PRIDE & PREJUDICE How the previously exclusionary Royal Academy is welcoming more women into its prestigious ranks
As the Royal Academy celebrates its 250th anniversary, six female academicians reflect on their predecessors’ fight for recognition, and how this traditional institution is reinventing itself for the 21st century
In one of the Royal Academy’s soaring neoclassical galleries, six academicians gather to have their photograph taken. These women are among the leading contemporary artists in Britain, their output spanning painting, sculpture and mixed media. Jenny Saville, formerly associated with the Young British Artists, is known for her mesmerising renditions of nudes on huge canvases. Rebecca Salter holds the prestigious position of Keeper, which involves overseeing the Academy’s famous art school as well as producing her own woodblock prints. Cathie Pilkington, a celebrated sculptor, also teaches at the school, while Eva Rothschild is another leading practitioner in the same medium, representing Ireland at next year’s Venice Biennale. Fiona Banner experiments with printed text, making acclaimed ‘wordscapes’, while Chantal Joffe creates large-scale, colourful portraits, usually of women, that are arresting and beautiful.
Each of these artists is at the apex of her career, and each of them, at some point over the past couple of decades, accepted an invitation to join the RA’s select ranks – membership is capped at a maximum of 80 individuals. ‘You don’t choose to become a member, it chooses you,’ says Pilkington. ‘It’s a bit like a horse race, where people back different artists to become academicians.’ For many, this is considered to be one of the signs that you’ve ‘made it’ – the institution has been viewed both as the promoter and the protector of contemporary British art since it was founded in 1768. Traditionally, it has also been regarded as an oldboys’ club, an attitude that it has determinedly tried to move away from in latter years. ‘Change brings change, so with each new member you notice that there’s a shift in atmosphere’ says Rothschild. ‘The great thing about the Academy is that it’s entirely artist-led, and it’s now becoming representative of a much wider demographic.’
This open outlook was present at the start – two of the RA’s founding members were women. They can be seen in the painting that hangs behind the current group of academicians, and although they appear rather marginalised, huddled together and tucked away right at the back, it is heartening that they were there at all, given that women were barred from entering the majority of professions in the 18th century. Both were leaders in their respective fields: Mary Moser was a child prodigy – she won a prestigious Society of Arts medal for her floral paintings when she was just 14. Ten years later, she became one of the youngest of the 35 founding members, joined by the 27-year-old Angelika Kauffman.
Swiss by birth, Kauffman was already a well-established name, having won considerable success in Italy before moving to London. There she became known as a society painter – her subjects included the Royal Family – and befriended Joshua Reynolds, who probably encouraged her to join the fledging Academy. She was a valuable asset, thanks to her talent and connections, yet Kauffman and Moser were prevented from participating fully. A portrait dating from 1771–1772 depicts the founders attending a life class – the two female members, banned from attending, are present only as a pair of portraits, hanging on the wall. ‘At that period, women weren’t allowed in the life-room unless they were a model,’ says Pilkington. ‘It makes you realise the struggle they had to be recognised.’
It took a remarkably long time for the RA to voluntarily elect another woman to its ranks – not a single one throughout the 19th century – although female students began to be accepted into the schools. Some continued to perceive them as intruders even into the early 1900s: an RA named George Dunlop Leslie referred to the presence of these pupils as ‘the female invasion’. ‘Thankfully, the demographic of art schools now is completely different – most are more than 50 per cent women,’ says Salter. ‘But it hasn’t worked its way through to teaching yet. When I was a student in the 1970s, I was never taught by a woman. It sounds unbelievable now, but at the time it was quite normal.’
In the first half of the 20th century, changes crept in slowly for the RA. Annie Swynnerton was made an associate member in 1922, and in 1936 Laura Knight became the first female academician since the 1700s. Even as the occasional, exceptionally brilliant woman was admitted, they were still not treated as equals – Knight, whose depictions of Britain at war made her one of the most eminent artists of her day, had been a member for 30 years before receiving her first invitation to the Annual Dinner in the 1960s. It wasn’t until the 1980s that the number of women academicians began to rise steadily, and there has been a determined effort since the millennium to create more balance. In 2011, Tracey Emin and Fiona Rae were elected as the Academy’s first female professors, and Eileen Cooper became the Keeper of its schools. In 2020, Marina Abramovic will be the first woman to have a solo show across the entire space.
This year, the RA is celebrating its 250th anniversary, using the opportunity to reflect upon its history and look towards the future. It has extended the campus, creating more space for students and visitors alike, and is allowing the public into the main galleries for free, to encourage a more open atmosphere. ‘It is a very grand tradition, and it’s becoming much cooler now than it was before,’ says Saville. ‘We have gone through this great cultural renaissance in Britain in the past 20 years, and it feels like a good time to be a creative person, particularly for women. The opportunities are endless.’ www.royalacademy.org.uk