Summer Exhibition 2019
10 June - 12 August 2019
Main Galleries and The Ronald and Rita McAulay Gallery, Royal Academy of Arts
Daily 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
£18 (without donation £16). Concessions available. Under-16s go free with a fee-paying adult. Free for Friends of the RA with no booking required.
Friends of the RA go free
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Following last year's record-breaking 250th Summer Exhibition, our annual celebration of art and creativity continues in 2019.
Run without interruption since 1769, the Summer Exhibition is the world’s largest open submission art show and brings together art in all mediums – prints and paintings, film, photography, sculpture, architectural works and more – by leading artists, Royal Academicians and household names as well as new and emerging talent.
This year, acclaimed British painter Jock McFadyen RA takes the mantle from Grayson Perry to co-ordinate the 251st Summer Exhibition. Over 1,500 works are on display, most of them for the first time. Highlights include an animal-themed ‘menagerie’ in the Central Hall, with works by artists including Polly Morgan, Charles Avery, Banksy and Mat Collishaw. Artist sisters Jane and Louise Wilson RA have curated two galleries, one of which showcases work exploring light and time. Further artists exhibiting include Jeremy Deller, Marcus Harvey, Tracey Emin RA, Frank Bowling RA, Antony Gormley RA and Honorary Academicians Anselm Kiefer, James Turrell and Wim Wenders.
Outside the galleries, international artist Thomas Houseago has taken over the RA’s courtyard with a group of large-scale sculptural works, and the exhibition spills out into nearby Bond Street with a colourful installation of flags featuring work by Michael Craig-Martin RA.
As always, most of the artworks are for sale with proceeds helping to fund the Academy’s non-profit-making activities, including educating the next generation of artists in the RA Schools.
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Browse and buy online
Lions, tigers and bears – the 251st Summer Exhibition is brimming with animals but it also features limited-edition prints, lithographs, watercolours and etchings that you can buy online.
Browse and buy any of the 1,500 works in the show or explore one of our hand-picked selections.
Works in the exhibition
1053 - THE MUSTARD MONUMENT, 2019
254 - ZAZA ZHANG, 2019
474 - NIGHT SKY MAKER (DIPTYCH), 2019
75 - RESTING PIG FACE, 2019
76 - UK FISHING RIGHTS, 2019
1377 - UNTITLED (MEMORY X 3), 2019
1120 - LITTLE TIKE'S LAST RIDE ( BALLAD FOR A COZY COUPE), 2019
1063 - VIEW SUBTERRANEA: PADDINGTON, 2019
The Summer Exhibition in 60 seconds
More than 1,500 works across over 3,000 square metres… step inside the RA’s Main Galleries for a quick zip around the Summer Exhibition 2019. This year, works are also on display outside our Burlington Gardens entrance and in the Wohl Entrance Hall, the Ronald and Rita McAulay Gallery and the Annenberg Courtyard.
Bring the family!
Children under 16 go free to all our exhibitions, and there's plenty to see and do once they're here. If you're visiting the Summer Exhibition with young children, pick up an Art Detective guide and the door so you can quiz, draw, think and quest your way around the show.
Celebrating Art in Mayfair
This June, the Summer Exhibition will once again spill out onto the streets of London’s West End to celebrate the rich heritage of Art in Mayfair.
Royal Academician, Sir Michael Craig-Martin, will take over Bond Street with an installation of his artwork on flags. Pop-up activity and art installations will also appear in the windows of world-renowned fashion and fine jewellery stores. Last year saw brands like Louis Vuitton, Fenwick of Bond Street, Hermès, Victoria Beckham, IWC, Longchamp, Jimmy Choo, Jaeger Le-Coultre, Amanda Wakeley, Montblanc, TODS and Temperley London coming together to celebrate the RA and the rich heritage of Art in Mayfair.
