Royal Academy Champions The Work Of Young Artists

‘It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child’. Pablo Picasso

Three children aged nine and ten have had their work accepted into this year’s main Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, which opens today in Piccadilly. This is the first time in its 244 year history that school age children have been included in the annual exhibition and primary school children at that. The three works in question were selected from over 11,000 submissions. It is an entirely open show and the judging process is completely anonymous. The judging committee chaired by the Academy’s president Christopher Le Brun included Chris Wilkinson, Humphrey Ocean, Barbara Rae and Tess Jaray. There are 1,474 pieces in the exhibition including works by Michael Craig-Martin, Martin Creed, Tracey Emin, Anselm Kiefer, Julian Opie, Mimmo Paladino and Sean Scully.

The youngest artist in the exhibition is nine year old Maximilian Ghose whose oil on linen work entitled ‘Atlantis’ was submitted alongside a piece by his artist mother. Her piece was rejected and Max’s was accepted. He painted it on a day that he wasn’t feeling well enough to go to school. Ten year old Poppy Sendell’s acrylic piece entitled ‘Rainbow Tree’ was made during a school arts club and ten year old Felix Chadwick-Histed oil and acrylic work is entitled ‘Trees’.

The Royal Academy is also championing older students work in its 6th A-Level Summer Exhibition available to view online. This year’s virtual display is entitled Inter-Imaginational Communication Technology and includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, prints and photography. The online exhibition attracted over 1,450 submissions from 400 secondary schools and colleges across the UK. Only those currently studying A-Levels, IB or Higher were eligible to apply. Out of these 45 have been selected by judges Grayson Perry RA, Andrea Tarsia (Head of Exhibitiion Organisation at the RA) and Pio Abad (RA Schools Student). The works have been divided into three virtual galleries titled Myself and the Rabbits, Invisible Wall of Nothing and The Back End of a Castle. A further 77 works have been commended in a short list.

Grayson Perry RA said: ‘I was surprised by the sophistication and diversity of techniques and approaches in the A-Level art but the classic themes of teenage angst remain thankfully little changed’.

The exhibition can be viewed Here

Visit The RA Summer Exhibition Here

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