THE SCHOOLS OF

THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS

THE first act of the Royal Academy after its foundation in 1768 was the establishment of a well-regulated School or Academy of Design for the use of Students in the Arts,' which had been put forward in the memorial addressed to George the Third by the seceding members of the Incorporated Society of Artists as one of the two primary reasons for the creation of a 'Society for promoting the Arts of Design.' The other reason was an Annual Exhibition, open for all artists of distinguished merit,' the profit arising from which would, it was thought, pay all the expenses of the school, and even leave something over for charity-an expectation which has been amply fulfilled.

Of the twenty-seven clauses in the Instrument' which defined the constitution and government of the Academy, signed by George the Third on the 10th of December, 1768, no fewer than eleven refer to the schools. At the first two meetings of the members held on the 14th and 17th of December, the various officers-keeper, visitors, and professors who were to have charge of the instruction and discipline in the schools were elected; and the first subjects taken into consideration by the Council or Executive body were by-laws for their regulation and arrangements for their early opening. Little time was lost over these preliminaries, and on the 2nd of January, 1769, the schools were opened in a house in Pall Mall, a little eastward of the site now occupied by the United Service Club. It was on this occasion that Sir Joshua Reynolds delivered the first of his 'Discourses,' termed in the vote of thanks afterwards passed to him by the members' an ingenious, useful, and elegant speech.'

Many previous efforts had been made, beginning in the reign of Charles the First, to establish an art school, but they all sooner or later fell through, owing chiefly to lack of means. That these means could be supplied by charging for admission to an exhibition of pictures was first suggested by the crowds that flocked to the Foundling Hospital to see the works which Hogarth and some other artists had presented for the adornment of its walls. The idea thus started was soon given practical effect to, and the financial success attending the exhibitions started in 1760 by the Society of Artists furnished

the memorialists who approached George the Third with a scheme for the establishment of an Academy with good grounds for believing that they had solved the problem of how to find funds for the support of an art school. It must not be forgotten that the intention was to provide everything free of cost to the student; no fees of any kind were to be charged. And this intention has been carried out and always strictly adhered to.

The schools as first constituted consisted of an antique' or 'plaister academy' and an 'academy of living models.' Instruction in the former was given by the keeper, in the latter by the 'visitors,' of whom nine were to be elected annually from among the Academicians, painters of history, able sculptors, or other persons properly qualified.' Each visitor was to attend one month in the year by rotation, to set the figures, to examine the performances of the students, to advise and instruct them, to endeavour to form their taste, and turn their attention towards that branch of the arts for which they shall seem to have the aptest disposition.' Here was the keynote of the method of instruction, maintained in its essential principles down to the present day, viz. to give students the opportunity of profiting by the instruction and example not of one able artist, but of many. The aim, as has been well said, was to encourage individuality, not to promote uniformity. The first keeper was G. M. Moser, the first visitors A. Carlini, C. Catton, G. B. Cipriani, N. Dance, F. Hayman, P. Toms, B. West, R. Wilson, F. Zuccarelli.

The tests for admission were the presentation of a drawing, or model, from a plaster cast, to the keeper, who, if satisfied with this proof of the candidate's proficiency, allowed him to make a drawing, or model, from a cast in the Academy; this was submitted to the Council, and on their approval the candidate was admitted as a student, and drew from the antique till such time as he was thought fitted to draw from the living model.

The period of studentship was fixed at six years. Three gold and nine silver medals were given, also a travelling studentship of 60l. for three years open to gold medal students. Sixty-seven students were admitted in the first year, among them being John Bacon, Thomas Banks, Richard Cosway, John Flaxman, and Francis Wheatley.

In 1771 George the Third gave the Academy rooms in his palace of Somerset House, and the schools and offices were transferred there, the exhibition being still held in Pall Mall. When his Majesty soon afterwards surrendered the building to the Government, he stipulated that a part of the new building which Chambers was to erect should be appropriated to the Academy, and in 1780 it took possession of its apartments in New Somerset House, which included a large exhibition room at the top of the building. Here the Academy remained for fifty-seven years. During this period

many changes were made in the rules and regulations. The term of studentship was in 1792 increased to seven years, and in 1800 to ten years, with the privilege of renewal from year to year on certain conditions. In 1815 a school of painting was instituted, with visitors on the same principle as in the life school, and a curator appointed to take charge of it. The value of the travelling studentship had been increased from 60l. to 100l., then to 130l., and in 1832 to 160l., and many additions made to the prize list. All these changes had raised the average yearly cost of the schools from under 1000l., at which they started, to over 2000l. The tests for admission remained much the same, but the probationer, as he was now called, after passing the first test, was allowed three months for doing his drawing or model in the schools, and had also to make some anatomical drawings before becoming a student. Subsequent admission to the life school also carried with it permission to draw in the newly established painting school.

Among those who had taken advantage of this gratuitous education during this period are to be found the names of Northcote, Stothard, Lawrence, Hoppner, Moreland, Shee, Flaxman, Turner, Soane, Callcott, Haydon, Linnell, Wilkie, Mulready, Hilton, Leslie, Etty, Constable, Eastlake, Edwin Landseer, Boxall, Maclise, and Foley.

