EXHIBITION
PROGRAMME 2003-2004
AZTECS
MAIN GALLERIES
Supported by the Mexico Tourism Board and Pemex
Until 11 April 2003
This ground-breaking exhibition highlights the splendours, variety and
sophistication of Mexico’s Aztec past. One of the most ambitious
exhibitions ever staged at the RA, it brings together over 380 works,
some never previously shown outside Mexico, to make the most comprehensive
survey of Aztec culture ever mounted. In addition to monumental sculptures
in stone, wooden objects and ceramics, the exhibition reunites several
of the most important pictorial manuscripts, or codices. It also includes
spectacular works of art made of turquoise mosaics, gold and other precious
materials, of which only a small number have survived - these are among
the most exquisite objects ever made in the ancient Americas.
PREMIUMS
SACKLER WING
Sponsored by Walker Morris
12 – 23 February 2003
Showcasing some of the best contemporary painting and sculpture being
produced by young artists today, this exhibition will highlight the work
of second year students studying at the Royal Academy Schools, and will
provide an excellent opportunity to buy work by twenty young and aspiring
artists.
MASTERPIECES FROM DRESDEN SACKLER WING
Mantegna and Dürer to Rubens and Canaletto
15 March – 8 June 2003
In August 2002, the floodwaters of the River Elbe, which flows through
the historic German city of Dresden, rushed into the vaults of the Zwinger
Palace, home of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, one of Europe's
greatest collections of Old Master paintings. 4,000 artworks were carried
to safety and 50 masterpieces from the Dresden Gemäldegalerie - including
works by Mantegna, Titian, Dürer, Rubens, Poussin and Canaletto -
will go on show at the Royal Academy in Spring 2003. In addition to Italian
Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces, the collection includes 17th-century
Dutch and Flemish paintings, and outstanding works by Spanish, French
and German painters. Ranging in subject matter from historical, mythological
and biblical themes, to dramatic portraits, genre scenes, and spectacular
landscapes, the exhibition will provide a unique opportunity to view rarely
seen works from Dresden's outstanding collection of Old Master paintings.
LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR MAIN GALLERIES
24 – 27 April 2003
The London Original Print Fair is an annual event, now in its 16th year.
The thirty international dealers exhibiting at the Fair between them cover
five centuries of printmaking, from engravings by Dürer to etchings
by Hockney. All the works on sale are original prints made by the artist,
offering visitors a unique opportunity to buy an original Rembrandt or
Picasso for a fraction of the price of a painting. It is the only occasion
when art of the past as well as the present can be bought at the Royal
Academy.
For press enquiries, please call Cawdell Douglas tel: 020 7439 2822. www.londonprintfair.com
SUMMER
EXHIBITION 2003 MAIN GALLERIES
Sponsored by A. T. Kearney
2 June – 10 August 2003
The Royal Academy’s annual exhibition, bringing together paintings,
sculptures, drawings and models by many of Britain’s most distinguished
artists and architects, is the world’s largest open contemporary
art exhibition. The majority of works are for sale and prizes totalling
£50,000 are offered to artists in various categories.
RA
SCHOOLS SHOW RA SCHOOLS STUDIOS
Sponsored by Walker Morris
4 – 18 June 2003
Highlighting the work of final-year students who have successfully completed
the only three-year postgraduate course in painting and sculpture in the
country, the exhibition provides an opportunity to view work by young
and aspiring artists. Many of the works will be for sale.
KIRCHNER
SACKLER WING
28 June – 21 September 2003
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938) was one of the leading artists of German
Expressionism and a founder of Die Brücke movement in Dresden. Using
pure colour and simplified two-dimensional planes, he explored a new,
direct language of art. Early subjects included vibrant landscapes and
nudes, while later works produced during his years in Berlin reveal a
dramatic shift in style to a more sombre and aggressive vision of urban
life, epitomised in his famous street scenes. This will be the first ever
major exhibition of his work in this country, focusing on works produced
in the period 1905-1915, often considered his most creative and innovative.
It will include over a hundred paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures.
