A new exhibition showcasing works from the Royal Academy is being held at a Grade I listed stately home, including work from the academy’s first female president.
The exhibition at Petworth House brings together nine artworks by current and recent Royal Academicians who are practising artists elected by their peers in recognition of their work, to lead the Royal Academy.
Explorations in Paint includes works not previously lent by the institution, and a new work that has never been exhibited by Rebecca Salter PRA, the academy’s first female president.
The exhibition was inspired by Sir Joshua Reynolds’ Studio Experiments canvases, one of which is included in the display.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the founding president of the Royal Academy’s birth.
Explorations in Paint has been curated for the National Trust by Dr Lois Oliver and the Royal Academy Collections team.
The artists and their artworks include:
Rebecca Salter’s JB26 is a diptych in ink and gouache. Salter has described her practice as “involved with the attempt to capture stillness in movement, a stillness with potential, not a passive quiet”.
Colour and form merge in Salix, a boldly textured painting by Gillian Ayres.
The artist often used her hands loaded with paint and her gestures are traced by trails left by fingers and brush.
As in Alberto by Frank Bowling, is on loan from the artist and has never been exhibited outside London before.
It was made using a technique that he originally pioneered in the 1970s, using acrylic paint, liquified with ammonia, water and acrylic gel, poured over canvas printed with computer-generated striped colours.
The show also features artworks by Royal Academicians Ian McKeever, Barbara Rae, Sean Scully, Tess Jaray and John Hoyland.
Rebecca Lyons, director of collections and learning at the Royal Academy of Arts: “Sir Joshua Reynolds advocated for art and art education, while also constantly looking and learning from the artists around him, both historic and contemporary. It is this spirit of exploration and enquiry that we bring to the beautiful location of Petworth, a place with strong links to the RA, both past and present.”
The exhibition forms part of a wider programme at Petworth House and across the National Trust celebrating the legacy of Joshua Reynolds. Visitors to Petworth can explore some of the twelve paintings by Reynolds in its care and learn about recent Reynolds conservation projects.
National Trust curator, Rebecca Wallis: “We are delighted to be working with the Royal Academy to host this exhibition. George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont and Petworth’s great art collector, was sketched by Reynolds in the 1760s and 1770s, who is thought to have visited Petworth in 1789. The 3rd Earl was actively involved, as a patron and collector, with the RA and his collection includes significant artworks by Reynolds and other Royal Academicians, such as J.M. W. Turner, John Flaxman and Angelika Kauffmann.”
The exhibition runs until September 24.
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