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57-885: Sir Herbert James Gunn RA RP (30 June 1893– 30 December 1964) was a Scottish landscape and portrait painter. Sir Herbert James Gunn (also known as Sir James Gunn) was born in Glasgow on 30 June 1893, the son of Richard Gunn, a draper, and Thomasina Munro. He studied for several years at the Glasgow School of Art and the Edinburgh College of Art . In 1911, he went to the Académie Julian in Paris where he studied under Jean-Paul Laurens. After he left Paris, Gunn travelled to Spain and then spent time in London, where he mostly painted landscapes. At

114-497: A French sculptor established in London; the painter Francis Hayman and his pupil, the very young Thomas Gainsborough who was employed by Gravelot; the Swiss-born artist and enameller George Michael Moser; the medallist Richard Yeo and the architect Isaac Ware . Desmond Fitz-Gerald notes that an asterisk in the list of subscribers to Joshua Kirby's, Dr Brook Taylor's Method of Perspective Made Easy (London 1754) identifies members of

171-600: A collection of approximately a thousand paintings and a thousand sculptures, which show the development of a British School of art. The Academy's collection of works on paper includes significant holdings of drawings and sketchbooks by artists working in Britain from the mid-18th century onwards, including George Romney , Lord Leighton and Dame Laura Knight . The photographic collection consists of photographs of Academicians, landscapes, architecture and works of art. Holdings include early portraits by William Lake Price dating from

228-419: A mission "to establish a school or academy of design for the use of students in the arts" with an annual exhibition. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for

285-766: A number of galleries and his 1953 portrait of Queen Elizabeth II is in the Royal Collection . His painting of the British royal family, Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor , was commissioned by the trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in 1950. He also painted notable portraits of King George V , Agnes Catherine Maitland (now in Somerville College 's dining hall), and also of Harold Macmillan , in his role as Chancellor of Oxford University. He

342-570: A putative public academy. Hogarth had long been opposed to the idea of such an institution. Newton's plans came to nothing, and the academy continued, under Francis Hayman and George Michael Moser . Moser moved the school to Pall Mall in 1767, and it closed four years later, when he became the first keeper of the Royal Academy. Among the members of the St. Martin's Lane Academy were the engraver and book illustrator Hubert Gravelot ; François Roubiliac ,

399-443: A residence on part of the foundations of the great demolished house. In 1772 Wills was appointed to the living at Canons by Hallett's grandson, the subject, with his wife, of Gainsborough's The Morning Walk (1787). Hogarth's involvement with the academy began to decline in 1753, following the circulation by its secretary, Francis Milner Newton, of a letter calling a meeting with the intention of electing 24 artists as professors of

456-774: A room he added to his own house in James Street, Covent Garden , from 1724 while a faction led by John Vanderbank and Louis Chéron set up what they advertised as "The Academy for the Improvement of Painters and Sculptors by drawing from the Naked" at premises in St Martin's Lane. It proved popular, but failed after a few years when the subscriptions were embezzled by the treasurer. Thornhill continued his life-classes until his death in May 1734, but had little success in finding subscribers. Hogarth, (who

513-573: A student of the Schools was Laura Herford in 1860. Charles Sims was expelled from the Schools in 1895. The Royal Academy made Sir Francis Newbolt the first Honorary Professor of Law in 1928. In 2011 Tracey Emin was appointed Professor of Drawing, and Fiona Rae was appointed Professor of Painting – the first women professors to be appointed in the history of the Academy. Emin was succeeded by Michael Landy , and then David Remfry in 2016 while Rae

570-847: A total membership of 40. The founder members were Reynolds, John Baker , George Barret , Francesco Bartolozzi , Giovanni Battista Cipriani , Augustino Carlini , Charles Catton , Mason Chamberlin , William Chambers , Francis Cotes , George Dance , Nathaniel Dance , Thomas Gainsborough , John Gwynn , Francis Hayman , Nathaniel Hone the Elder , Angelica Kauffman , Jeremiah Meyer , George Michael Moser , Mary Moser , Francis Milner Newton , Edward Penny , John Inigo Richards , Paul Sandby , Thomas Sandby , Dominic Serres , Peter Toms , William Tyler , Samuel Wale , Benjamin West , Richard Wilson , Joseph Wilton , Richard Yeo , Francesco Zuccarelli . William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to this list by

