Royal Academy of Arts as somewhat anachronistic. But efforts are made to award each prize to a student producing work that bears a relation to the intentions of the original benefactor. The Royal Academy has an important collection of books, archives and works of art accessible for research and display. A large part of these collections have been digitised and can be investigated through the Collection website. The first president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, gave his noted self-portrait, beginning the Royal Academy collection. This was followed by gifts from other founding members, such as Gainsborough and Benjamin West. Subsequently each elected
Royal Hibernian Academy placed satirical naked paintings of Brian Cowen in the National Gallery of Ireland and the gallery of the Royal Hibernian Academy. The painter was subsequently discovered to be Conor Casby. This caused some controversy at the time, as the matter was investigated by the Gardaí, and the state broadcaster RTÉ was forced to apologise for showing the pictures in a news broadcast. There are three instances of post-nominal letters used by Academicians. Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. The RHA was founded as the result