Minutes of meetings of the Council, including the following selected entries: agreement that the Department of the Environment could borrow
Sir Joshua Reynolds’s painting entitled ‘Theory’ to produce a painted copy by the Chief Restorer to the Directorate of Historic Buildings, as part of the reinstatement of the decoration at Somerset House, London, 6 January 1976; announcement of the death of the President,
Sir Thomas Monnington [the Keeper,
Peter Greenham had been deputising in the chair since 6 January 1976] and note in connection with the findings of the Special Committee (including
Sir Hugh Casson), appointed to consider the duties and emoluments of the President, that the extent of the duties depended largely on whoever was elected, 15 January 1976; note that the Secretary,
Sidney Hutchison, had received written requests from fifteen members calling for a General Assembly to discuss “certain important matters concerning the office of the Presidency”, 27 January 1976; a note that the Treasurer,
Roger de Grey, had explained the reasons why it had been decided that the President should not normally be paid a salary and the decision, nevertheless, to offer a salary of £4,500, with at least £1,750 allowable against Income Tax, because the Inland Revenue would not accept exaggerated expenses, 17 February 1976; the proposal by
Brinsley Ford to establish an award for Schools students in memory of
Richard Ford, for the purpose of studying Spanish painting, particularly in the Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain, 17 February 1976; the decision to ask members for donations toward the renovation of the tomb of
John Constable in Hampstead parish churchyard and the restoration of the window to Constable’s memory in East Bergholt Church, Suffolk, to mark the bicentenary of his birth (after it was noted that Council had decided in June 1974 that the Royal Academy should not contribute to the upkeep of this or any other tomb of a deceased member), 2 March 1976 and further, 4 May 1976; the suggestion of the President, Sir Hugh Casson, that six trees be planted round the statue of Sir Joshua Reynolds in the courtyard of Burlington House as a way of marking the jubilee year of
Queen Elizabeth II, 2 March 1976; the decision to adopt the suggestion of the President, Sir Hugh Casson, that a representation of pictures by Scottish artists from the Royal Academy’s collection be included in the summer exhibition to mark the 150th anniversary of the Royal Scottish Academy, 2 March - 15 April 1976; the report of the Secretary, Sidney Hutchison, that the Royal Academy’s bankers, Drummonds, had requested a consultation over the Academy’s current potential overdraft of £250,000, which was £75,000 in excess of the agreed facility and that approaches had been made to the Government over the possibility of financial subvention, 4 May 1976 and further, 25 May 1976; note that the General Assemblies of 29 and 30 April 1976 had raised the questions of the principle and machinery of inviting and acknowledging guest artists and the development of hanging artists’ works in groups in the summer exhibition, and the reply of the Secretary, Sidney Hutchison, that, in his interpretation, the General Assembly had a moral right to be informed of matters of policy which lay outside those specifically defined by the laws, 4 May 1976; consideration of the report of the Ways and Means Sub-Committee, including the decision not to recommend a general hanging fee, and note that, following a letter from the President, Sir Hugh Casson, a representative of the Folio Society had examined the Royal Academy’s archives with a view to commercial publication, but had found nothing “immediately financially attractive”, 4 May 1976; the decision to charge fees in the Schools from September 1977, 25 May 1976; agreement to support a proposal to provide premises for M.A. courses in the history and theory of architecture for an experimental period of two years, 6 July 1976; and report of the President, Sir Hugh Casson, of a meeting with
Lord Donaldson of Kingsbridge, Minister for the Arts, at which the Minister stated that there could be no question of Government subvention and suggested a partnership with the Arts Council instead, 6 July 1976 and further, 27 July 1976.