What’s the process behind creating a masterpiece?

This display focuses on the idea of work in progress, looking ‘behind the scenes’ at what goes into creating a work of art. From first ideas jotted down in tiny sketchbooks to compositional plans and detailed studies, all of the items on display relate to the preparation and research that often go into a completed work.

See over 20 sketches, preparatory works and items of artists’ equipment from the RA Collection including Reynolds’ Experiments in Colour and Media, Turner’s travelling watercolour box, Laura Knight’s design for an RA Summer Exhibition poster, sketchbooks by Lord Leighton and Eileen Cooper and a photographic print by Sonia Boyce. The display has been selected from the Royal Academy Collection which has particularly rich holdings relating to artistic process and life in the artist’s studio.

Please note, the Collection Gallery will be closed from 6pm on Friday 6 September.