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  • The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1787

  • 1787
  • Drawing by Johann Heinrich Ramberg (German 1763-1840), engraved by Pietro Antonio Martini (Italian 1739-1797)
  • Engraving
  • 35.5 x 49.5 cm., 14 x 19-1/2" image (trimmed to margins)
  • Catherine Carter Goebel, Paul A. Anderson Chair in the Arts Purchase, Conservation Funding Assisted by Professor Adrian R. Tió, Paul A. Anderson Art History Collection, Augustana College 2004.9

Essay by J.D. Rotzoll, Class of 2008

The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1787 is an engraving that was based on the original painting created in the same year by German artist, Johann Heinrich Ramberg. Ramberg, who was born in 1763, pursued most of his career in Germany, but spent some time in England studying from 1781 to 1788 under the great Neoclassical American expatriate and future President of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West (Turner 871). It was during this period in London that Ramberg created this piece. Pietro Antonio Martini was the engraver who reproduced Ramberg's artwork and translated it into a print.

This print's subject matter does not stem from history or tales of the gods, but instead illustrates real contemporary life in London. There is not much movement or action in the scene, since people are focused on verbal discourse and studying art. This particular work of art was made to celebrate the Prince of Wales' visit to the Royal Academy's exhibition. The prince's portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds, the current President of the Royal Academy, hangs in the center of the back wall in the print (Rosenthal 602). The engraving shows many different social classes wandering about the gallery. Some people seem to belong to the middle class while still others are clearly aristocratic, such as the man standing front and center dressed in light clothing. There appears to be a clergyman to his left. Dogs are surprisingly roaming and playing freely in the academy exhibition.

The Royal Academy was established in 1768 in England as a vehicle for artists to display their works. These exhibits were the first large-scale non-commercial art exhibitions held in England (Turner 677). The Great Room at Somerset House, the headquarters for the Academy then and now, which is depicted in this print, was a massive space that could hold between two and three hundred oil paintings on its walls. Somerset House opened in 1780 and held the Academy's annual summer exhibitions. The institution quickly became a great success, as evidenced in the fact that during the first two months of its opening, over 61,000 viewers made their way through the exhibit (Turner 603). The most interesting aspect to this work is perhaps the method of exhibiting a massive number of works within a relatively limited space. The paintings are hung so close together that there was little room for explanation or identification. Paintings at the highest level are four or five times higher than the people in the picture. Exhibition techniques have clearly changed over the years .