The historic Burlington House on Piccadilly, which houses the Royal Academy of Arts, featuring the courtyard statue of the RA’s first President, artist Sir Joshua Reynolds
To the hundreds of thousands who visit its exhibitions every year, the Royal Academy of Arts is a must-visit museum on the European art circuit. Like its peers at the top of the art world, it has created shows that have redefined the art scene, including ‘A New Spirit in Painting’ in 1981 and 1997’s ‘Sensation’; more recently, it has hosted blockbuster solo shows by the likes of Marina Abramović and William Kentridge – both, coincidentally, artists who have created cover logos for LUX. But the RA has a lesser-known jewel in its crown. As the name says, it is an academy – an art school, probably the world’s most respected – with studios housing artists on a three-year immersion course in its premises at the heart of Mayfair. It even has its own design technology studios and sculpture kiln. Eliza Bonham Carter, the celebrated Director of the RA Schools, was invited to create the LUX logo for our cover this issue, while Renoir Saulter, one of her students, imagines his own working of our cover on these pages
Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine
“The breadth of talent that comes from the RA Schools is amazing, from Constable and Turner to Millais, and now to Michael Armitage, Rachel Jones and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. In the life-drawing room, we still have the original benches where Constable and Turner learned to draw”
– Batia Ofer, Chair, Royal Academy Trust
“The Royal Academy Schools is an independent postgraduate school of art that offers a three-year programme. One of many remarkable aspects of the school is that it remains free of charge to all who study with us. We support speculative practice, experimentation and the possibilities of learning through making. The central focus is the studio, where each student explores their own practice supported by an academic structure and our specialist workshops. Our graduates go on to contribute meaningfully to culture in many ways, including through exhibitions, teaching, writing and curating”
– Eliza Bonham Carter, Director, Royal Academy Schools
“Being at the RA Schools is like a great plate of scran shared with the family or a cold pint after some hard graft. The experience is fruitful, mind-bending, hardcore and cosy. The whole staff, security and tutors really make the place feel like home”
– Renoir Saulter, artist and student, Royal Academy Schools
Reimagined LUX covers, with logos by artist and RA Schools student Renoir Saulter, and cover photograph of Batia Ofer by Simon de Pury
Recent Comments