Summer Exhibition
Royal Academy, until 17 August
The Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, now in its 240th year, is still an event, even if visitors don’t dress up quite as ornately as once they did. For the first time I attended Buyers’ Day. The atmosphere is convivial but competitive, as people jostle to see exhibits and further thicken the crowds round the provenly popular. It’s not always easy to look at art in these conditions, but the acquisitive hum in the air almost compensates for the lack of calm. The more affluent, or relaxed, sip from glasses of champagne or Pimms while pondering their purchases, as the Academy offers its usual cross-section of contemporary art-making, though this steadily becomes more polarised between what people actually buy and the sensationalist exhibits that make newspaper headlines.
This year the show starts on the very highest note with Gallery I given over in tribute to R.B.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in