Royal Academy of Arts to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. It was Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the Office of Works, who used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy in 1768. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of
Colin Davidson (artist) Colin Davidson (artist) Colin Davidson (born 1968) is an Irish visual artist, living and working near Belfast, Northern Ireland. An artist who works in themes, his recent large-scale head paintings have been exhibited worldwide. Davidson was born in Belfast in 1968 and attended Methodist College Belfast between 1980 and 1987. He graduated from the University of Ulster in 1991 with a First Class Honours Degree in Design. He worked in the field of design for print until 1999 when he started to paint full-time. Davidson is an Academician of the Royal Ulster Academy and served as President of the Royal