and for Australian artists, this deep connection has provided a rich seam of inspiration for centuries.
Marking the first major survey of Australian art in the UK for 50 years, this exhibition will span more than 200 years from 1800 to the present day and seeks to uncover the fascinating social and cultural evolution of a nation through its art. Two hundred works including painting, drawing, photography, watercolours and multimedia will shed light on a period of rapid and intense change
from the impact of colonisation on an indigenous people, to the pioneering nation building of the 19th century through to the enterprising urbanisation of the last 100 years.
To mount this ambitious exhibition, works have been drawn from some of the most important public collections in Australia, many of which have never been seen in the UK before. Reflecting the vastness of the land and the diversity of its people, early, as well as contemporary Aboriginal art will sit alongside the work of the early colonial settlers, immigrant artists of the 20th century and the work of some of today’s most established Australian artists.
Sidney Nolan RA, whose work features in 'Australia' said "A desire to paint the landscape involves a wish to hear more of the stories that take place in the landscape" – this exhibition will tell those stories as never before.

Suitable for

Admission

Adults £14, Children 12-18 £6, Under 12s FREE