- Royal West of England Academy
Infobox Museum
name = Royal West of England Academy
established =1844
location =Clifton, Bristol ,England
map_type =Bristol
latitude =51.45775
longitude =-2.60840
visitors =
director = Dee Smart
website = [http://www.rwa.org.uk/ Royal West of England Academy] The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is an art gallery where Queens Road meets Whiteladies Road, inBristol, England .History
The academy was the first art gallery in Bristol. It was financed by a donation of £2000 in the 1849 will of
Ellen Sharples and a group of artists in Bristol, known as the Bristol Society of Artists, these were mostly landscape painters and many were well known such asWilliam James Müller ,Francis Danby ,J.B. Pyne andJohn Syer . In 1844, when the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts was founded, the Bristol Society of Artists was incorporated into it. At this time the President and committee was predominantly its patrons, rather than its artists. In 1913 King George V granted the Academy its Royal title, with the reigning monarch as its Patron, and by 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome andWalter Crane lunettes, was completed. DuringWorld War II the Academy became the temporary home of various organisations including theBristol Aeroplane Company and theU.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 theInland 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,Clement Atlee . [cite web | title=History of the RWA | work=Royal West of England Academy | url=http://www.rwa.org.uk/histfrm.htm | accessdate=2006-08-26]Collections
Among the paintings in the permanent collection are works by artists from the Newlyn, St Ives and
Bloomsbury Schools. Paintings byGeorge Swaish ,Matthew Hale ,Anne Redpath ,Mary Fedden ,Carel Weight ,Bernard Dunstan andElizabeth Blackadder are also valued additions to the collection.Building
The building is a grade II*
listed building constructed in 1857. The interiors are byCharles Underwood and facade byJR Hirst , altered in 1912 bySS Reay andH Dare Bryan . The first floor is in 3 sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues ofFlaxman and Reynolds. A large carving of 3 female figures crowns the parapet. The interior includes colouredmarble . [cite web | title=Royal West of England Academy | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=380286 | accessdate=2006-05-09]References
ee also
*
Barrington Tabb
*Ellen Sharples
*Francis Danby
*Janet Stancomb-Wills
*John Scandrett Harford
*Mary Fedden
*Walter Crane
*William James Muller
*William Henry Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke External link
[http://www.rwa.org.uk/ RWA's website]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.