![James Good Tunny, Interior of the Great [Octagon] Room in the shared National Gallery, RSA Annual Exhibition 1860, RSA Collections](https://artlogic-res.cloudinary.com/w_800,h_800,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/ws-royalscottishacademy/usr/images/exhibitions/group_images_override/313/james-good-tunny-interior-of-the-great-octagon-room-in-the-shared-national-gallery-rsa-annual-exhibition-1860-rsa-collections.jpg)
RSA Upper and Lower Galleries
Free entry | Accessibility
Open Mon to Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 12-5pm
A yearly barometer of Scottish art, our Annual Exhibition has been at the heart of the Academy’s activity since its founding in 1826. For 200 years, the exhibition has captured art and architecture at a moment in time, reflecting the world as it has changed with the Industrial Revolution, two world wars, the invention of the telephone and the birth of the internet.
The 200th edition of the Annual Exhibition will be a melting pot of contemporary art from across Scotland and further afield, with all artworks shown side by side in the Academy’s grand Neoclassical galleries in the heart of Edinburgh. Including the RSA Open Exhibitions Art and Architecture, the show will allow visitors to explore a vast array of creative practice under one roof. With hundreds of artworks available to purchase, many at affordable prices, the RSA Annual Exhibition is a brilliant opportunity for visitors to grow their art collections.
This year’s Exhibition Convenor is artist Annie Cattrell RSA, assisted by Architecture Convenor Fergus Purdie RSA. This significant year for the RSA also marks the tricentenary of the birth of James Hutton (1726–1797), the ‘father of modern geology’. Reflecting on our philosophical and physical foundations (with the building constructed on ancient volcanic rock), Cattrell’s curation will explore the RSA’s rich and layered development over time. She has invited artists interested in ideas of geology and the passage of time, including Martin Creed, James Geurts, Cathie Pilkington and Stephen Skrynka, to take part in the exhibition. Architecture Convenor Fergus Purdie RSA will reflect on the themes of identity and beginnings by inviting his fellow Academicians to design an imagined, alternative building for the RSA in Glasgow.
We would like to extend a very special thank you to LGT Wealth Management for sponsoring the 200th RSA Annual Exhibition and exhibition catalogue, and to Culture & Business Scotland for also sponsoring the exhibition catalogue.