627-842: A training would form artists capable of creating works of high moral and artistic worth. Professorial chairs were founded in Chemistry, Anatomy, Ancient History and Ancient Literature, the latter two being held initially by Samuel Johnson and Oliver Goldsmith . In 1769, the first year of operation, the Schools enrolled 77 students. By 1830 more than 1,500 students had enrolled in the Schools, an average intake of 25 students each year. They included men such as John Flaxman , J. M. W. Turner , John Soane , Thomas Rowlandson , William Blake , Thomas Lawrence , Decimus Burton , John Constable , George Hayter , David Wilkie , William Etty , Edwin Landseer , and Charles Lucy in 1838. The first woman to enrol as

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684-496: Is an open submission writing prize, held annually along similar principles of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The award ceremony features a live reading of the winning story in its entirety by a special guest. Past winning stories have been read by Stephen Fry , Dame Penelope Wilton , Juliet Stevenson and Gwendoline Christie . On 10 December 2019, Rebecca Salter was elected the first female President of

741-788: Is healthy and brilliant." In 1977, Sir Hugh Casson founded the Friends of the Royal Academy, a charity designed to provide financial support for the institution. Pin Drop Studio hosts live events where well-known authors, actors and thinkers read a short story chosen as a response to the main exhibition programme. The literary evenings are hosted by Pin Drop Studio founder Simon Oldfield. Guests have included Graham Swift , Sebastian Faulks , Lionel Shriver , William Boyd , Will Self , Dame Eileen Atkins , Dame Siân Phillips , Lisa Dawn and Ben Okri . The RA and Pin Drop Short Story Award

798-508: Is in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum . Edward Edwards ' continuation of Walpole's Anecdotes of Painters (1808:55) notes that Wills had painted some portraits and historical subjects, "but not meeting much success in his profession he quit it, and having received a liberal education, took orders. He was for some years curate at Cannons, Middlesex , where the prominent cabinet-maker of St. Martin's Lane William Hallett had built

855-835: Is the only marble by Michelangelo in the United Kingdom and represents the Virgin Mary and child with the infant St John the Baptist . In the entrance portico are two war memorials. One is in memory of the students of the Royal Academy Schools who fell in World War I and the second commemorates the 2,003 men of the Artists Rifles who gave their lives in that war with a further plaque to those who died in World War II. Membership of

912-507: Is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the fine arts through exhibitions, education and debate. The origin of the Royal Academy of Arts lies in an attempt in 1755 by members of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce , principally the sculptor Henry Cheere , to found an autonomous academy of arts. Prior to this a number of artists were members of

969-570: The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition , has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. Following the cessation of a similar annual exhibition at the British Institution , the Academy expanded its exhibition programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters in 1870. Britain's first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, as another way to fulfil its mission. Led by Reynolds,

1026-448: The 1850s, portraits by David Wilkie Wynfield and Eadweard Muybridge 's Animal Locomotion (1872–85). Among the paintings decorating the walls and ceilings of the building are those of Benjamin West and Angelica Kauffman, in the entrance hall (Hutchison 1968, p. 153), moved from the previous building at Somerset House. In the centre is West's roundel The Graces Unveiling Nature , c.  1779 , surrounded by panels depicting

1083-519: The Academy's milieu, introduced by the engravers Louis and Joseph Goupy , both of whom were members. The painters involved in the academy were reacting against the Italianate Late Baroque manner exemplified by Thornhill himself, while the designers were developing alternatives to the cool Neo-Palladianism being espoused at the time by Lord Burlington and William Kent ; the rococo artists found patrons, as Mark Girouard first noted, in

1140-725: The Fine Art Society in 1929. During the 1920s, he increasingly concentrated on portrait painting and after 1929 he devoted himself exclusively to portraits. In November 1939, Gunn offered his services to the War Artists' Advisory Committee and subsequently received three portrait commissions from them. During WWII he lived with his family in Carsethorn, a seaside village on the Solway in Kirkcudbrightshire . Gunn's paintings are on show in

1197-684: The King in 1769. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall , although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House , then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the Strand and designed by Chambers, the Academy's first treasurer. The Academy moved in 1837 to Trafalgar Square , where it occupied

