TheRoyal Academy Exhibition of 1772 was anart exhibition held inLondon from 24 April to 21 May 1772. It was the fourth annualSummer Exhibition of theRoyal Academy of Arts.[1]
As with every Academy show before the1780, when it moved toSomerset House, the exhibition was held atChristopher Cock's auction rooms inPall Mall. A major attraction of the exhibition wasJohann Zoffany'sThe Academicians of the Royal Academy depicting much of the membership of the Academy. It attracted crowds in a similar manner asThe Death of General Wolfe had at the previous year's exhibition.[2]
Amongst the severalportraits displayed by thePresident of the Royal AcademyJoshua Reynolds was the Scottish academicWilliam Robertson. TheBath-basedThomas Gainsborough's submissions featured four portraits.[3] Three includedThe Linley Sisters andPortrait of Sir William Pulteney, notable figures in the city's life.
Inhistory paintingBenjamin West displayed hisPenn's Treaty with the Indians while the Irish artistJames Barry exhibited three works includingVenus Rising from the Sea andThe Education of Achilles.
The Academy extended an invitation to leading French painters and sculptors to take part in the 1772 exhibition and a around a dozen featured work. NotablyPhilip James de Loutherbourg settled and London where he became known for hisromanticlandscapes.[4]
The rivalSociety of Artists of Great Britain from which the Royal Academy has split in 1768, staged theirown larger Exhibition between 13 May and 20 June 1772 at newly-built headquarters in theStrand.[5]
_-_Reverend_William_Robertson_(1721%25E2%2580%25931793)%2c_Historian_and_Principal_of_Edinburgh_University_-_PG_1393_-_National_Galleries_of_Scotland.jpg)
_-_Agrippina_Landing_at_Brindisium_with_the_Ashes_of_Germanicus_-_T03365_-_Tate.jpg)
