Art Shows
June 2015Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
A long-standing favourite of the London art year, the Academy Summer Exhibition is the world's largest open-submission contemporary art exhibition. It runs from June to mid-August. Members of the fêted Royal Academy compete against unknown artists to have their work displayed.
Founded in 1768 as a rival to the Society of Artists, the Royal Academy on London's Piccadilly has hosted its annual summer exhibition - the world's biggest open contemporary art exhibition - since its inception. A rotating committee made up of practising artists chooses the works from more than 11,000 entries.
The submissions are paraded in front of committee members by a human chain of art-handlers; any work receiving the vote of more than three academicians passes through to the next round of selections.
More than 150,000 visitors a year come to the summer exhibition at the Royal Academy to admire around 1,200 works by established and unknown living artists, including paintings, sculpture, prints and architectural models.
The event is held in the Royal Academy's Main Galleries from June to August, with most works available to purchase.