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1254-531: The Royal Academy on the retirement of Sir Christopher Le Brun . In September 2007, Sir Charles Saumarez Smith became Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy, a newly created post. Saumarez Smith stepped down from the role at the end of 2018, and it was announced that Axel Rüger, director of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, would fill the position from June 2019. The Royal Academy Schools form

1311-468: The Royal Academy is composed of up to 80 practising artists, each elected by ballot of the General Assembly of the Royal Academy, and known individually as Royal Academicians (RA). The Royal Academy is governed by these Royal Academicians. The 1768 Instrument of Foundation allowed total membership of the Royal Academy to be 40 artists. Originally engravers were completely excluded from the academy, but at

1368-559: The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, including Cheere and William Hogarth , or were involved in small-scale private art academies, such as the St Martin's Lane Academy . Although Cheere's attempt failed, the eventual charter , called an 'Instrument', used to establish the Royal Academy of Arts over a decade later was almost identical to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. The success of St Martin's Lane Academy led to

1425-464: The St. Martin's Lane Academy, and notes as further members the architect James Paine ; Charles, son of Henry Cheere , sculptor; and Johann Sebastian Müller, an engraver of Chippendale's Director . An unexpected member of the circle was James Stuart , trained as a painter but familiar as one of the earliest practitioners of Neoclassicism in Europe; that later phase was far in the future when he moved in

1482-739: The State nor the Crown, and operates as a charity. The RA's home in Burlington House is owned by the UK government and provided to the Academy on a peppercorn rent leasehold of 999 years. One of its principal sources of revenue is hosting a programme of temporary loan exhibitions. These are comparable to those at the National Gallery , the Tate Gallery and leading art galleries outside the United Kingdom. In 2004

1539-460: The academy was formed from an informal, club-like circle that was in the habit of meeting at Old Slaughter's Coffee House, which had been at 74 and 75, St. Martin's Lane since 1692, when the neighbourhood was still distinctly suburban. It was known as"Old" Slaughter's Coffee House after 1742, when a new Slaughter's Coffee House opened, at no. 82 (more recently the site of Westminster County Court). Hogarth seems to have had some assistance in running

1596-448: The academy. George Vertue noted early in 1745 "The academy for the study of painting & other artists [sic] is carryd on and conducted by several, Ellis , Hayman, Gravelot, Wills— &c..." Of these four named by Vertue, the most obscure is James Wills (working c. 1740–1777), later the Rev. James Wills. In 1754 he made a translation of du Fresnoy 's stilted and old-fashioned Latin poem on

1653-400: The art of painting, De arte graphica , which did not meet a successful reception. but which apparently identifies Wills as the "Fresnoy" who published bitterly sarcastic invective at Sir Joshua Reynolds and artists like Zoffany who had left the Society of Artists to join the newly founded Royal Academy. His conversation piece The Andrews Family (signed "J. Wills pinxit" and dated 1749)

1710-477: The atmosphere of Slaughter's: Joseph Priestley met in a virtual "Slaughter's Club" with Josiah Wedgwood , Captain Cook and Sir Joseph Banks . The presence of several outstanding cabinetmakers in St. Martin's Lane was influential in translating Rococo designs into furnishings. In December 1753, directly across from Old Slaughter's Thomas Chippendale took a long lease on three houses that served as his premises for

1767-559: The beginning of 1769 the category of Associate-Engraver was created. Their number was limited to six, and unlike other associates, they could not be promoted to full academicians. In 1853 membership of the Academy was increased to 42, and opened to engravers. In 1922, 154 years after the founding of the Royal Academy, Annie Swynnerton became the first woman Associate of the Royal Academy. 51°30′33″N 0°08′22″W  /  51.50917°N 0.13944°W  / 51.50917; -0.13944 St Martin%27s Lane Academy In Britain in

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1824-489: The circle that formed around Frederick, Prince of Wales in Leicester Square. Not all the artists in St. Martin's Lane were members of the Academy. Matthew Lock, the draughtsman and engraver who engraved most of the designs for Chippendale's Director , advertised in 1748 that he was offering evening drawing-classes for tradesmen and students in his premises "Facing Old Slaughter's Coffee House". and Thomas Chippendale ,

