LONDON.- This autumn the Royal Academy of Arts will host RA Now, a unique exhibition and auction showcasing the works of living Royal Academicians and a number of international Honorary Royal Academicians who have donated significant works to the show. An exciting opportunity to view the rich diversity of the work of the current membership, RA Now will encompass all media and artistic disciplines, providing a snapshot of the Royal Academy today. Coordinated by Allen Jones RA, the exhibition will be held in the galleries at 6 Burlington Gardens. Many of the works will be auctioned in early October by Lord Poltimore of Sotheby’s. RA Now is the first time in which the Royal Academicians have exhibited exclusively together.

There are eighty Royal Academicians, all of them eminent practising artists and architects. The membership also includes Senior Royal Academicians (those over the age of seventy-five) and Honorary Royal Academicians, who are all elected by the Royal Academy’s General Assembly. RA Now will include work by Antony Gormley, David Hockney, Allen Jones, Tracey Emin, Richard Long, Jenny Saville, Christopher Le Brun, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers. International Honorary Royal Academicians showing work will include Frank Gehry, Ed Ruscha, Mimmo Paladino and Anselm Kiefer. HRH Princess Alexandra, the exhibition’s Royal Patron, will also host a celebratory event at St James’ Palace.

Christopher Le Brun, President of the Royal Academy, said, “This is a unique opportunity to view and buy significant works donated by renowned artists. The money raised from the auction and sale of these works will go towards the Burlington Project, the Royal Academy’s most important development since its move to Burlington House in 1868. The Burlington Project’s aim is to make the Academy the leading international centre for visual culture for the twenty-first century, offering an independent voice for art and artists. The participation of the Royal Academicians in RA Now shows the depth of their support for this project.”