The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1854 was the eighty sixth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery in London from 1 May to 22 July 1854 during the Victorian era. [1]
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The works displayed by William Powell Frith and Daniel Maclise were amongst the most popular on display. Frith's Ramsgate Sands showed a scene of holidaymakers on the beach at Ramsgate in Kent and was so popular a guard rail had to be erected to protect it from damage. Queen Victoria was impressed by the painting when she visited the exhibition and subsequently purchased it. A number of other works on display depicted scenes of contemporary life including The Awakening Conscience by William Holman Hunt, The Governess by Rebecca Solomon and two scenes of railway travel First Class, The Meeting and Second Class, The Parting by her brother Abraham Solomon. [2] [3]
Elsewhere George Jones exhibited the large The Battle of Hyderabad. [4] Clarkson Stanfield's The Last of the Crew portrayed the aftermatch of a shipwreck in a storm. [5] Edwin Landseer displayed Royal Sports on Hill and Loch featuring a scene of Queen Victoria and her consort Prince Albert. Francis Grant submitted several portraits including one of the Irish general Hugh Gough. Of particular note was the artist's Portrait of Hope Grant , a depiction of his own brother Hope Grant.
