The Great Spectacle: 250 Years of the Royal Academy's Summer Exhibition

The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition is the world’s longest-running annual display of contemporary art, and one of its largest. Ever since 1769 the Academy’s exhibition rooms have been crowded for some two months each year with thousands of paintings and sculptures by many of Britain’s leading artists. These spectacular displays have provided artists with crucial competition, inspiration and publicity, and captured the interest of millions of visitors. This book will take the reader on a fascinating journey telling the story of these exhibitions. Many treasured works of British art were first shown on the walls of the RA: portraits by Reynolds and Gainsborough; the mighty landscapes of Turner and Constable; and the Pre-Raphaelites, who caused such a critical and cultural furore. Chapters on the 20th and 21st centuries look at the RA’s relationship with British modernism, and explore the many changes that have taken place in Summer Exhibitions of recent decades.