Royal Academy Varnishing Day

Frank Lewis Emanuel's ink drawing offers a fascinating insight into the occasion designated 'Varnishing Day' at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Artists traditionally used the Royal Academy's 'Varnishing Day' to apply protective varnish to the paintings while they were in situ in the galleries, just before the annual Summer Exhibition opened to the public.

Emanuel's drawing depicts academicians mingling with visitors while artists, some on high stepladders, make final additions to their works. Many artists took this as an opportunity to make minor alterations or improvements to their works. The landscape painter J.M.W. Turner was famous for completing half-finished pictures on 'Vanishing Day', much to the astonishment of the other artists around him.

By the date of this drawing, London-born Emanuel had an inside knowledge of the occasion, having exhibited at the Royal Academy thirty eight times between 1885 and 1939. A painter, etcher, illustrator, and writer, Emanuel studied at both the Slade School and at the Académie Julian in Paris.