Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Royal West of England Academy

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Established
  
1844

Phone
  
+44 117 973 5129

Director
  
Alison Bevan

Founded
  
1844

Royal West of England Academy

Location
  
Clifton, Bristol, England

Website
  
Royal West of England Academy

Address
  
Queen's Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 1PX, United Kingdom

Hours
  
Closed now Thursday10AM–6PMFriday10AM–6PMSaturday10AM–6PMSunday11AM–5PMMondayClosedTuesday10AM–6PMWednesday10AM–6PMSuggest an edit

Similar
  
Arnolfini, Bristol City Museum and Art G, Victoria Rooms - Bristol, Spike Island - Bristol, Watershed

Profiles

The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is an art gallery located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road.

Contents

Robert lenkiewicz at royal west of england academy bristol


History

The Academy was the first art gallery to be established in Bristol. Its foundation was financed by a bequest of £2,000 in the will of Ellen Sharples in 1849, and a well-known group of artists in Bristol, known as the Bristol Society of Artists. These were mostly landscape painters, and many, such as William James Müller, Francis Danby, James Baker Pyne and John Syer were well known. 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 King George V granted the Academy its Royal title, with the reigning monarch as its Patron, and by 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome and Walter Crane lunettes, was completed.

During World War II the Academy building was taken over by various organisations including the Bristol Aeroplane Company and the U.S. Army. Immediately after the war ended the Council applied for the release of the galleries but was informed that they would be occupied by the Inland Revenue until 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. During the 1950s the Royal West of England Academy Schools became the West of England College of Art. 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 the Department of Creative Industries, UWE, Bristol. The current President is the artist Stewart Geddes PRWA and Director is Alison Bevan BEM.

Collections

Among the paintings in the permanent collection are works by artists from the Newlyn, St Ives and Bloomsbury Schools and paintings by Elizabeth Blackadder, Bernard Dunstan, Mary Fedden, Matthew Hale, David Inshaw, Derek Balmer, Anne Redpath, George Swaish and Carel Weight.

Building

The building is a grade II* listed building constructed in 1857 as the city's first public art gallery, also encompassing an art school. It opened in 1858. The interiors are by Charles Underwood and facade by JR Hirst, altered in 1912 by SS Reay and H Dare Bryan. The first floor is in 3 sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues of Flaxman and Reynolds. A large carving of 3 female figures - the three graces - crowns the parapet. The interior includes coloured marble and a replica of the Parthenon Frieze.

Presidents

  • 1844-1859 John Harford
  • 1859-1881 Philip WS Miles
  • 1881-1884 Samuel Lang
  • 1884-1887 Colonel H Savile
  • 1887-1897 Daniel H Cave
  • 1897-1898 Alderman Francis Fry
  • 1898-1911 Sir William Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke
  • 1911-1932 Dame Janet Stancomb-Wills
  • 1932-1936 Yda Richardson
  • 1936-1971 Lord Methuen RA
  • 1971-1974 Donald Milner OBE
  • 1974-1984 Bernard Dunstan RA
  • 1984-1989 Mary Fedden OBE RA
  • 1989-1995 Leonard Manasseh OBE RA
  • 1995-2000 Dr Peter Thursby
  • 2000-2010 Dr Derek Balmer
  • 2010-2011 Simon Quadrat
  • 2011-2016 Dr Janette Kerr
  • 2016- Stewart Geddes
  • References

    Royal West of England Academy Wikipedia


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