CRAIGIE
AITCHISON SACKLER WING
9 October – 9 November 2003
Craigie Aitchison is one of the most popular and well-known Royal Academicians,
whose work is strikingly original. Known for his fresh and radiantly colourful
painting, he has specialised over the years in portraiture, landscape,
and paintings of his beloved Bedlington terriers, as well as interpretations
of the Crucifixion. This retrospective, comprising some 60 paintings,
continues the series of exhibitions devoted to works by Royal Academicians,
which have recently included Joe Tilson, Terry Frost and John Hoyland.
ILLUMINATING THE RENAISSANCE SACKLER WING
The Triumph of Flemish Manuscript Painting in Europe
29 November 2003 – 22 February 2004 (closed 24 + 25 December)
This unique exhibition will bring together some 140 of the most important
and exquisite of all illuminated manuscripts. Originally created for the
most powerful and wealthy courtiers of Europe, these treasures will be
displayed together for the first time. Drawn from collections all over
the world, the exhibition will trace the development of manuscript illuminators
working in Flanders between 1450 and 1550. Lavish designs cover the pages,
bringing to life an imagined courtly world of chivalric romances and opulent
landscapes. Illuminating the Renaissance presents a rare opportunity to
see the most magnificent manuscripts in existence, including some discoveries
of recent years.
VUILLARD
MAIN GALLERIES
31 January – 18 April 2004
Edouard Vuillard (1868-1940) belonged to the generation of young, experimental
artists at the forefront of French art including Pierre Bonnard and Maurice
Denis. This group of artists, who in the early 1890s formed the Nabis
group, were particularly influenced by Paul Gauguin’s use of colour
and symbolism. Alongside his friend Bonnard, Vuillard was one of the main
practitioners of Intimisme, intimate domestic genre painting. Comprising
over 200 works, this first ever major retrospective will represent the
full range of his subject matter, including rarely-seen photography, decorative
panels for interior settings and set designs for the theatre. Vuillard
was a passionate photographer and this will be the first exhibition to
explore his photographic output fully.
LIBRARY PRINT ROOM DISPLAYS*
Plaster Icons: The History and Conservation of the Royal Academy's Cast
Collection
Until 31 January 2003
This exhibition features rarely-seen historic plaster casts of famous
Classical and Renaissance sculpture and architectural ornament from the
RA Schools. It demonstrates the ongoing 5-year conservation and photographic
programme, funded by The Monument Trust, which focuses on artists’
teaching materials in the Academy’s Collections. It also demonstrates
the crucial role that drawing from casts played in the academic training
of artists in the RA Schools right up until the First World War.
The
Gifted Hand: Drawings by John Everett Millais from the Royal Academy's
Collection
12 February – 16 May 2003
This exhibition will be a rare chance to see the RA’s collection
of drawings by Sir John Everett Millais, founding member of the Pre-Raphaelite
Brotherhood and one of the 19th century’s most successful artists.
A child prodigy and a prolific sketcher, Millais became the Academy’s
youngest ever student in 1840. This display will include some of the artist’s
earliest work - impressive academic studies of classical statues, comic
illustrations and prize-winning drawings of historical scenes. Millais’s
later work is represented by studies for well known Pre-Raphaelite paintings
such as The Order of Release as well as by drawings carried out just before
his death in 1896.
FRIENDS
ROOM EXHIBITIONS**
From Little Acorns… Early works by Academicians
Until 27 February 2003
This exhibition of small works by Royal Academicians has been selected
by Antony Whishaw RA. Labels and information on the works have been omitted,
leaving the viewer to discover for themselves the identity of the artist
and any possible connections between them, hunting out hidden threads
linking past and present. Some of the works are for sale.
Jeffery
Camp RA
28 February – 12 June 2003
A selection of drawings and paintings of lyrical brilliance that characterise
the work of this distinguished Senior Royal Academician.
Craigie
Aitchison RA
19 September – 4 December 2003
A display of prints to complement the retrospective in the Sackler Wing
(9 October – 9 November).
*The Library Print Room is open to the public 11am – 1pm and 2pm
– 4pm Tuesday to Friday.
**The RA Friends Room is open to the public from 4pm – 6pm daily.
For further press information, please contact Caroline Atkinson or Sarah
Davies on tel: 020 7300 5615/5610, fax: 020 7300 5886 or email press.office@royalacademy.org.uk
For public information, please print 020 7300 8000 and www.royalacademy.org.uk
December 2002
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