1881-424: The democratic principle that all should contribute an equal sum to the Academy's expenses and have an equal vote, "attributing the failure of the previous academies to the leading members having assumed a superiority which their fellow-students could not brook." Thus the academy abandoned hierarchic seventeenth-century precedents and was formed on the basis of a club . The members of the academy took turns to "set"

1938-604: The early eighteenth century there was no organised public official patronage of the arts, aside from commissions for specific projects. There was no established body to compare with the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture that Jean-Baptiste Colbert had established in France, and no public exhibitions of recent paintings along the lines of the Paris salons , held every other year. The closest approximation to an academic life-drawing class

1995-484: The east wing of the recently completed National Gallery (designed by another Academician, William Wilkins ). These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions. In 1868, 100 years after the Academy's foundation, it moved to Burlington House , Piccadilly, where it remains. The first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as

2052-577: The elements, Fire, Water, Air and Earth. At each end are mounted two of Kauffman's circular paintings, Composition at the west end, and Painting or Colour and Genius or Invention at the east end. The most prized possession of the Academy's collection is Michelangelo 's Taddei Tondo , left to the Academy by Sir George Beaumont . The Tondo is usually on display in the Collection Gallery, which opened in May 2018. Carved in Florence in 1504–06, it

2109-574: The exhibition "appears to be tame" though it attempts to "critique the exclusive and impenetrable RA." The Academy hosts the Summer Exhibition an annual open art exhibition , which means anyone can enter their work to be considered for exhibition. Established in 1769, it is the oldest and largest open submission exhibition in the world and is included in London's Social Season . The members of The Academy, also known as Royal Academicians select and hang

2166-500: The first president, the first program included a lecture by William Hunter . In 2018, the Academy's 250th anniversary, the results of a major refurbishment were unveiled. The project began on 1 January 2008 with the appointment of David Chipperfield Architects. Heritage Lottery Fund support was secured in 2012. On 19 October 2016 the RA's Burlington Gardens site was closed to the public and renovations commenced. Refurbishment work included

2223-538: The formation of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists. Sir William Chambers , a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the Office of Works , used his connections with King George III to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through a personal act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with

2280-544: The highlights of the Academy's permanent collection went on display in the newly restored reception rooms of the original section of Burlington House, which are now known as the John Madejski Fine Rooms. Under the direction of former exhibitions secretary Sir Norman Rosenthal , the Academy has hosted ambitious exhibitions of contemporary art. In its 1997 " Sensation ", it displayed the collection of work by Young British Artists owned by Charles Saatchi . The show

2337-506: The model – that is decide his or her pose – rather than having this done by a paid director of the sort employed in French academies. Hogarth was opposed to copying from pictures, but there may have been casts to work from, inherited from Thornhill's studio. The premises of the Academy were a large room in Peter's Court, entered from St Martin's Lane through a low vaulted passageway. The membership of

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2394-445: The most famous maker of English rococo furniture, seem never to have joined. Other French Protestant emigrés were drawn to the mix of English and foreigners at Slaughter's. Abraham de Moivre , friend of Newton and Halley, eked out a meagre existence as a tutor, spending evening hours at Slaughter's. at the time chiefly interesting to gamblers seeking to maximise their odds rather than to statisticians. Other intellectuals were drawn to

2451-467: The oldest art school in Britain, and have been an integral part of the Royal Academy of Arts since its foundation in 1768. A key principle of the RA Schools is that their three-year post graduate programme is free of charge to every applicant offered a place. The Royal Academy Schools was the first institution to provide professional training for artists in Britain. The Schools' programme of formal training

2508-611: The outbreak of the First World War, Gunn initially joined the Artists Rifles . He subsequently received a commission in the 10th Scottish Rifles and saw active service in France, where he met his friend and future patron, Edward Grindlay. During the conflict he continued to paint, most notably a work depicting troops on the eve of the Battle of the Somme. Gunn began as a landscape painter and traveled widely, exhibiting Paintings of Rome etc at

2565-530: The painter Joseph Farington noted in his diary, after Marat's subsequent revolutionary career had run its course; Marat came to Zucchi's house "in the most familiar manner, a knife and fork laid for him every day." At a later date it was "over a Neck of Veal and Potatoes, at the Old Slaughter Coffee House", that the liberal scientific Club of Honest Whigs , centred on the figure of Benjamin Franklin

