Jump to content

Royal West of England Academy

Coordinates:51°27′29″N2°36′30″W/ 51.45810°N 2.60840°W/51.45810; -2.60840
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal West of England Academy
Front view, April 2006
Royal West of England Academy is located in Bristol
Royal West of England Academy
Location within Bristol
Established1844;180 years ago(1844)
LocationQueen’s Road,Clifton,Bristol,England
Coordinates51°27′29″N2°36′30″W/ 51.45810°N 2.60840°W/51.45810; -2.60840
DirectorAlison Bevan
PresidentFiona Robinson
WebsiteRoyal West of England Academy
Listed Building– Grade II*
Official nameRoyal West of England Academy
Designated4 March 1977
Reference no.1282156

TheRoyal West of England Academy(RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located inClifton,Bristol,near the junction of Queens Road andWhiteladies Road.Situated in a Grade II*listed building,it hosts five galleries and an exhibition programme that celebrates the best of historic and contemporary British art.

Elected Royal West of England Academicians use thepost-nominalRWA.

History

[edit]

The Royal West of England Academy was the first art gallery to be established in Bristol, and is one of the longest-running regional galleries and art schools in the UK. Its foundation was initiated by the extraordinaryEllen Sharples,who secured funding from benefactors includingIsambard Kingdom BrunelandPrince Albert,and the building was ultimately financed by a bequest of £2,000 from her will in 1849.[1][2][3]

At first, the core of the Academy was a well-known group of artists in Bristol, known as the Bristol Society of Artists, who were mostly landscape painters, and many, such asWilliam James Müller,Francis Danby,James Baker PyneandJohn Syerwere well known.[3]In 1844, when the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts was founded, the Bristol Society of Artists was incorporated into it. At this time the president and committee was predominantly its patrons, rather than its artists. In 1913 KingGeorge Vgranted the academy its Royal title,[4]with the reigning monarch as its Patron,[5]and by 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome andWalter Cranelunettes, was completed.[6][7]

DuringWorld War IIthe academy building was taken over by various organisations including theBristol Aeroplane Companyand theU.S. Army.[5]Immediately after the war ended the council applied for the release of the galleries but was informed that they would be occupied by theInland Revenueuntil further notice. It was not until 1950 that the building was returned to its original function, after the intervention of the then prime minister,Clement Attlee.[8][5]During the 1950s the Royal West of England Academy Schools became the West of England College of Art.[3]This moved to the Bower Ashton campus in 1966, where it was then absorbed by the University of the West of England (School of Visual Studies), now theDepartment of Creative Industries, UWE, Bristol.

The current president is the artist Fiona Robinson PRWA and Director (Chief Exec) is Alison Bevan BEM.

Collections

[edit]

Among the paintings in the permanent collection are works by artists from theNewlyn,St IvesandBloomsburySchools and paintings byElizabeth Blackadder,Bernard Dunstan,Mary Fedden,Matthew Hale,David Inshaw,Derek Balmer,Anne Redpath,George SwaishandCarel Weight.[9]

Building

[edit]
Sharples Gallery
Marble Gallery Friezes
Walter Crane Lunettes

The building is a grade II*listed buildingconstructed in 1857 as the city's first public art gallery, also encompassing an art school. It opened in 1858. The interiors are byCharles Underwoodand facade byJR Hirst,altered in 1912 bySS ReayandH Dare Bryan.[10]The first floor is in 3 sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues ofFlaxmanandReynolds.A large carving of 3 female figures - the three graces - crowns the parapet. The interior includes colouredmarbleand a replica of theParthenon Frieze.[11]

Membership

[edit]
See also:List of RWA Academicians

As a Royal Academy of Art, the RWA is governed by professional artists, with a membership of around 150Academicianswho are elected by their peers.[12]

William Arkle

Types of membership

[edit]
Memberships of the Royal West of England Academy
Post-nominal Membership Type Abbreviation Maximum No. Allowed
RWA Royal West of England Academician RWA Academician 150
PRWA President of the Royal West of England Academy President of the RWA 1
PPRWA Past President of the Royal West of England Academy Past President of the RWA
VPRWA Vice-President of the Royal West of England Academy Vice-President of the RWA 1
HonRWA Honorary Royal West of England Academician Honorary RWA Academician

Presidents

[edit]
Presidents of the Royal West of England Academy
President Served
John Scandrett Harford(1785 – 1866) 1844 – 1859
Philip William Skinner Miles(1816 – 1881) 1859 – 1881
Samuel Lang 1881 – 1884
Col.Henry Bourchier Osborne Savile(1819 – 1917) (Sheriff of Bristol1883) 1884 – 1887
Daniel H Cave 1887 – 1897
AldermanFrancis James Fry(1835 – 1918) (Sheriff of Bristol1886) 1897 – 1898
William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke(1830 – 1911) 1898 – 1911
Janet Stancomb-Wills(1854 – 1932) 1911 – 1932
Yda Richardson 1932 – 1936
Paul Ayshford Methuen, 4th Baron Methuen(1886 – 1974) 1936 – 1971
Donald Ewart Milner(1898 – 1993) 1971 – 1974
Bernard Dunstan(1920 – 2017) 1974 – 1984
Mary Fedden(1915 – 2012) 1984 – 1989
Leonard Manasseh(1916 – 2017) 1989 – 1995
Peter Thursby(1930 – 2011) 1995 – 2000
Derek Balmer(1934 – ) 2000 – 2010
Simon Quadrat(1946 – ) 2010 – 2011
Janette Kerr(1959 – ) 2011 – 2016
Stewart Geddes(1961 – ) 2016 – 2019
Fiona Robinson(1949 – ) 2019 –

References

[edit]
  1. ^"Royal West Of England Academy".Saatchi Gallery.Retrieved20 December2015.
  2. ^"History".Royal West of England Academy. Archived fromthe originalon 22 December 2015.Retrieved20 December2015.
  3. ^abc"Royal West of England Academy".Artist Biographies.Retrieved20 December2015.
  4. ^"Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951".University of Glasgow.Retrieved20 December2015.
  5. ^abc"Royal West of England Academy".Bridgeman Images.Retrieved19 August2018.
  6. ^"The Lunettes".Elizabeth Holford Associates.Retrieved20 December2015.
  7. ^Willsdon, Clare A. (2000).Mural Painting in Britain 1840-1940: Image and Meaning.Oxford University Press. p. 283.ISBN9780198175155.
  8. ^"History of the RWA".Royal West of England Academy.Archived fromthe originalon 16 July 2011.Retrieved26 August2006.
  9. ^"Permanent Collection".Royal West of England Academy. Archived fromthe originalon 10 January 2012.Retrieved20 December2015.
  10. ^Historic England."Royal West of England Academy (1282156)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved20 December2015.
  11. ^Historic England."Royal West of England Academy (1282156)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved9 May2006.
  12. ^"RWA Academicians".Royal West of England Academy.Archived fromthe originalon 8 February 2023.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related toRoyal West of England Academy.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Royal_West_of_England_Academy&oldid=1243249124"