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RSA Life School

The provision of sustaining the formal teaching of aspirant artists was one of the key objectives of the founder members of the Royal Scottish Academy. It became enshrined in the first Royal Charter of 1838 which established the percentage of the Academy's income which it would commit annually to this end. However the plans had been put into effect even before the Charter was granted and the Academy's School of the Living Model operated for just a few months in the first half of 1836 in rented accommodation. Having overcome the obstacles which had frustrated the initial launch, the RSA School of the Living Model reopened in 1840, this time in rented rooms in West Register Street and continued there until 1846. In the summer of 1846 it removed to the former studio of Thomas Duncan ARA RSA (1807-45) at 33 Abercromby Place, which space was rented to the Academy for this purpose by its new owner, John Syme RSA (1795-1861). Aspirant students had to submit examples of their work for examination by the President and Council of the Royal Scottish Academy, and these had to be approved before they could enroll. The School was forced to close in January 1853 in the face of a competing class offering drawing from the Life which had been commenced by the Trustees of the Board of Manufactures as an adjunct to the Trustees Academy. In 1847 the Government had dispatched John Shaw Lefevre to conduct and enquiry into the provision of art teaching in Edinburgh looking specifically at the respective roles of the Board of Trustees and of the Royal Scottish Academy, and to submit a report on his findings. One of the outcomes of Lefevre's Report was that work commenced on the erection of a new building on The Mound which was to be jointly occupied by the Royal Scottish Academy (in the eastern wing) and by the new National Gallery (in the western wing). The Royal Scottish Academy moved in to the new building in 1855 and the National Gallery in 1858. This coincided with a change in the teaching of art. 1858 saw the effective end of the power of the Board of Manufactures as far as the Trustees Academy was concerned. They continued to have control of the Trustees Academy but it was renamed the Edinburgh School of Art and its curriculum and examination framework henceforth came under the auspices of the National Government Science and Art Department operating under the so-called South Kensington scheme. By the same directive, sole teaching of drawing from the Life reverted to the Royal Scottish Academy. Provision was made for a small number of students who had successfully completed their studies at the Edinburgh School of Art and were intent on becoming professional artists. Such students were encouraged to submit work tot he Annual Exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy and to be admitted on the approval of the President and Council on the basis of such works. Around this time questions were raise din Parliament by Scottish MPs on petition from thier constituents (largely Church Ministers) who objected to the use of public monies to pay models to de-robe in such situations. This remained the teaching situation until around 1907 when the Edinburgh College of Art was established. The Academy continued to provide tutors from its Membership; known as 'Visitors,' and their class now became the RSA School of Painting, surviving until the early 1930s. Education remains of key importance to the Academy and since the 1930s this has been manifest no longer through the direct provision of teaching but through the raft of awards, scholarships and residencies which it offers to students and recent graduates of the Scottish Art Colleges.



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