The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1855 was the eighty seventh annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery in London between 7 May and 28 July 1855. Showcasing submissions from artists and architects of the Victorian era, it took place amidst the ongoing Crimean War. Critics generally considered the year's submissions to be an overall disappointment, including the absence of several established painters. Works that did attract praise included Cimabue's Celebrated Madonna by Frederic Leighton and The Rescue by John Everett Millais. [1] Augustus Egg's The Life and Death of Buckingham also attracted notice, featuring two paintings based on the Restoraton rake and politician the Duke of Buckingham. [2]
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Amongst other works on display were Frederick Richard Pickersgill's Britomart Unarming. [3] George Jones exhibited depictions of the recent Battle of the Alma and Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean conflict. Francis Grant displayed his usual series of portraits including John Gibson Lockhart. His Portrait of Edwin Landseer depicted his fellow artist Edwin Landseer. [4] William Powell Frith and other members of The Clique submitted a series of works with John Phillip's Spanish-set El Paseo commissioned by Queen Victoria. [5]
The landscape and maritime painting tradition was carried on by figures such as Thomas Creswick, Edward William Cooke and William Havell. Clarkson Stanfield displayed The Siege of San Sebastian. [6]
