The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1878 was the an art exhibition held at Burlington House in Piccadilly. The annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts, it ran from 6 May to 5 August and attracted more than 300,000 spectators. The exhibition was in completion with one run by the new Grosvenor Gallery, with the writer Henry James preferring the latter. [1]
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Major attractions included William Powell Frith's The Road to Ruin, a series of five paintings in homage to William Hogarth [2] and William Frederick Yeames' history painting, When Did You Last See Your Father?. [3] John Everett Millais displayed his own historical scene The Princes in the Tower, but it was his depiction of the celebrated actress Lillie Langtry in his portrait A Jersey Lily that drew huge crowds. [4] Edward Poynter, who would later succeed Millais as President of the Royal Academy, submitted his own portrait featuring Langtry.
Poynter's other painting Zenobia Captive earned enthusiastic praise from critics. [5] The American artist Winslow Homer's The Cotton Pickers was displayed by its owner. [6]
