Royal Academy of Arts Exhibition Programme 2026
LONDON - Rose Wylie
Main Galleries
28 February - 19 April 2026
In Spring 2026, Rose Wylie OBE RA will take over the Main Galleries of the Royal Academy of Arts with her vibrant figurative paintings and striking drawings. One of the most notable and intriguing artists working in Britain today, this exhibition will be Wylie’s largest survey exhibition ever to take place in the UK. A 21st century painter of contemporary life, her work draws from a diverse range of references that include art history, ancient civilisations, literature, cinema, celebrity culture and current affairs. Visually chronicling the times she has lived through, her large format paintings and works on paper document everything from her experience of the Blitz as a young girl, to more quotidian events such as an exhibition opening or a game of football, and feature a cast of characters that include Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth I and Snow White. This exhibition will bring together some of Wylie’s most iconic pieces with previously unseen and new works.
Michaelina Wautier
The Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries
27 March - 21 June 2026
Michaelina Wautier was a trailblazer. Active in 17th century Brussels, she was one of the foremost artists of the period, who transcended the usual limitations imposed on women. Yet, until the last decade, her career and work has been relatively forgotten, and discovery of her life remains a work in progress. This exhibition at the Royal Academy, the first of Wautier’s in the UK, will introduce visitors to this fascinating artist. It will present her wide-ranging oeuvre and include grand history paintings, portraiture, the monumental Bacchanal and her recently rediscovered Five Senses.
Exhibition organised in collaboration with the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
Summer Exhibition 2026
Main Galleries
16 June - 23 August 2026
The Royal Academy’s annual Summer Exhibition, the world’s largest open submission contemporary art show, will be in its 258th year. It provides a unique platform for emerging and established artists to showcase their works to an international audience, comprising a range of media from painting, printmaking and photography, to sculpture, architecture and film. It has been held each year without interruption since 1769. Around 1200 works will go on display, the majority of which will be for sale offering visitors an opportunity to purchase original work. A significant part of funds raised continue to contribute to financing the postgraduate students at the RA Schools.
Richard Dadd: Beyond Bedlam
The Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries
25 July - 25 October 2026
Supported by Colin McCorquodale
In July 2026, the Royal Academy will present a survey of the Victorian artist, Richard Dadd (1817-1886). As a talented young artist, he studied at the Royal Academy Schools and toured Greece, Turkey, Syria and Egypt to make travel drawings. Soon after, he started to experience symptoms of psychosis and went on to spend the final 42 years of his life as a patient in Bethlem Hospital and later Broadmoor Hospital.
Dadd constructed fairytale worlds and compelling compositions inspired by Shakespeare. Dadd’s art reflects a unique perspective from within the Victorian asylum, where he drew upon his previous works, his powerful visual memory, and the landscapes and people available within the context of his confinement, to create his art. These paintings and watercolours are full of extraordinary detail and technical refinement conveying the painstaking dedication Dadd devoted to keeping alive his memory, his imagination and his profession.
This exhibition will bring together around 60 of Dadd’s most impressive oils and works on paper – art that was radical in his own time and which has since inspired artists, writers and musicians, including Cornelia Parker, Angela Carter and Freddie Mercury - Queen’s ‘The Fairy-Feller’s Master Stroke’ was directly inspired by Dadd’s painting of the same name. This will be the first major retrospective devoted to the artist in over 50 years.
Painting the French Riviera
Main Galleries
2 October 2026 - 31 January 2027
Supported by
Matisse and Klein in Nice. Cezanne in L’Estaque. Signac in Saint-Tropez. Monet and Picasso in Antibes. Bonnard in Le Cannet. Renoir in Cagnes-sur-Mer. Since the 1870s, artists have been escaping to the sumptuous Mediterranean landscapes of the South of France – prompted by the temperate climate and inspired by the southern light, blue skies and azure seas. The luxurious Calais-Mediterranée Express—better known as Le Train bleu—that began operation in 1922 made the French Riviera a destination for the wealthy and glamorous. This exhibition will examine the rise and development of modern art on the Mediterranean coast of France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Featuring over 120 works of art, among them paintings, sculpture, travel posters and film, it will focus on key moments and figures that were drawn to this remarkable paradise.
Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts, London in collaboration with the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Peggy Guggenheim in London: The Making of a Collector
The Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries
21 November 2026 - 14 March 2027
This exhibition celebrates the groundbreaking gallery, Guggenheim Jeune, run by Peggy Guggenheim at 30 Cork Street, London between January 1938 and June 1939. It will explore the wide range of pioneering exhibitions that she staged there, the gallery’s central contribution towards the development of the London art scene, and the genesis of Guggenheim’s world-famous art collection now housed in Venice.
Guggenheim was a key figure in London in the late 1930s, and Guggenheim Jeune, her first gallery, quickly became one of the central places to see the latest developments in surrealism and abstraction. During a short period, she organised over 20 exhibitions and many curatorial firsts, such as the first UK solo show dedicated to Vasily Kandinsky, the first show of collage in the UK, and a contemporary sculpture exhibition that caused a scandal. This exhibition will reunite highlights from these shows, as well as similar works from the period, by artists including Eileen Agar, Salvador Dalí, Barbara Hepworth, Vasily Kandinsky, Rita Kernn-Larsen, Henry Moore, Piet Mondrian, Cedric Morris, Grace Pailthorpe, Sophie Taeuber-Arp and Yves Tanguy amongst others.
Exhibition organised by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts, London.
About the Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by King George III in 1768. It has a unique position in being
an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is
to be a clear, strong voice for art and artists. Its public programme promotes the creation, enjoyment
and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.
The Royal Academy is an independent charity. It does not receive revenue funding from the
government so is reliant upon the support of its visitors, donors, sponsors, patrons and loyal Friends.
For moe details, visit:
https://media.wordfly.com/royalacademy/press-docs/royal-academy-2026-exhibition-programme-press-release.pdf?utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=LW_APL2025PressRelease_d_Press_14052025&utm_content=version_A&sourceNumber=
