In his lecture 'Humour in Art' given to the Society in February 1949, H M Bateman had proposed a permanent National Gallery of Humorous Art, in which to display the many original drawings of published comic art, which currently languished in back offices, or in corners of studios, and never seen by the public. \nAs a tentative beginning the Society, at the suggestion of its Chairman of Council, Sir Harry Lindsay KCIE, CBE, organised a temporary exhibition of 162 drawings of the work of more than fifty artists, ranging from Rowlandson and Gillray, to Osbert Lancaster and E H Shepard, Emett and Giles. With the help of Kenneth Bird, the editor of Punch, H M Bateman and Anna Zinkeisen, RDI, the Society was able to arrange an interesting display in the Society's Library (located at this time in what is now the Benjamin Franklin Room), which was open to the public free of charge.\nEncouraged by the steady flow of visitors, by the end of the second week 7,091 people had visited the exhibition, including HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (President, RSA 1952-2011) and The Duchess of Kent. The Council decided to postpone the closing day until Saturday 13 August, and to extend the daily opening hours to 6.30pm on weekdays, including Saturdays and the August Bank Holiday. 14,000 people had passed through the doors by the end of the exhibition, and as there was still a great public interest, the Society was able to arrange for the exhibition to travel round the country from October 1949 to April 1950, showing at Hove, Coventry, Salford, Preston, Liverpool, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Lincoln, Hull and Leicester. It has been estimated that a further 40,000 people saw it in the course of this tour. The exhibition also received press coverage worldwide in newspapers and magazines such as Picture Post, Illustrated London News, The Spectator and two pages in the BBC Arabic News. Coverage also featured in television and cinema newsreels. But in spite of all this interest Bateman's original idea for a National Gallery of Humorous Art never came to life.\n\nRecords include correspondence and papers about arrangements for the exhibition, a catalogue and printed material and photographs
The Society held an exhibition of Indian art in 1962. It was opened by the Indian Prime Minister, Nehru. This series includes photographs of Nehru at the opening.
Instituted in 1954 as a permanent commemoration of the Society's Bicentenary. Bicentenary Medal is awarded to a person, who, in a manner other than an industrial designer, has exerted exceptional influence in promoting art and design in British industry. The recipient may or may not be a designer, the medal recognises the influence which extends beyond the winner's own design work.\n\nThe Design Advisory Group select a suitable recipient for ratification by the Council's Executive Committee on behalf of the full RSA Council.
The Design section's governing body, the Design Advisory Group (previously the Design Committee, the Design Board and initially the Design Bursaries Board) acts as an advisor to the RSA's Programme Committee, is a source of ideas for RSA future programme, reviews current design projects and evaluates the quality of the RSA Programme work in design.\nRecords comprise administrative correspondence and files
Includes files and working papers on the selection of candidates, arrangements for ceremonies and general administration, as well as photographs of medal presentation ceremonies
This is a series of images were collected or purchased to support research work into the archive. They include copies of some prize-winning prints and drawings ( see also PR.AR/103)
A two year national development project to generate better ways of involving parents in education and to produce and test ways to assess home-school work
A forum comprising representatives from business and education to promote a national strategy for restructuring education and training, based on the RSA projects Learning Pays (1991) and Profitable Learning (1992)
An RSA education project
The Society administered a series of arts scholarships, particularly music and dance from the 1970s to 1990. These were merged into an arts committee which looked at general arts policy\nRecords comprise administrative correspondence and papers
Administrative records.
A series of events was arranged to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Society. A new history of the Society was commissioned and written by Kenneth Luckhurst, the Secretary, and Derek Hudson
Portraits by Justin Mortimer
The Hanging of the Portraits by Justin Mortimer
In 1949 the Society began to produce a Christmas card to sell to Fellows. Various artists were commissioned to design a card annually. The subject usually related to the Society's history. Postcards of some of the Society's works of art were also published as postcards at various times.The series includes sample of cards produced and photographs used in their production.
One of the original subject-based committees set up by the Society from 1754 to judge awards and premiums for discoveries in chemistry.\n\nRecords include minutes of the Chemistry Committee, correspondence about awards and attendance at and structure of committee. Additional correspondence to the committee is also included within the Guard Book series at PR/GE/110