The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: exit through the Gift Shop

The Royal Academy has held its Summer Exhibition every year since 1769, and to mark the 251st year of the tradition, the RA shops have introduced new pieces and expanded popular collections.

The long, rich history of the Summer Exhibition is celebrated this year with seven new additions to its vintage poster collection – joining the 50 currently available – and range from the elegant typography of the 1960s, to 2004 and a design by David Hockney.

The posters share a summer sorbet colour palette and embody the variety and energy of the exhibition over the years.

To make it easier to enjoy your prints, postcards, or posters at home, the RA Shop has introduced a new range of frames and hanging accessories, including pared-back birch plywood frames, ideal for setting off colourful artworks, and simple, fun photo clips and mobiles, making it simple to create your own gallery wall.

Other additions to the RA Shop this summer are designed to bring art outdoors and into the sunshine inspired by the travels of Royal Academicians. Brightly-painted ceramic fish bring a flavour of the Mediterranean coast to an al fresco table, while bamboo tableware is both stylish and functional for picnics.

Indigo-ink-spattered beach balls, sculptural kites and Pop Art water bottles provide artistic inspiration throughout the summer.

As the summer continues, the RA Shop will launch further collections to coincide with new exhibitions. For Félix Vallotton: Painter of Disquiet (30 June – 29 September), the theme of travel continues; find characterful carafes and tumblers made in France to honour the time the artist spent in the sun-washed landscape of Provence. Alternatively, a monochromatic collection of textiles, accessories and jewellery take inspiration from Vallotton’s bold black woodcuts.

The RA Shop’s Human Figure collection, which launched in the spring, takes inspiration from the human form in all its aspects, and offers everything from materials for life drawing to books on the nude and figurative accessories.

Ahead of the summer’s new exhibition on Helene Schjerfbeck (20 July - 27 October), which centres on a series of her modernist self portraits, the range has expanded to include smaller scale ornaments featuring faces along with plaster cast busts.

Introduce these beautiful book ends to your book shelves for a contemporary take on classicism.

Find opening times and further information at royalacademy.org.uk