About the Collection
When the Academy moved to Carlton House Terrace in 1998, it was clear that the small art collection it brought with it from Cornwall Terrace, its previous premises, was not going to be adequate to the task of filling the empty walls of the large rooms of its new home. The Pictures, Portraits and Decorations Committee was formed in 1999 to address this, and set about putting together a collection combining works in keeping with the period and style of the building with works from leading contemporary British artists. The collection today contains nearly 70 works, ranging in date from the early 18th Century to the present, and across a variety of media, including figurative and non-figurative paintings and prints, photography, textiles, and ceramics.
The collection has three main sources:
- Loans from major collections: we have, for example, a number of portraits of distinguished Fellows on loan from the National Portrait Gallery, Christ’s Charge to Peter by James Thornhill (after Raphael), lent by the Royal Academy, in the Reading Room, the portraits of the Stewart family, lent by the Londonderry Estate in the Council Room, the abstract works in the Mall Room from the CNAA Collection in the Mall Room, and three from UCL’s College Art Collection.
- Loans directly from British artists: we are fortunate to have been able to display such prominent artists as Gillian Ayres, Sir Anthony Caro, John Golding, John Goto, John Hoyland, and Joe Tilson. Works by Gillian Ayres, John Golding, and Joe Tilson are currently displayed in the Fellows Room, and the High Summer series of constructed landscapes by John Goto is in the Reading Room. These are not a permanent display, and the Committee aims to update the display and introduce new works by artists working in various media.
- Purchasing works to expand the Academy's own collection: although the Committee’s budget is small, it has been able to make a number of purchases of works by major artists based in the UK. We now have two prints each by Eduardo Paolozzi, Paula Rego, and Tom Phillips, which can be seen in the Lecture Hall and Mall Room, and a ceramic by Walter Keeler in the Council Room. The intention is to increase this collection over the coming years. Portrait busts of former Secretaries of the Academy, Peter Brown and Sir Frederic Kenyon, are on view in the Foyer.
The Academy's move to Carlton House Terrace coincided with the preparations to mark its centenary in 2002, and the Committee was invited to make a number of major commissions as part of these celebrations. Most notable among these are the two large group portraits – one of six former Presidents, by Stuart Pearson Wright, which won the prestigious BP/NPG Portrait Award in 2001, and one of nine female Vice-Presidents, by John Goto, in the Mall Room. The ikat weaving by Mary Restieaux on the turn of the main staircase is also part of this initiative.
Professor Michael Kauffmann and
Professor Margaret McGowan
July 2007
The Pictures, Portraits and Decorations Committee
Current members
Professor Dawn Adès, FBA
Sir Nicholas Goodison, FBA
Professor Michael Kauffmann, FBA (Chairman)
Mr Sandy Nairne (Director of the National Portrait Gallery)
Sir David Wilson, FBA
Secretary: Abigail Cooke
Past members
Professor Joe Crook, FBA
Professor Margaret McGowan, FBA (former Chairman)
Dame Janet Nelson, FBA
Dr Charles Saumarez Smith (formerly Director of the National Portrait Gallery)
Secretary (1999-2006): Vivienne Hurley