Meet the Royal Academy

London’s Royal Academy of Arts has been championing artists and architects for more than 250 years, and doesn’t intend to stop now. Explore their Collection, stories and spaces.

In collaboration with the

Royal Academy of Arts

Step Inside

A virtual visit

See The Art

Treasures from the RA's collection

Learn The History

The inner workings

The RA opens its doors

An art haven for over 250 years now available to explore from your home

The Gallery and Art School in the Heart of London

How it started, surviving the blitz, and the odd drink that is used to toast the summer exhibition

250 Years in 90 Seconds

The history of the Royal Academy, from 1768 to now

Grayson Perry takes you round

See artworks by Banksy, David Hockney, David Shrigley, and more

Grayson Perry's Summer Exhibition

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Go inside, from anywhere

Explore the spaces around the RA

ExploreCollection Gallery

ExploreSculpture Gallery

ExploreLecture Theatre

ExploreUnderneath the Galleries

Explore Sculpture From Anthony Caro, Bill Woodrow, and more

A guided tour of artworks on display upstairs in The Dame Jillian Sackler Sculpture Gallery

See How Artists Learned To Draw

A guided tour of artworks in The Julia and Hans Rausing Hall

The bits you don't normally get to see

The hidden spaces of the RA

Take a Look Around the RA's Hidden Library

A room of thousands of art books (and a few artworks) collected over more than 250 years

Walk Through The Hidden Rooms at the Royal Academy

Go behind the scenes of Burlington House

Explore all the artworks by color

From the stormy grey skies of Turner to the burnt orange of Frith

Listen and look

Go on a guided tour of RA artworks set to music

The Last Supper x Beethoven

Sit back and enjoy the masterpiece with the Moonlight Sonata

Explore a John Constable Classic With Classical Music

Zoom in to 'Waterloo Bridge'

Where Bach Meets Joshua Reynolds

Sit back and relax with music and art

The RA's History Comes to Life With Classical Music

Algelica Kauffman x Opera

Relax with the painter's artistic details

10 Academicians you should know

From founding members to the leading artists and architects who run the RA

L.S. Lowry RA

Mary Moser

Yinka Shonibare RA

Phyllida Barlow RA

Will Alsop RA

Angelica Kauffman RA

John Singer Sargent RA

John Everett Millais, Bt. PRA

Lubaina Himid RA

John Constable RA

London's biggest art show

The world's longest-running open-submission exhibition

250 Years of the Summer Exhibition

The art show that's happened every year since 1768 - with an unusual traditional drink

See the classics, up close

Zoom into details in Mary Moser, Henry Singleton, and more

Spotlight on: The Last Supper

The most complete surviving replica of Da Vinci's masterpiece

The Story Behind the RA's Last Supper

Discover how it differs from the original

Zoom into The Last Supper

See the details, up close

Step a little closer

Take a guided tour of the brush strokes

Zoom into JMW Turner's Painting, 'Dolbadern Castle'

Discover the poem that goes with the painting

Zoom into Angelica Kauffman's Painting, 'Design'

How the painting represents one of the four elements of art

Zoom into John Francis Rigaud's Painting, 'Samson and Delilah'

Learn about the story of betrayal behind the artwork

Zoom into Mary Moser's Painting, 'Spring'

Take a closer look at the flowers and the artists' career

Zoom into a Self-Portrait by Joshua Reynolds

Discover how the artist used it to elevate his status and celebrity

The contemporary collection

Explore work from some of the multi-disciplinary artists who have joined the RA ranks

Elizabeth Frink

Norman Ackroyd

Lynn Chadwick

Kiki Smith

Lubaina Himid

Inside Britain’s oldest art school

Discover the inner workings of the RA Schools

How Britain's First Art School Began

Tucked beneath the RA's galleries are studios, workshops (and a bar)

The Importance of Art Education

Rebecca Salter, President of the RA, on how we must value a rich arts education for all

Behind the Scenes of Britain's Oldest Art School

The vital spark at the heart of the RA

The RA’s leading artists and architects

Meet the artists who give the RA its energy

The Life and Work of Lubaina Himid

The Turner Prize-winning British artist discusses teaching, politics, and her mum

Kiki Smith's Journey Without End

The artist on merging with nature, holding onto faith, and the importance of making art you can carry

In The Studio With Chris Wilkinson

The architect behind London's new Battersea Power Station and Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay

Spotlight on: John Constable

One of the greatest landscape painters

A Closer Look at 'Leaping Horse'

Zoom in to the the bent nails, moorhen and distant smoke

A Closer Look at 'Rainstorm Over The Sea'

Zoom into storms and sunlight in Brighton

Feuds and fiery debates

What happens when art gets argumentative

The Scandalous World of Artist Feuds

The RA has always been home to lively debate among art-lovers – although sometimes things can get a little out of hand...

Do We All See Color The Same?

Historian Kassia St Clair and artist Emyr Williams go head-to-head on whether color is purely subjective

Women and the RA

The first female Academicians and their legacy

Sarah Pickstone Discusses the Legacy of Angelica Kauffman RA

The RA Schools alum on her recent project investigating the work of the pioneering 18th-century artist

The Women Artists Who Changed History

Meet the determined artists who fought to get their art recognised

Looking back

The history of one of the UK's most important galleries

Meet The Founders of the Royal Academy

36 men made up the group who started the RA - although not all of them were fine artists...

What Makes a Blockbuster Exhibit?

Did you know that the RA is often credited with inventing the “blockbuster exhibition”

Keep exploring

Take a virtual tour around the RA

ExplorePiccadilly Entrance

ExploreBurlington Gardens Entrance

ExploreLife Drawing Room

See more...

Artworks

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