Royal Academy Exhibition of 1869

The Billiard Room by Henry Nelson O'Neil

The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1869 was the hundred and first annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It took place between at Burlington House in London between 3 May and 31 July 1869 during the Victorian era and was considered a success, attracting more than three hundred thousand visitors.

This was the first year the exhibition was held at Burlington House in Piccadilly, following the move from the academy's former home at the National Gallery if was also celebrated as the centenary of the inaugural Royal Academy Exhibition of 1769. It was opened by Queen Victoria as was traditional. The new rooms designed by architect Sydney Smirke were widely praised.

Amongst the works on display were several from artists associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including John Everett Millais. His portrait of Nina, the daughter of Frederick Lehmann, attracted wide praise. Francis Grant, who had been elected President of the Royal Academy three years earlier, submitted portraits of High Society figures. Edwin Landseer, a specialist in animal paintings, sent in several works including The Swannery Invaded by Sea Eagles produced towards the end of his career.

The French artist Rosa Bonheur featured two paintings of sheep in Scotland and the Pyrenees respectively while Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot submitted a landscape. Daniel Maclise displayed King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid, his penultimate work sent in to the academy.

Gallery

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  Nell Gwynn by William Powell Frith
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  Vanessa by John Everett Millais
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  The Birthday by William Holman Hunt
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  The Swannery Invaded by Sea Eagles by Edwin Landseer
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  King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid by Daniel Maclise
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  An Unwelcome Visitor by Richard Ansdell
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  Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon by Frederic Leighton
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  Saint Jerome by Frederic Leighton
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  Icarus and Daedalus by Frederic Leighton
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  Helios and Rhodes by Frederic Leighton
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  Caught by the Tide by James Clarke Hook
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  Home Dreams by Charles West Cope
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  Garibaldi's Residence at Caprera by Frederick Richard Lee
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  Morning in the Meadows by Frederick Richard Lee
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  The Disgrace of Cardinal Wolsey by John Pettie
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  The Fugitive Jacobite by William Frederick Yeames
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  Luther's First Study of the Bible by Edward Matthew Ward
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  The Sufferers Besieged at Lucknow by George Jones
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  Cawnpore, Passage of the Ganges by George Jones
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  The Last of the Spanish Armada by Charles Edward Johnson
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  Caliban by Joseph Noel Paton
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  A Pyrrhic Dance by Lawrence Alma-Tadema
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  Coming Out of the Mist by Richard Ansdell
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  A Venus by Albert Joseph Moore
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  Flora Macdonald by Alexander Johnston
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  London from Greenwich Hill by Henry Dawson
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  Milking Time in the Meadows by Thomas Sidney Cooper
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  French Sloop Entering the Harbour of Tréport by Edward William Cooke
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  The Moss-Trooper by Thomas Jones Barker
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  A Sheepfold by Alexander Fraser
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  The Doubtful Coin by John Frederick Lewis
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  The Hay Field by Thomas Armstrong
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  Fire at the Theatre by Laslett John Pott
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  The Prodigal Son by Paul Falconer Poole
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  The Prodigal's Return by Edward Poynter
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  Liszt by George Peter Alexander Healy
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  Portrait of Nina Lehmann by John Everett Millais
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  A Man in Armour by William Powell Frith
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  Earl of Harrington by Francis Grant
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  Sir William Jackson by Daniel Macnee
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  Moses Montefiore by Solomon Hart
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  William Gladstone by Charles Lucy
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  Thomas Worsley by George Richmond

Bibliography

• Bledsoe, Robert Terrell. Dickens, Journalism, Music: 'Household Words' and 'All The Year Round'. A&C Black, 2012.
• Murray, Peter. Daniel Maclise, 1806–1870: Romancing the Past. Crawford Art Gallery, 2009.
• Ormond, Richard. Sir Edwin Landseer. Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981.