Royal Academy announces 2027 programme featuring Rembrandt, Simone Leigh and major modern masters

The Royal Academy of Arts has unveiled its 2027 exhibition programme, bringing together major shows across Old Master printmaking, contemporary sculpture and modern European painting. The line-up includes dedicated exhibitions for Rembrandt and Simone Leigh, alongside a presentation of works by Matisse, Picasso and Klee from the Museum Berggruen in Berlin.

Rembrandt, Self-portrait with wild eyes , 1630. Rembrandt, Self-portrait with wild eyes (detail), 1630. CC0 Paris Musées / Petit Palais, musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Art and the Petit Palais - Musée des Beaux-Arts de la ville de Paris, Paris Musées

The season opens in spring with Rembrandt: Radical Printmaker, developed in collaboration with the Petit Palais – Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. The show focuses on Rembrandt’s printmaking, highlighting his use of line, tone and composition to build detailed studies of light, space and atmosphere. It will be presented in the Jillian and Arthur M. Sackler Wing of Galleries.

Simone Leigh, Okwui, 2024. Bronze. 150.5 x 332.7 x 123.2 cm. © Simone Leigh, Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery. Photo: Timothy Schenck

In autumn, the Main Galleries will stage a major exhibition of work by American sculptor Simone Leigh, including new pieces shown in the UK for the first time. Leigh’s practice combines sculpture with architecture, video and performance, and often explores representations of Black womanhood at scale. Running alongside it, the Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries will present Matisse, Picasso, Klee: Masterpieces from the Museum Berggruen, bringing together key works by the three artists from Berlin.

Henri Matisse, Blue Nude Skipping, 1952. Museum Berggruen, Neue Nationalgalerie, Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz. Photo: Roman März. © 2026 Succession H. Matisse / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Exhibition organised by the Royal Academy of Arts in collaboration with the Museum Berggruen, Neue Nationalgalerie – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz

The programme also features the return of the 259th Summer Exhibition, which will run in the Main Galleries for an extended period. Burlington Gardens will reopen with a new double-height gallery designed by David Chipperfield Architects, housing parts of the Royal Academy’s permanent collection and increasing free public access, with a further exhibition planned for the reopening period.

Discover more at the Royal Academy website.