Salon of Art Exhibitions

Salon, official exhibition of art sponsored by the French government. It originated in 1667 when Louis XIV sponsored an exhibit of the works of the members of the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture.

RA Summer Show

Running continuously for 250 years, the Summer Exhibition is the world’s oldest open submission exhibition – which means that anyone can enter their work to be considered for inclusion. The works in the Summer Exhibition are selected and hung by Royal Academicians – who also exhibit works in the exhibition, creating an eclectic mix of work by established artists alongside emerging talent and first-time exhibitors. In previous years, nearly two thirds of the exhibits were by non-Academicians, £50,000 worth of prices was awarded and over 5,000 works were sold.

The expeditions included lots of frames because there were so many people who wanted to show their work off and this was the best way to fill the walls with art works.