A Civic Honour for the Royal Academy’s President

The abstract painter Rebecca Salter was admitted to the Freedom of the City of London at a ceremony in Guildhall Art Gallery this week, in recognition of her contribution to British art and her leadership of the Royal Academy.

Salter, who in 2019 became the first woman to be elected President of the Royal Academy of Arts in its then 251-year history, received the honour in the presence of civic and judicial figures from the City.

The Freedom of the City of London, one of the capital’s oldest traditions, dates back to the 13th century and is now granted to individuals in acknowledgement of service to London or public life. For Salter, whose career has spanned nearly five decades, the recognition reflects both artistic achievement and institutional stewardship.

After studying ceramics at Bristol Polytechnic, she won a Leverhulme Scholarship to Kyoto City University of the Arts. Her years in Japan proved formative. Immersed in traditional printmaking techniques, she developed the disciplined, pared-back visual language that has defined her practice. She later published two books on Japanese printmaking, and her work entered major public collections.

Today her paintings and works on paper are held by institutions including the Tate, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as the Yale Center for British Art and Vienna’s Albertina Museum.

Speaking after the ceremony, Salter said:

“It is an honour to have been granted the Freedom of this great City of London. I am delighted to accept, both, as an artist and as President of the Royal Academy of Arts.

“In uncertain and difficult times, the arts play an increasingly vital role in developing our ability to understand ourselves and others.”

She added that she hoped to strengthen ties between the Academy and the City so that “generations to come are able to explore the many riches that flow from engagement with the arts in all of their forms.”

Salter became a Royal Academician in 2014 and was elected Keeper of the Royal Academy in 2017, overseeing the Royal Academy Schools before assuming the presidency two years later.

Chris Hayward, Policy Chairman of the City of London Corporation, said the honour recognised “all that she has achieved” in British cultural life.

The Recorder of London, His Honour Judge Mark Lucraft KC, described her career as one defined by freedom to experiment across media and technique, resulting in “so much beautiful work and a loyal following.”

The City of London Corporation remains one of the country’s largest public investors in culture, supporting institutions including the Barbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the London Symphony Orchestra. Details about the history of the Freedom can be found on the City’s official page.

In honouring Salter, the City recognises an artist whose career has bridged cultures, media and generations, and whose presidency has guided one of Britain’s most enduring cultural institutions through a period of considerable change.

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[Image Credit | Royal Academy of Arts]

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