2622-512: The press by erroneously placing only the support for a sculpture on display, and then justifying it being kept on display. From 3 February to 28 April 2024, the RA shows the exhibition "Entangled Pasts, 1768-now" in order to reveal and discuss "connections between art associated with the Royal Academy of Arts and Britain's colonial histories." However, according to Colin Grant , in The Guardian ,

2679-682: The repose of his soul was held at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street , London in January 1965. Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts ( RA ) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly in London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose

2736-624: The rest of his career. A chance remark establishes that the cabinet-maker John Linnell attended life-classes at the St. Martin's Lane Academy, and William Hallett also had workshops in the Lane. In the 1760s Old Slaughter's Coffee House was the place where the Italian painter Antonio Zucchi , brought to London by Robert Adam , formed a friendship with the literary intellectual Jean-Paul Marat , "a man of extensive classical learning who continually proposed subjects which he had selected for Zucchi to design",

2793-510: The restoration of 150 sash windows, glazing upgrades to 52 windows and the installation of two large roof lights. The "New RA" was opened to the public on 19 May 2018. The £56 million development includes new galleries, a lecture theatre, a public project space for students and a bridge linking the Burlington House and Burlington Gardens sites. As part of the process 10,000 works from the RA's collection were digitised and made available online. The Royal Academy receives funding from neither

2850-425: The works. Art works in a variety of media are exhibited including painting, sculpture, film, architecture, photography and printmaking. Tracey Emin exhibited in the 2005 show. In March 2007 Emin accepted the Academy's invitation to become a Royal Academician, commenting in her weekly newspaper column that, "It doesn't mean that I have become more conformist; it means that the Royal Academy has become more open, which

2907-482: Was Thornhill's son-in-law) attributed its failure at least in part to the competition from Vanderbank and Cheron. It was Hogarth who established the St. Martin's Lane Academy in 1735, using the equipment from Thornhill's studio, and he remained its central figure. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second St Martin's Lane Academy", to differentiate it from that of Vanderbank and Chéron. Hogarth wrote an account of its formation in about 1760, in which he takes credit for

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2964-425: Was controversial for its display of Marcus Harvey 's portrait of Myra Hindley , a convicted murderer. The painting was vandalised while on display. In 2004, the Academy attracted media attention for a series of financial scandals and reports of a feud between Rosenthal and other senior staff. These problems resulted in the cancellation of what were expected to have been profitable exhibitions. In 2006, it attracted

3021-587: Was elected President of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1953, a post he held until his death. He was elected an associate member of the Royal Academy in 1953 and a full academician in 1961. Gunn was knighted for services to painting in 1963. An 80-page catalogue of his work which were exhibited at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh from December 1994 to February 1995,

3078-494: Was established in Great Queen Street in 1711 under twelve directors, with Sir Godfrey Kneller as its governor. George Vertue , a founder-member, describes it as "the Academy of Painting", although there is no evidence that any painting was ever done there. Sir James Thornhill took over from Kneller in 1718, but a few years later, after a period of infighting, he started a new academy, conducting life-drawing classes from

3135-568: Was modelled on that of the French Académie de peinture et de sculpture , founded by Louis XIV in 1648. It was shaped by the precepts laid down by Sir Joshua Reynolds. In his fifteen Discourses delivered to pupils in the Schools between 1769 and 1790, Reynolds stressed the importance of copying the Old Masters, and of drawing from casts after the Antique and from the life model. He argued that such

3192-460: Was published by the National Galleries of Scotland in 1994. Gunn married Gwendoline Thorne in 1919 and they had three daughters. He divorced his first wife, who had run off with Sir Arthur Whinney. Gunn subsequently married Pauline Miller with whom he had a son and another daughter. Pauline was the model for a number of his paintings, including his 1961 diploma submission to the Royal Academy. Gunn died in London on 30 December 1964. A requiem mass for

3249-505: Was succeeded by Chantal Joffe in January 2016. The first president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, gave his noted self-portrait, beginning the Royal Academy collection. This was followed by gifts from other founding members, such as Gainsborough and Benjamin West . Subsequently, each elected Member was required to donate an artwork (known as a "Diploma Work") typical of his or her artistic output, and this practice continues today. Additional donations and purchases have resulted in

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