In 1837 the Academy moved to Trafalgar Square and took possession of that portion of the new building erected there for the National Gallery which had been allotted to it in exchange for the apartments it vacated at Somerset House. Among the names of students admitted just at this time are those of J. C. Hook, W. P. Frith, and J. E. Millais. Here the Academy remained for thirtytwo years. The term of studentship was in 1853 reduced to seven years, students who obtained medals being granted the privilege of life studentship; curators were appointed in the antique school and the life school, and more money prizes and medals were given, including a travelling studentship of 160l. for architects. The mode of gaining, admission remained much the same as before. As the result of these and other changes in the direction of increased efficiency the yearly average cost was raised to 3000l.

Female students were first admitted in 1860. Their admission was brought about in a curious way. All candidates had to fill up a printed form giving their name, age, residence, &c. One of these, either by accident or design, had only the initials of the Christian name given. The drawings submitted were passed as satisfactory, and A. L. Herford' duly informed of the fact. On the appearance of the candidate it was revealed that A. L.' stood for Anne Laura. The then keeper, Charles Landseer, aghast at such an apparition in precincts hitherto sacred to the male sex, referred the matter to the Council, but as there was no law against the admission of female. students, though it is believed that many members at the time wished there had been such a law, the innovation was allowed to

pass, the Council contenting themselves with a resolution recommending the young women students' (the particular one in question was twenty-nine) to the care of the housekeeper, and requesting the keeper to see that the strictest propriety be observed in the antique school,' to which their studies were to be confined.

In 1863 the Academy was sat upon by a Royal Commission, which asked 5142 questions of a variety of people. Some of the Academy's critics are fond of resorting to the answers given to many of those questions for sticks wherewith to belabour it, but an impartial one must admit that the evidence on which they chiefly rely was in most cases that of persons who had their own, to them sufficient, reasons for disliking the Academy, or of faddists. The commissioners themselves were not misled by this class of evidence, and their report was a moderate and on the whole a sensible document, only disfigured by a few fantastic recommendations which no professional artist could consider as either practical or practicable.

Three years after the report of this Commission, in which the opinion was expressed that 'the Royal Academy have no legal, but that they have a moral, right to apartments at the public expense,' a bargain was concluded by which the Government handed over to the Academy old Burlington House and a portion of the garden behind it, and the Academy undertook to erect out of its own funds all the necessary additional buildings. These were begun in 1867, and completed in 1869, when the schools and the exhibition were both transferred to the new quarters. One important benefit which resulted from this increased accommodation was that the students were able to work uninterruptedly throughout the year, with the exception of two months' vacation, in rooms specially constructed and used for no other purpose, instead of, as had been the case both at Somerset House and Trafalgar Square, having their studies wholly or partially interrupted by the exhibitions, which were held in the same rooms as the schools.

The changes that followed on this expansion were considerable. A preliminary school of painting was established, in which the students were taught the purely technical details of painting before being allowed to paint from the living model. An evening school of architecture was instituted with a special teacher, the architectural students after their admission having hitherto been merely obliged to attend the lectures and frequent the library, and visitors were elected to serve in it as in the other schools. Many improvements were introduced into the internal conduct and discipline of the schools, and numerous alterations and additions made in the prizes, among them being the Turner gold medal for landscape, and the reduction of the time allowed to the travelling student to two years. One important change made in 1868, which should have been mentioned before, was that associates were made eligible to serve as visitors.

Soon after Lord Leighton became president, a special committee was appointed which, after a long and careful inquiry, drew up a revised set of regulations which contained many new and important changes. The period of studentship was reduced to six years and divided into two terms of three years each, the second term being gained only after a qualifying examination to test the progress made by the student during the first. Life studentships were abolished. A separate school for students in sculpture was established, open in the evening, under the charge of a curator, in which modelling from the life was taught, visitors being elected for this as in the other schools. Also a class of modelling for architects with a special teacher. The alterations under the heading of 'Prizes and Medals' were numerous and important. The travelling studentships in painting, sculpture, and architecture were attached to the gold medals and were all given every two years, the value being increased to 200l., but the tenure reduced to one year. An architectural travelling studentship for travel and study in England of 607. for one year was also given in alternate years. A scholarship of 501. was added to the Turner gold medal. Encouragement to the study of mural painting was sought to be given by the institution of a prize of 40l. for a design for the decoration of a public building, with a further allowance of 200l. for carrying out the design if f sufficient merit; while to the study of drapery was allotted a prize of 25l. Drawings from the life were rewarded by 100l. in four prizes, and models from the life by 75l. in two prizes. In addition numerous smaller prizes and medals were given for different subjects of competition in painting, drawing, sculpture, and architecture. Besides these there were the Creswick prize of 30l. for a landscape in oil, the proceeds of a legacy left for the purpose by Miss Creswick, the sister of Thomas Creswick, R.A.; the Armitage prizes of 30l. and 10l. for a monochrome sketch in oil for a design for a figure picture, the gift of Edward Armitage, R.A.; and scholarships of 40l. awarded halfyearly to the students in painting and sculpture who pass the best examination for entering the second term of studentship, derived from the munificent bequest of 10,000l. left to the Academy for the purpose of founding prizes in the schools by Charles Landseer, R.A., who had held the office of keeper for twenty-three years. All these changes, which came into effect in 1881, raised the annual cost of the schools to from 5000l. to 6000l. They were also found to necessitate many alterations and additions to the school buildings, which were carried cut and completed in 1885 at a cost of over 8CC0l.

Matters, however, were not allowed to rest here, and in 1889, soon after the appointment of the late Mr. Calderon as keeper, some very important modifications of the rules were introduced. Foremost among them was a limitation of the age at which students were to be admitted. This was fixed at twenty-three years, though it was afterwards extended in the case of students in sculpture and archi