The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1782 was the fourteenth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It took place at Somerset House in London between 29 April and 3 June 1782. It took place during the final year of the American War of Independence with notable actions at the naval Battle of the Saintes and the Great Siege of Gibraltar. The military theme was reflected in the submissions of two of the leading painters of the era Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough, both of whom featured portraits of the young cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton.
Both artists made large submissions to the exhibition with Gainsborough sending in eleven paintings and Reynolds, the President of the Royal Academy, displaying fifteen. Despite their ongoing rivalry, Reynolds purchased one the paintings Gainsborough displayed the genre work Girl with Pigs. Aside from Tarleton, both men also produced paintings of the actress Mary Robinson. Gainsborough withdrew his shortly before the exhibition, possibly because of her reputation for having a recent affair with the heir to the throne George, Prince of Wales. Gainsborough had also produced a full-length portrait of George, now at Waddesdon Manor.
The Pennsylvania-born artist Benjamin West, best known for his history paintings, produced a portrait of the king's young son Prince Octavius. His fellow American Gilbert Stuart exhibited The Skater'. John Opie, a young artist from Cornwall, made his debut at the Academy where his pictures were acclaimed. He was acclaimed as the "Cornish wonder", partly due to the mistaken belief that he was self-taught. Angelica Kauffman, one of the two females founders of the Academy, featured a work entitled Modesty. Her fellow Swiss artist Henry Fuseli displayed the Gothic The Nightmare. Maria Cosway enjoyed a great success with her portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire in the role of Cynthia from Edmund Spenser's The Fairie Queene.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Georgiana dans le rôle de Cynthia dans la Reine des fées - Maria Cosway.jpg|Duchess of Devonshire as Cynthia by Maria Cosway File:Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) - Lady Charlotte Hill, Countess Talbot - N05640 - National Gallery.jpg|Portrait of Lady Talbot by Joshua Reynolds File:Reynolds - Mary Darby, Mrs Thomas Robinson 'Perdita'.jpg|Portrait of Mary Robinson by Joshua Reynolds File:Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) - Mrs Mary Robinson (Perdita) - P42 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|Portrait of Mary Robinson by Thomas Gainsborough File:Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) - George (1762âÂÂ1830), Prince of Wales, Later George IV - 2258 - Waddesdon Manor.jpg|Portrait of George, Prince of Wales by Thomas Gainsborough File:Giovanna Baccelli (Gainsborough).jpg|Portrait of Giovanna Baccelli by Thomas Gainsborough File:John Hayes St Leger - Gainsborough 1782.jpg|Portrait of John Hayes St Leger by Thomas Gainsborough File:Girl with Pigs by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|Girl with Pigs by Thomas Gainsborough File:Jean Joseph Merlin (1735-1803) Painting by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|Portrait of John Joseph Merlin by Thomas Gainsborough File:GSskater.jpg|The Skater by Gilbert Stuart File:Philip James de Loutherbourg (1740-1812) - Landscape with Cattle and Figures, A Storm Coming On - 03-1375 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|Landscape with Cattle and Figures, A Storm Coming On by Philip James de Loutherbourg File:George Romney (1734-1802) - Mrs Mary Robinson - P37 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|Portrait of Mary Robinson by George Romney File:Benjamin West (1738-1820) - Augustus, Duke of Sussex - RCIN 403523 - Royal Collection.jpg|Portrait of Prince Augustus by Benjamin West File:Benjamin West (1738-1820) - Prince Octavius (1779-83) - RCIN 401410 - Royal Collection.jpg|Portrait of Prince Octavius by Benjamin West File:Henry Fuseli (1741âÂÂ1825), The Nightmare, 1781.jpg|The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli File:John Downman - The Ghost of Clytemnestra Awakening the Furies - Google Art Project.jpg|The Ghost of Clytemnestra Awakening the Furies by John Downman File:John Downman (1750-1824) - The Return of Orestes (private theatricals with Charles James Fox on the exterme left) - 1530108 - National Trust.jpg|The Return of Orestes by John Downman File:William Redmore Bigg (1755-1828) - A Girl Shelling Peas - PLYMG.CO.2 - The Box.jpg|A Girl Shelling Peas by William Redmore Bigg File:John Opie (1761-1807) - The Beggar Boy - FAMAG-2004.16 - Falmouth Art Gallery.jpg|The Beggar Boy by John Opie File:George Stubbs - The Farmer's Wife and the Raven - Google Art Project.jpg|The Farmer's Wife and the Raven by George Stubbs File:George Stubbs (1724-1806) - Isabella Salstonstall as Una in Spenser's 'Faerie Queene' - PD.45-1971 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg|Isabella as Una in Spenser's Faerie Queene by George Stubbs File:Edward Penny - Widow Costard's cow and goods, distrained for taxes, are redeemed by the generosity of Johnny Pearma... - Google Art Project.jpg|Widow Costard by Edward Penny File:Richard Kempenfelt.jpg|Portrait of Richard Kempenfelt by Tilly Kettle File:Dominic Serres (1722-1793) - A British Squadron off St Lucia, 25 March 1780 - 926822 - National Trust.jpg|A British Squadron off St Lucia by Dominic Serres File:Dominic Serres (1722-1793) - The Battle of the Dogger Bank - 926821 - National Trust.jpg|The Battle of the Dogger Bank by Dominic Serres File:The Battle of Dogger Bank, 5 August 1781 RMG BHC0434.tiff|The Battle of Dogger Bank by Thomas Luny File:The Moonlight Battle- the Battle off Cape St Vincent, 16 January 1780 RMG BHC0428.tiff|The Moonlight Battle by Thomas Luny </gallery>