Royal Academy Exhibition of 1854

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]

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.

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  The Awakening Conscience by William Holman Hunt
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  The Letter Writer of Seville by John Phillip
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  Portrait of Hope Grant by Francis Grant
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  The Governess by Rebecca Solomon
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  First Class - The Meeting by Abraham Solomon
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  Second Class - The Parting by Abraham Solomon
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  Anne Page by William Powell Frith
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  The Bride of Lammermoor by William Powell Frith
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  The Last of the Crew by Clarkson Stanfield
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  View of the Pic du Midi d'Ossau in the Pyrenees by Clarkson Stanfield
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  The Giudecca, Venice by David Roberts
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  The Battle of Hyderabad by George Jones
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  The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife by Daniel Maclise
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  Cinderella by George Cruikshank
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  The Death of Francesco Foscari, Doge of Venice by Frederick Richard Pickersgill
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  Sir Plume Demands the Restoration of the Lock by Charles Robert Leslie
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  The Room in Which Shakespeare Was Born by Henry Wallis
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  Doctor Johnson at Cave's, the Publishers by Henry Wallis
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  Pleasant Dreams by Henry Nelson O'Neil
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  Chastity by William Edward Frost
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  The Pet of the Common by John Callcott Horsley
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  The Last Sleep of Argyll before His Execution by Edward Matthew Ward
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  The Countess of Nithsdale Petitioning George I on Behalf of Her Husband by Robert Hannah
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  The Arrest of Louis XVI and His Family by Thomas Falcon Marshall
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  The Rookery by William James Blacklock
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  An Old English Homestead by Richard Redgrave
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  Porto Del Lido, Venice by Edward William Cooke
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  Zuyder Zee Botter, Returning to Port by Edward William Cooke
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  Dutch Fishing Pincks by Edward William Cooke
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  Portrait of Napoleon III by James Godsell Middleton
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  Portrait of Thomas Berry Horsfall by George Patten
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  Portrait of Barnard Smith by Henry William Pickersgill
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  Portrait of Alexander Stewart by Stephen Pearce
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  Portrait of Lewis Cubitt by William Boxall
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  Portrait of John Frederick Lewis by John Frederick Lewis
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  Portrait of John Inglis by John Watson Gordon
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  Portrait of Samuel Holme by George Patten
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  Portrait of Charles Mackay by Daniel Macnee
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  Portrait of Edward Hodges Baily by Thomas Mogford
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  Portrait of Thomas Babington Macaulay by Francis Grant
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  Portrait of Lord John Russell by Francis Grant

• Royal Academy Exhibition of 1853, the previous year's edition

• Murray, Peter. Daniel Maclise, 1806-1870: Romancing the Past. Crawford Art Gallery, 2009.
• Van der Merwe, Pieter & Took, Roger. The Spectacular career of Clarkson Stanfield. Tyne and Wear County Council Museums, 1979.