History of the RWA

In 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome and Walter Crane lunettes, was completed and in 1915 King George V granted the Academy its Royal title, with the reigning monarch as its Patron.

Two of the early Presidents were Lord Winterstoke and Lady Stancombe-Wills; both were members of the Wills family and both contributed generously with time and money to the Academy. Lord Methuen of Corsham in Wiltshire was President of the RWA from 1940 to 1967 and he encouraged the Academy to ensure that all future Presidents were artists. He had a large retrospective exhibition filling all the galleries in 1970.

In 1941 Augusta Talboys, an artist member, left a sum of money to the Academy so that the interest from it may be used to purchase works of art by artist members. These works now exceed a thousand in number and form the substantial part of the Permanent Collection of the RWA.

The main Gallery before alterations circa 1950-51

Annual Exhibitions have been held at the Academy since its beginnings in the 1850's, with the only gap being during the Second World War. After the World War II the building was found to be in a rather poor condition and great efforts were made to restore the the fabric of the building and improve the galleries.

Throughout its history the Royal West of England Academy has shown numerous exhibitions of note, including, in 1930, a French Modern Art Exhibition that showed among others the work of Auguste Rodin, Paul Gauguin, Pierre Bonnard and Raoul Dufy.

During World War II the Academy became the temporary home of various organisations including the Bristol Aeroplane Company and the U.S. Army. Immediately after the war ended the Council applied for the release of the galleries but was informed that they would be occupied by the Inland Revenue until further notice. It wasn't until 1950 that the building was returned to its original function after the intervention of the then Prime Minister, Mr Atlee.

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During the past 60 years a variety of exhibitions have been held at the Academy, these have included The Architecture and Drawings of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Paintings by Anne Redpath and Pablo Picasso Etchings. In recent years the number and quality of exhibitions has increased and includes an annual open Autumn Exhibition and open exhibitions of printmaking, sculpture and painting held in rotation, every three years.

In 1999, the Patron of the RWA, Her Majesty The Queen visited the Academy, toured the galleries and met a number of its members and supporters.