Art News ·
Art News: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2027, dates, how to enter and how to buy
By Whitebank Fine Art
The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2027 runs from 18 May to 15 August 2027 in the Main Galleries at Burlington House, Piccadilly. Entry for artists opens on 5 January 2027 at £40 a work, and the deadline to submit is 23:59 GMT on 21 January, a shorter window than usual. The co-ordinator is Helen Sear RA, and the theme is Fascination. Much of the work on show will be for sale, from prints and photographs to paintings and sculpture.
Whitebank Fine Art, a London art advisory and gallery, checked the Royal Academy's own pages for this guide on 10 November 2026.
Summer Exhibition 2027 at a glance
| Detail | Summer Exhibition 2027 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 May to 15 August 2027 |
| Where | Main Galleries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London |
| Friends preview days | 15, 16 and 17 May 2027 |
| Opening times | Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm, and until 9pm on Fridays |
| Tickets | Not yet released; Friends of the RA go free |
| Co-ordinator | Helen Sear RA |
| Theme | Fascination |
| Entry | Opens 5 January 2027, £40 a work, one or two works, deadline 21 January |
| RA commission on sales | 35% of the net price, plus VAT |
What the Summer Exhibition is
The Summer Exhibition is an open-submission show: anyone can send in work, and what the judges choose hangs beside work by Royal Academicians, the artists and architects elected to the Academy, among them David Hockney and Tracey Emin. The RA describes a mix of drawing, painting, prints, sculpture, film and architecture, from people exhibiting for the first time to artists known around the world.
It was first held in 1769, the year after the Academy was founded, and the RA says it has taken place every year since, which makes the 2027 show the 259th. The print on the cover shows the 1787 exhibition at Somerset House, where the Academy was based from 1780, with pictures hung frame to frame from floor to ceiling.
How to enter the Summer Exhibition 2027
- Create an account on the RA's Summer Exhibition entry site. If you have entered before, log in to the account you already have.
- Buy your entry from 5 January 2027. You can enter one or two works, at £40 each, and the fee is not refunded. If you buy one entry, you cannot add a second work later. Entries are capped at 18,000, so the RA advises buying early.
- Upload images and details of your work by 23:59 GMT on 21 January 2027. The RA will not accept late submissions.
Set your price before you submit, because it cannot be changed afterwards. The RA's commission on sales is 35% of the net price plus VAT, raised from 30% in 2025, so work out what you want to receive and price from there. For an editioned print there are separate prices for framed and unframed copies, and the unframed price should cover UK postage and packing.
The RA also warns entrants that genuine emails come only from its @royalacademy.org.uk domain, and that anything else claiming to be from the RA should be reported as spam.
How the work is chosen
Selection is in two rounds. The first is made from the digital images, and the judges shortlist up to 4,000 entries. Those artists are emailed and asked to deliver the actual work to the Academy for the final round, and entrants can follow progress through their account.
The 2027 committee is led by Helen Sear RA as co-ordinator, with the Royal Academicians Brian Griffiths, Liane Lang, Níall McLaughlin, Chris Orr, and Bob and Roberta Smith.
Charles West Cope, The Council of the Royal Academy Selecting Pictures for the Exhibition, 1875, painted in 1876. Royal Academy of Arts, London.
How to buy art at the Summer Exhibition
Much of the work in the show is for sale, in the galleries and through the RA's online catalogue, the Summer Exhibition Explorer. On the 2026 Explorer, prices were grouped in bands from under £250 to over £10,000.
The RA sells on the artist's behalf, so the artist is the seller. You pay a deposit to the RA when you buy, and the RA keeps it as its commission: 42% of the total price if the artist is not registered for VAT, or 35% if they are. The RA then passes your order to the artist, who contacts you for the rest of the payment and to arrange delivery or collection. If you have not heard from the artist within three weeks, the RA asks you to get in touch.
Two labels matter when you buy:
- Exhibited means the work on the wall. You collect it from the RA after the exhibition closes, once you have paid the artist and received a removal order.
- Edition means another print, photograph or cast from the same limited edition. These are usually unframed, and the artist arranges delivery. UK delivery is usually included for unframed prints and photographs, but expect a charge for an editioned sculpture.
Because of rules that apply to all art dealers, the RA checks the identity of anyone who buys more than £7,000 of work at the Summer Exhibition in twelve months. Works with a net value of £135 or less cannot be sold to buyers in the EU, and buyers outside the UK may face customs paperwork and import duties.
Editions can outlast the show. When we checked on 10 November 2026, the RA said some editioned works from this year's exhibition would stay on sale online until 27 November.
Before you buy
- Check whether the price is for the framed or the unframed work, and for an edition, the size of the edition.
- Ask the artist about delivery, framing and payment when they contact you, and keep the RA's receipt.
- Note the title, year and the fact that the work was shown at the Summer Exhibition 2027. A record of where a work has been exhibited becomes part of its history.
Our guide to affordable art prints and editions in the UK covers other places to buy at a similar range of prices, and how to buy art at auction safely covers the salerooms.
The rest of the Royal Academy's 2027
The Summer Exhibition is one of several shows at Burlington House next year. Rembrandt: Radical Printmaker opens in April, and Matisse, Picasso, Klee: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen opens in November. Our guide to the art events of 2027 has the dates, and our guide to Mayfair art galleries covers the commercial galleries a short walk from the RA.
Summer Exhibition questions
When is the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2027? From 18 May to 15 August 2027, with preview days for Friends of the RA on 15, 16 and 17 May.
How much does it cost to enter? £40 a work, and you can enter one or two works. The fee is not refunded.
When does entry open, and what is the deadline? Entry opens on 5 January 2027. Images and details must be submitted by 23:59 GMT on 21 January 2027.
What commission does the RA take on sales? 35% of the net price plus VAT. The RA collects it from the buyer as a deposit at the point of sale.
Can you buy art at the Summer Exhibition? Yes. Much of the work is for sale, in person and online, and editioned prints and photographs can often be bought in more than one copy.
What is the theme of the 2027 Summer Exhibition? Fascination, set by the co-ordinator, Helen Sear RA.
Buying through Whitebank Fine Art
The Summer Exhibition is a place to buy from living artists directly. If you are looking for a particular work by an established name, Whitebank Fine Art lists the works it has available and finds works for buyers that are not on public sale. You will always be told whether we own a work or are finding it for you before you spend anything, and there is no obligation to proceed.
Cover: Pietro Antonio Martini after Johann Heinrich Ramberg, The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1787, print. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Public domain.
Exhibitions · Prints and editions
