Rose Wylie is the first British female artist to have a solo show in the Royal Academy of Arts’ Main Galleries. That took a while, but at least it’s happened.
The exhibition follows Wylie’s journey from growing up during the Blitz to her fascination with pop culture, film, and fashion. The paintings, while childlike in style, are joyous and matter of fact. You get a sense of transparency in the way she expresses her ideas without needing to add deeper meaning. Some may like that simplicity, others won’t; I am of the latter camp simply because there’s nothing in her work that holds my attention enough to want to meditate in front of her paintings and investigate further.
Her drawings are more interesting, particularly the collages, which remind me of paper dolls with cut-out clothes. There is more play in her design process compared to her paintings. In fact, I also quite liked the earliest work in the exhibition, The Well-Cooked Omelette (1989), which offers a glimpse of Wylie appreciating the small moments in daily life.
Nonetheless, it’s not a bad show. In fact, an air of fun is probably needed given the heavy themes addressed in the previous Kerry James Marshall exhibition. However, unlike that exhibition, five rooms are unused in these hallowed halls. At £23 a ticket, it might raise a few eyebrows.
Rose Wylie: The Picture Comes First (28 February – 19 April 2026) is at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/
Nigel Ip 
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