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<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" color="white"><font color="#FFFFFF"><font color="#000000">The
Scottish Academy was founded in 1826 at a meeting of 11 artists in Edinburgh.
Its aims were :</font></font></font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">1. To have an Annual Exhibition open to all artists of
merit</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">2. To open an Academy of Fine Arts to instruct students
free of expense</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">3. To open a Library devoted to the Fine Arts</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">4. To provide charitable funds for the benefit of less
fortunate artists </font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">5. To admit Honorary Members eminent by their talents.<br>
</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">The membership included Academicians (RSA), Associates
(ARSA) and Honorary Members (HRSA). The first President was George Watson RSA
(1767-1837).</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">The first Annual Exhibition was held in 1827, and as
the Academy developed in stature its membership increased in the disciplines
of painting, sculpture and architecture. By 1830 the Academy had begun to acquire
books and prints for its library and in 1840 opened its Life School which aimed
to improve the training of artists in Scotland. The Academy was granted a royal
charter in 1838 and from thenceforth has been known as the Royal Scottish Academy.
(rsa)</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">In 1850 Prince Albert laid the foundation stone of a
new building on The Mound in Edinburgh, which was to house the newly formed
National Gallery of Scotland and the Royal Scottish Academy. The RSA first held
its Annual Exhibition in its new galleries on the eastern side of the building
in 1855 and these continued here until 1910. The RSA also had its Council room,
Library and Life School in this building.</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">During the late 19th Century it became clear that art
exhibition and art education provision in Edinburgh had become overtly complex
and muddled. A Government Report of 1903 was followed by a Parliamentary Order
of 1910 which transferred the Academy to new premises in an adjacent building,
previously called the Royal Institution. (In return for being given a new home
the Academy gifted 96 paintings and sculptures and about 2,000 drawings to the
National Gallery of Scotland.) Renamed the Royal Scottish Academy this building
has been the venue for the Academy's Annual Exhibitions since 1911. Art teaching
was transferred to the newly established Edinburgh College of Art, and from
this period onwards the Academy became less active in this role. Instead the
RSA now assists young artists through scholarships and awards, and every year
it mounts a very popular Annual Students' Exhibition.</font></p>
<p><font color="#000000">In 1948 the Academy began to mount a series of special
exhibitions for the Edinburgh International Festival. During the 1950's and
1960's memorable exhibitions included Degas (1952), Braque (1956) and Rouault
(1965). In recent years the Academy has widened its membership to include printmakers,
has its own shop, trading under RSA Enterprises, and the Friends of the Royal
Scottish Academy offer much support to its activities. </font>
<p>
<p><font color="#000000"><span class="main">The Royal Scottish Academy library
contains an eclectic mix of books and catalogues on the fine arts and architecture.
Its particular strength is in Scottish material of the 19th and 20th centuries,
and it contains a complete set of RSA Annual Reports and Annual Exhibition catalogues.
<br>
<br>
The Royal Scottish Academy archive contains documents pertaining to the RSA
as an organisation such as the Minute Books of Council and Assemblies, the Registers
of the RSA Life School and photographs of many of its members. The archive also
includes an extensive letter collection, dating from 1826 onwards. In addition
the archive holds documents relating to other Edinburgh based art organisations,
such as the Academy of St. Luke and the Society of Artists, and also an extensive
collection of letters, documents, photographs and memorabilia relating to the
painter, William Gillies.<br>
<br>
The Royal Scottish Academy does not provide a valuation service. <br>
<br>
The Royal Scottish Academy library, archive and art collections may be consulted
by researchers on weekdays, 10.00 - 13.00 and 14.00 - 16.30. Space is extremely
limited and it is essential to make an appointment in advance by writing to
the RSA, The Dean Gallery, 73 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3DS.</span> </font>
<p>
<p><font color="#000000" class="main">The Academy administers a number of gifts
and bequests, which it has received over the years from both benefactors and
members. Many of these are for the benefit only of members of the Academy. Others
are for students or people exhibiting in Academy exhibitions. <br>
<br>
The Exhibition Fund was established in 1911 by Sir James Guthrie PRSA for procuring
meritorious and representative works of art from the Annual Exhibition. <br>
<br>
The Maud Gemmell Hutchison Bequest created in 1991, set aside monies to be used
by the Academy for a prize for the best colour drawing of animals, as a memorial
to her late brother, George Jackson Hutchison. <br>
<br>
The Meyer Oppenheim Prize Fund was established in 1972. From 1983 onwards an
annual grant is received from the Meyer Oppenheim Trust to provide a prize for
a work in any medium by an artist not having attained his or her 35th birthday
on Receiving Day for the Annual Exhibition. <br>
<br>
The Miss M O Taylor's Trust Fund was established in 1924 by the Will of Miss
M O Taylor. With the residue of her estate, she wished a Fund to be established
for the relief of impoverished authors, actors, actresses, artists and musicians
who have achieved some measure of success in their field and are of sufficient
standing to deserve the title. Application forms from the Secretary. <br>
<br>
The Thorburn Ross Memorial Fund was established in 1914 by gift from Miss Jessie
Smith Ross, in memory of her father Robert Thorburn Ross and her brother Joseph
Thorburn Ross ARSA. The income is to be applied for purchase, by special committee
of the Academy, of paintings exhibited in the Annual Exhibition or of portraits
of the President or public or eminent persons for which the committee will have
power to order commissions. <br>
<br>
The John Kinross Fund was established in January 1954 in the form of a Trust
to be known as The Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Bequest. In 1981, Mr
Kinross's son proposed an extension to the scope of use of the Fund. As a result,
during the summer of 1981, selected students were sent to Florence to study.
Since then, part of the income has been utilised to provide students in their
final or post-graduate years at the four Scottish Colleges of Art with the opportunity
to study for several months in Florence. Application Forms are available only
from Heads of Departments in the Colleges in February each year. </font>
<p>
<p><font color="#000000"><span class="main"><font class="main">The Royal Scottish
Academy started to acquire its collection in 1831 when it decreed that all members,
on reaching the status of Academician, must deposit a Diploma Work. This should
be a piece of work representative of their output in the discipline of painting,
sculpture or architecture. Today the Diploma Collection contains 164 paintings,
27 sculpture and 38 architectural drawings or models by Academicians past and
present. The 30 images of Diploma Works reproduced here form a broad cross section
of the whole Diploma Collection, covering all the disciplines and spanning the
decades from the 1820s to the present day. <br>
<br>
Other facets of the RSA's art collections include : recent works by recipients
of RSA scholarships (e.g. John Kinross Scholarship, Alastair Salvesen Trust);
portraits of artists; copies of Old Masters; twentieth century material bought
through specific funds; and mixed collections received through gifts and bequests.
The largest single bequest was that of William Gillies. Received in 1973, it
contains over a thousand paintings and drawings by this artist and many others
by his friends and contemporaries</font></span> </font>
<p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" color="white"> </font><a href="history_page.html">Introduction</a><br>
<a href="hist_funds_page.html">Funds</a><br>
<a href="hist_library_page.html">Library</a><br>
<a href="hist_archives_page.html" >Archives</a><br>
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