Royal Academy Exhibition of 1902

The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1902 was the hundred and thirty forth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts which was held at Burlington House in London's Piccadilly from 5 May to 4 August 1902.^[1] It marked the first full exhibition of the Edwardian era, as the previous Exhibition of 1901 had been overshadowed by mourning for Queen Victoria.

A centrepiece of the exhibition was the Coronation Portrait of Edward VII by Luke Fildes which showed the new monarch in his full regalia and had been painted during the winter months. The slightly delayed Coronation of Edward VII and Alexandra took place on 9 August, just after the Exhibition had closed.^[2] Another well-received painting of the king displayed was The Reception of the Moorish Ambassador by Edward VII at St James's Palace by John Seymour Lucas.^[3]

In general, the exhibition was noted for its portraiture, which was seen to return to the dominance it had shown during the eighteenth century and Regency era. In particular John Singer Sargent displayed eight portraits. These included The Acheson Sisters and Lord Ribblesdale. It was the last time works by the animal painter Thomas Sidney Cooper featured. He had displayed paintings at the Royal Academy for seventy consecutive exhibitions since the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1833.^[4]

Alfred Munnings displayed his breakthrough work The Vagabonds, later described as his magnum opus. ^[5] Walter Langley of the Newlyn School of artists displayed A Cornish Idyll.^[6] The veteran of the Victorian era William Powell Frith displayed a genre painting In the Conservatory.^[7]