Amateur artists have had the opportunity to exhibit their work at the prestigious London headquarters of the Royal Academy for more than 250 years thanks to the Summer Exhibition. Which now-famous artists failed to convince the Academy of their brilliance, and how difficult is it to make the grade?
The Academy refers to the exhibition as "the world's largest open submission exhibition" and it has been running continuously since 1769, featuring artists like Thomas Gainsborough, Grayson Perry, and David Hockney.
Despite the fact that the number of entries is capped at 16,500 and the competition is fierce (this year, more than 11,000 people submitted work, but fewer than 10% were successful), it offers amateur artists a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have their work publicly displayed and then purchased.
David Remfry, a Royal Academician, is in charge of organizing the 2023 exhibition, which will focus on the idea of "Only Connect.".
The 80-year-old said to the BBC: "I remember the joy of it when my work was first accepted for the summer show in 1972. ".
He claims that despite this, he was also unsuccessful in the stringent selection process: "There were quite a few years after that when I wasn't so fortunate. ".
Public submissions totaled 11,204 this year, and 998 artists made the cut.
Combining the works of Royal Academicians, invited artists, and the successful public submissions, 1,613 pieces of art will be on display.
The Summer Exhibition committee, which is led by Royal Academy President Rebecca Salter and coordinated by Mr. Remfry, evaluates each submission.
In order to give each year "a distinctive character," a spokesperson for the committee told the BBC that members serve on a rotating basis.
Each January, the process begins, and the application fee is £38. Anyone can enter the exhibition, from the blatantly amateur to the more experienced artist, but there is a limit of 16,500 submissions.
Out of these 16,500 digitally submitted entries, the judges select approximately 4,000 pieces, and those who are invited to the shortlist must deliver their artwork to the Royal Academy for the second round. The committee members judge this in person before whittling the field down to about 1,000 winning submissions. .
Acceptance can be financially rewarding as there are several categories with a combined prize pool of about £70,000 up for grabs. All of the artworks are also for sale, with some selling for more than £10,000 in prior years.
Over the years, the Academy is known for having turned down a number of now-famous artists. Examples include the British landscape painter John Constable, whose works later sold for over £20 million, and the French artist Edouard Manet, whose paintings have brought in over £40 million.
An artwork by renowned street artist Banksy submitted in 2018 under the alias Bryan S Gaakman, which is an anagram of "Banksy anagram," was rejected. He sent it again under his name, and it was eventually accepted.
However, some people try unsuccessfully for years to be featured in the exhibition.
One of them—and this year's recipient of her 21st rejection—is Alison Aye.
She made her first submission in 1993, and the 30th anniversary of that rejection "is a really nice round-off," she says.
Joe Lycett, a comedian, learned about her plight the previous year and smuggled her into the gallery as part of a BBC documentary.
Ms. Aye, 56, has embraced the moniker bestowed upon her by Lycett, "the queen of the rejected.".
Ms. Aye, from Bromley in south-east London, has made it to the second stage once but now claims that "if I got accepted, I don't know if I would be happy - I like this sort of concept of rejection.".
When she first started applying, she claims that she "took it quite personally, especially because I went to art college and I know a lot of people who get accepted.".
Although the deflation is now "very fleeting," it is still "sort of a badge of honor" to be rejected.
Ms. Aye claims that for a few years there was an exhibition for artists who were turned down, but she wasn't even able to attend that.
When asked if she'll reapply the following year, she responds, "It's such a good selling place if you get in. I consider the risk to be always worthwhile. ".
The Summer Exhibition starts on Monday, June 13, and ends on August 20, 2018.
