Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: 'wonderfully diverse' art
This annual show sticks to 'a familiar template' in the hopes of enticing both new and returning visitors

The Royal Academy's annual Summer Exhibition is an event of "maddening incoherence", but it usually also has its charms, said Alastair Sooke in The Daily Telegraph. This latest iteration, its 256th, has been overseen by the sculptor Ann Christopher, and sticks closely to the familiar template: as ever, submissions from the public are mixed in cheek-by- jowl with works by members of the Academy, each of whom has the right to exhibit up to six pieces; its 1,710 works include paintings, sculptures, photographs – all for sale – and a room devoted to architecture.
'Wan landscapes' and 'puffy clouds'
Yet where some recent Summer Exhibitions have at least suggested a degree of quality control on the part of their curators, I'm sad to report that this one is "a heap of tedious, shambling parochialism and humdrum bilge". While there are some spirited submissions from amateur artists, even normally dependable professional artists seem to be operating on autopilot: Grayson Perry, for instance, seems to "cringe at being involved", while the usually excellent Hurvin Anderson offers just two "tiny, half- baked monochrome studies".
It is "a miserable garden party of vapid good taste", said Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. There are enough "wan landscapes" here "to fill an actual field", most with the same "puffy clouds" and "neat gardens". Depictions of "pampered dogs and cats" are everywhere.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'Wonderfully diverse'
Yet amid the volumes of "dross", a "few decent works crop up as if by accident". Georg Baselitz, Rose Wylie, Sean Scully and Frank Bowling all provide "typically strong entries". Most striking is Anselm Kiefer's "colossal woodcut of sunflowers with black centres", a series of "nightmare blooms" that "penetrate your imagination like ghosts on a battlefield sprouting from dead soldiers' bones".
The real highlight is the architecture gallery, said Oliver Wainwright in the same paper. The usual collection of "little model buildings" and drawings has been transformed by the Turner Prize-winning Assemble collective. They have put together "a wonderfully diverse" room celebrating the specialists that "realise architects' visions" – taking in everything from beautiful mosaic panels to an "immaculate scale model of a wooden staircase".
Royal Academy, London W1. Until 18 August
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Today's political cartoons - March 30, 2025
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - strawberry fields forever, secret files, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 hilariously sparse cartoons about further DOGE cuts
Cartoons Artists take on free audits, report cards, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Following the Tea Horse Road in China
The Week Recommends This network of roads and trails served as vital trading routes
By The Week UK Published
-
Roast lamb shoulder with ginger and fresh turmeric recipe
The Week Recommends Succulent and tender and falls off the bone with ease
By The Week UK Published
-
Adolescence and the toxic online world: what's the solution?
Talking Point The hit Netflix show is a window into the manosphere, red pills and incels
By The Week Staff Published
-
Snow White: Disney's 'earnest effort to meet an impossible brief'
Talking Point Live-action remake of Disney classic is not the disaster it could have been – but where's the personality?
By The Week UK Published
-
Don McCullin picks his favourite books
The Week Recommends The photojournalist shares works by Daniel Defoe, Lesley Blanch and Roland Philipps
By The Week UK Published
-
6 breathtaking homes in capital cities
Feature Featuring a glass conservatory in Atlanta and a loft library in Boston
By The Week US Published
-
Playhouse Creatures: 'dream-like' play is 'lively, funny and sharp-witted'
Anna Chancellor offers a 'glinting performance' alongside a 'strong' supporting cast
By The Week UK Published
-
The CIA Book Club: 'entertaining and vivid' book explores a huge Cold War secret
The Week Recommends 'Gripping' narrative explores a covert smuggling operation across the Iron Curtain
By The Week UK Published