London - Royal Academy of Arts

The Royal Academy of Arts, founded in 1768 under the patronage of George III, has been housed since 1869 in Burlington House, an imposing mansion with a Renaissance-style facade. The Academy's first president was Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose statue stands in the courtyard. The Royal Academy is a self-governing and self-supporting society of artists with a membership of 50 Royal Academicians and 25 Associates, all painters, sculptors, graphic artists and architects.

At the age of 75 a Royal Academician becomes a Senior Academician, and his successor is elected from among the Associates. Election to the Royal Academy was for long the peak of an artist's career, holding the prospect of wealth and not infrequently a title. The Academy's art school in Burlington House has had such distinguished pupils as Constable, Lawrence, Turner and Millais. Every year between June and August it mounts a summer exhibition of work by contemporary British artists. Only work done within the past 10 years is eligible, and the competition is fierce, just over 1,000 of the 10,000 or so works submitted being accepted by the jury. The Royal Academy attracts international attention, however, with its special exhibitions devoted to a particular period of art.