This year, the Royal Academy celebrates its 250th anniversary.  To become a Royal Academician is a huge honour – joining an exclusive membership that includes some of the finest artists in painting, sculpture, printmaking and architecture. There are only ever 80 serving Royal Academicians, all practising artists and each elected by their peers.

The Royal Academy Summer exhibition has a lasting legacy in Dundee, laying the foundations for the City’s nationally recognised permanent art collection. Look for the RA logo throughout The McManus during your visit, identifying works by Royal Academicians past and present. Highlights include stained glass windows designed by Edward Burne-Jones, paintings by Sir Henry Raeburn, John Lavery and Sir Frank Brangwyn and site specific sculpture and an early matchstick head by David Mach.

John Lavery, The First Wounded in London Hospital, August, 1914, oil, 1915© Dundee City Council (Dundee Art Galleries and Museums)

Frank Brangwyn, Venice: Santa Maria, Through Rigging, oil © David Brangwyn