Summer showers couldn’t stop London’s artists, actors-of-the-moment, aristocrats, and it-girls stepping out for the jewel in London’s opening summer social calendar: the Royal Academy summer exhibition preview party. Held every year without interruption since 1769, the 258th occasion brought together a host of famous figures and art aficionados to peruse works for sale (with funds going to the Royal Academy and the RA Schools) and party.
In front of the grand Palladian-style mansion on the palazzo and a colorful installation by Ugo Rondinone, guests walked the step and repeat in between some very British weather moments and made their way inside the light-filled atrium. This year’s event was co-chaired by musician Anoushka Shankar, Lurker (and soon to be Oresteia-starring) actor Archie Madekwe, Frieze’s Director of EMEA Eva Langret, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry, and British Fashion Council CEO Laura Weir, who were there to greet eager early arrivals.
Inside, Fortnum & Mason champagne and summery cocktails by Drinksfusion flowed, and in each gallery, a varied and abundant selection of canapés on trays inspired by Sol LeWitt’s intricate geometric works care of Bubble Food. Glass cloches housed chicken parfait-cast apples, while hulking, shucked Maldon oysters were served on arpeggiating boards. Servers weaved through the crowd wielding mini mushroom-topped pizzas, wagyu bites, and summery feta-spiked watermelon salads. Up the spiralling stairs, VIPs enjoyed the House of Creed lounge, and drank cocktails inspired by the fragrance house’s best scents. Later, there was rose ice cream and bergamot sorbet.
Art-lovers walked the galleries with their noses in programs or chins skyward looking at the works on display: works by established artists like Tracey Emin sat among the emerging next-gen.
The theme of the 2026 Royal Academy Summer exhibition is ‘Interconnectedness,’ as chosen and curated by the internationally acclaimed artist and Royal Academician, Professor Ryan Gander OBE. Speaking with Vogue, Gander said that the theme aims to “explore ideas of entanglement, as well as the unexpected and fortuitous connections and associations between disparate things, no matter how abstract or illogical.”
“These connections are proof that, as humans, our creations often hold more commonality than separation.” Curating the world’s largest open-submission contemporary art show and defining its distinctive character, Gander and the committee welcomed all mediums and media: architecture, print, painting, sculpture, video art, and more. “I hope this reminds us that historically great artwork can be cognitive first and retinal second,” Gander added. A subtle, glossy white horizontal line runs through the RA galleries, a device Gander employed to break spectating passively: in some rooms, works hang above it, below it, or deliberately across it. As an advocate for art education, Gander was particularly keen to encourage degree students and recent graduates to submit their work for exhibition—over 30 current RA students’s works were on show.
It was, of course, a fashion crowd too. Putting the “art” into party dressing included Lily Allen, who wore a feather-necked 16Arlington gown and designer Marco Capaldo on her arm. Honor Swinton-Byrne also walked the step and repeat with designer Talia Byre, both dressed in her work. Actor Anna Schaffer opted for a diaphanous, floral-bustiered Simone Rocha dress, while actor and poet Greta Bellamacina got gothic in a tulle Pauline Dujancourt look. Jenna Coleman charmed in a delicate floral-print Lanvin dress, and presenter and critic Grace Dent posed next to a languid feline sculpture in a powder blue, puff-sleeved Rebecca Vallance midi. Co-chair Grayson Perry embraced all prints and patterns, and a pair of acid yellow platform boots. Emma Thynn, Marchioness of Bath and recent break-out star of Ladies of London, opted for a sheer-skirted Simkhai dress, while SNL UK castmember Ania Magliano suited-and-sneakered up.
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