Royal Academy of Arts

Royal Academy of Arts Led by artists since 1768. Step inside a home for art, architecture and ideas!
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28/05/2026

Illustrator teaches us some tips and tricks on how to draw flowers at Chelsea Flower Show 🌸

Designed by , the garden highlights the importance of apple cider vinegar on gut health and general wellbeing.

Following the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, Alzheimer’s Society’s wonderful garden is being relocated to a Hallmark Luxury Care Home.

Since 1993, Katlijne Van der Stighelen has been piecing together the life and work of Michaelina Wautier, a 17th-century...
24/05/2026

Since 1993, Katlijne Van der Stighelen has been piecing together the life and work of Michaelina Wautier, a 17th-century painter who was almost completely forgotten.

Trawling through old archives, Van der Stighelen came across a fuzzy black-and-white image from a 1975 auction catalogue. It was a painting of a young boy playing a recorder, part of an allegorical series by Wautier depicting the five senses.

Armed with what little evidence she had, Van der Stighelen put out a call in 2016 for any more information on the series. The trail remained cold until 2020, when the series was sold in a private sale that year to collectors who promised to bequeath the works to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

On display for the first time in the UK, you can find Wautier’s 'The Five Senses' at the RA until 21 June.

Rembrandt the radical printmaker, European Masters, and a world-leading sculptor. Our 2027 programme has something for e...
20/05/2026

Rembrandt the radical printmaker, European Masters, and a world-leading sculptor.

Our 2027 programme has something for everyone.

Find out for yourself at the link in the comment section.

19/05/2026

❤️ The is paying tribute to Michaelina Wautier.

👩🏻‍🎨 Active in Brussels in the middle of the 17th century, Wautier challenged the limits imposed on female artists at the time, by working on an unusually varied range of subjects: from flowers and portraits to grand history paintings (a format usually reserved for her male counterparts).

🍇 In her most famous painting, The Triumph of Bacchus, she painted herself as a pagan bacchante in monumental scale, looking squarely at the viewer and confidently asserting her position as the maker.

🖼️ Although Wautier was hugely successful in her time, her breathtaking paintings and her place in art history were almost lost in the 18th century.

👀 The RA’s exhibition puts Wautier back in her rightful place as one of Europe’s most important artists, and establishes her as "the greatest artistic rediscovery of the century"

👩🏻‍🎨 Michaelina Wautier, the exhibition
đź“Ť The Royal Academy of Arts, London
🕰️ From March 27 through Juni 21 2026

Featured paintings by Wautier:
The Triumph of Bacchus, 1650-1656. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Sight, 1650. Rose-Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo Collection
Smell, 1650. Rose-Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo Collection
Taste, 1650. Rose-Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo Collection
Touch, 1650. Rose-Marie and Eijk Van Otterloo Collection
Portrait of a Military Commander, 1646. Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, inv. 297
Boy with a White Cravat, c. 1650–55. The Kremer Collection
Flower Garland with a Dragonfly, 1652. Private collection, Connecticut, USA
Portrait of a Man as the Biblical Jacob, c. 1655. Private collection, Alkmaar
Saint John the Evangelist, c. 1656–59. Private collection

15/05/2026

Lubaina Himid RA reflects on identity and belonging through monumental paintings, installations and sound.

Representing Britain at this year’s Venice Biennale, Himid explores race, cultural memory and the people who shape a nation—tailors, gardeners, architects and workers—revealing what it means to make a home in places not always designed to welcome us.

We are sad to hear of the passing of Kenneth Draper RA, who died peacefully at home in Menorca on 8 May 2026. Elected a...
11/05/2026

We are sad to hear of the passing of Kenneth Draper RA, who died peacefully at home in Menorca on 8 May 2026.

Elected a Royal Academician in 1991, Ken was one of the most innovative artists of his generation. Working equally as a sculptor, draughtsman and painter, his work fearlessly explored the landscape and the forces of nature.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.

04/05/2026

Lubaina Himid RA uses drawing to build on concepts that often later become paintings or installations.

Sketching most days, drawing helps Himid to get the ideas out of her head and onto something ✏️

How do you use drawing?

28/04/2026

They thought a woman couldn’t have painted this.

They were wrong.

Despite being collected and commissioned by notable patrons at the time, Michaelina Wautier’s trailblazing legacy was almost entirely forgotten.

But how do you spot a Wautier from her contemporaries? highlights some key things to look out for.

We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Peter Freeth RA. Peter died peacefully at home in London a few days after...
24/04/2026

We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Peter Freeth RA. Peter died peacefully at home in London a few days after he celebrated his 88th birthday.

Elected as a Royal Academician in 1991, Peter was an inspirational printmaker who was renowned for his beautiful etchings as well as a much-admired teacher. Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

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