Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

This month, London’s Royal Academy of Arts is hosting its annual Summer Exhibition – the largest contemporary arts exhibition in the world. This year’s exhibition is happening from Monday 9 June – Sunday 17 August.

Now in its 240th year, the Summer Exhibition continues the tradition of displaying a range of new work by both established and unknown artists across all media, including painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and architecture. The theme of this year’s exhibition is ‘Man Made’.

Highlights of the Summer Exhibition will include a gallery curated by Royal Academician (RA) and artist Tracey Emin; a sculpture by Anthony Caro RA which will be on display in the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard; and a gallery devoted to a memorial display to the late artist R.B. Kitaj RA.

The Summer Exhibition attracts thousands of entrants each year, with around 13,000 works submitted in 2007. The majority of works in the exhibition will be on sale, making it a great opportunity to buy original artwork by high profile and up-and-coming artists – David Hockney, Lucian Freud, Julian Opie and Gavin Turk were amongst those exhibited in last year’s show.

Each year, the Summer Exhibition awards a total of £70,000 prize money to artists of exceptional merit. The Royal Academy of Arts Charles Wollaston Award is, at £25,000, one of the largest and most prestigious art prizes in Britain. Last year’s winner was Gavin Turk, and previous winners include Marc Quinn (2001), David Hockney (1999) and R.B. Kitaj (1997).

Alongside the exhibition, the Royal Academy is running a diverse programme of special events, evening lectures and gallery talks. There will be dedicated events for families, including family gallery talks and workshops, and for children aged 8 – 13 there will be a free printed guide to the exhibition.

For more information on the Summer Exhibition, and to buy tickets, visit Royal Academy of Arts – Summer Exhibition (www.royalacademy.org.uk/summer-exhibition/).