LONDON, ENGLAND.- The John Madejski Fine Rooms at the Royal Academy of Arts have been unveiled after a £6m restoration. Little-known art works will be shown at this suite of rooms. The rooms have been hidden for more than two centuries. The Fine Rooms will display works by Hockney, Constable and Gainsborough. The restoration at Burlington House has taken four years. The restoration was funded in half by John Madejski.  

He stated, “The rooms are architecturally magnificent and it gives me enormous pleasure that the public will soon have the opportunity to enjoy these extraordinary treasures."   

The collection focuses on British art and artists and predominantly ranges from the 18th century to the present day. Highlights in the collection of paintings and sculpture include major works by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Turner, Constable, Alma-Tadema, Flaxman, Millais, Leighton, Waterhouse, Sargent, Spencer and Hockney. 

The Collection includes paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, historic books, archives, historic photographs and plaster casts. 

Inspiration: Cataloguing the Royal Academy’s Collection - This is a project to conserve, photograph and catalogue works of art, books and archives from the Collection and make the information available on this Website through a fully searchable database with accompanying images. To see the preliminary version of this click on Search the Collection, above. 

Learning packages will also be developed around the collection to give insight into subjects such as our history as the oldest fine arts institution in England, the education of artists, and other themes that will explore individual works of art, such as John Constable’s Leaping Horse. 

History of the Collection - The Collection began with the foundation of the Royal Academy in 1768 and the works of art were often given by the artists themselves. They were intended to show the talents of the British School and provide inspiration for new generations of British artists. It now contains about 850 paintings, 350 sculptures, 500 plaster casts, 15,000 prints and drawings and 2,000 historic photographs. For further information on the collection of archives or historic books see Research Library & Archive.