Breaking news: first woman Keeper at Royal Academy
mainMy colleague Fiona Maddocks has just tweeted that Eileen Cooper has been elected Keeper at the Royal Academy, the first woman to hold the post since Joshua Reynolds, Thomas Gainsborough, Angelika Kauffman and 31 others founded the RA in Piccadilly in 1768. The Keeper, elected for three years, is responsible for the art school, an often turbulent role.
Kauffman, come to think of it, would have made a great Keeper but never got the nomination. Cooper, I hear, is a singularly popular choice.
Here are two samples of her work and a snap of the artist herself.
Congratulations to Ms. Cooper!