Video Icon
VIDEO

Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy

Congratulations are due to Michael Craig-Martin and the members of his hanging committee. The Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition has never looked so impressive, at least not in my memory. And while this may not mean a lot — although the show has been staged annually since 1769, all too often a mess has been made of it — it is no mean feat for the Royal Academy to create what feels like a visually coherent and culturally informative exhibition.

The largest and most famous open submission exhibition in the world is a notoriously intractable event. Yet the hanging committee has managed to accommodate the 1,200 pieces submitted by Royal Academicians and members of the public with a combination of respect for tradition and an admiration