Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First

Rose Wylie enters the history of the Royal Academy of Arts. At 91, she becomes the first British female painter to solo exhibit in the institution’s prestigious main galleries. Her monumental canvases, created without preliminary sketches, are striking for their spontaneity and electric colors. Born in 1934, the artist infuses her childhood memories marked by the Blitz into an aesthetic that draws as much from cinema as from pop culture. One encounters Hollywood icons and scenes of everyday life, linked by deliberately hesitant lines evoking art brut. This late recognition celebrates an indomitable creativity that refuses customary academic conventions. A must-see encounter to capture the raw energy of a major figure in contemporary art, from February 28th to April 19th, 2026.