The story of how a widow's legacy led to the setting up, in 1844, of what became the RWA and of its subsequent turbulent history. The historical narrative is illuminated by essays by Sheena Stoddard on the Sharples family of artists and Tim Mowl on the 'battle of the styles' over whether, in the 1850s, the Academy should be built in Bristol's prevailing neo-classical or in a more adventurous Italianate style. The remarkable patronage of the Wills tobacco family is covered by Helen Reid in some detail, and John Hudson ...
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The story of how a widow's legacy led to the setting up, in 1844, of what became the RWA and of its subsequent turbulent history. The historical narrative is illuminated by essays by Sheena Stoddard on the Sharples family of artists and Tim Mowl on the 'battle of the styles' over whether, in the 1850s, the Academy should be built in Bristol's prevailing neo-classical or in a more adventurous Italianate style. The remarkable patronage of the Wills tobacco family is covered by Helen Reid in some detail, and John Hudson examines the role played by Lord Methuen in guiding the Academy's post-Second World War revival and in establishing for the Academy a nationally important collection of British art in the second half of the twentieth century. The book concludes with the Academy's re-opening after major building works, poised at last to fulfil its potential as a major out-of-London centre of artistic excellence.
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