The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1804 was the thirty sixth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at Somerset House in London between 30 April and 16 June 1804 and featured submissions from leading artists and architects of the later Georgian era.
The exhibition continued the dispute from the previous year of as a faction of artists led by John Singleton Copley tried to undermine the authority of Copley's fellow American Benjamin West as President of the Royal Academy. West defiantly displayed Hagar and Ishmael a reworked painting that had caused controversy the previous year. J.M.W. Turner submitted two oil paintings and a watercolour, a limited offering by his usual standards. The following year he chose not to display at the Academy at all and held a private exhibition in his own studio. John Constable did not submit any works in 1804.
James Ward submitted a landscape featuring bulls fighting but his fellow Academicians criticised it as being too derivative of Rubens and he withdrew it. Through his place on the hanging committee the landscape painter Joseph Farington was extremely influential in securing the positioning of various artworks.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - Mrs Siddons - N00188 - National Gallery.jpg|Portrait of Sarah Siddons by Thomas Lawrence File:Mrs Charles Thellusson,.jpg|Sabine Thellusson and Son by Thomas Lawrence File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Boats Carrying Out Anchors to the Dutch Men of War - 2014.136.52 - Corcoran Gallery of Art.jpg|Boats Carrying Out Anchors and Cables to the Dutch Men of War by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) - Narcissus and Echo - T03869 - Tate.jpg|Narcissus and Echo by J.M.W. Turner File:Old Margate Pier (Turner).png|Old Margate Pier by J.M.W. Turner File:Tiger Hunting (Northcote).png|Tiger Hunting by James Northcote File:James Ward (1769-1859) - Bulls Fighting, with a View of Donatt's Castle, Glamorganshire - 220-1871 - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Bulls Fighting in a Landscape by James Ward File:Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes by Benjamin West.jpeg|Cicero Discovering the Tomb of Archimedes by Benjamin West File:Benjamin West - Destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet.jpg|Destruction of the Beast and the False Prophet by Benjamin West File:Phaeton benjamin West.jpg|Phaeton Asking Apollo to Drive the Sun Chariot by Benjamin West File:Hagar and Ishmael MET ap95.22.8.jpg|Hagar and Ishamel by Benjamin West File:George Dawe (1781-1829) - Naomi and her Daughters - T05746 - Tate.jpg|Naomi and her Daughters by George Dawe File:Henry Howard (1769-1847) - The Sixth Trumpet Soundeth - 03-1005 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg| The Sixth Trumpet Soundeth by Henry Howard File:Henry III Replying to the Bishops.jpg|Henry III Replying to the Bishops by Richard Westall File:Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1759-1817) - Cottages at Clappersgate near Ambleside, Cumbria - KINCM-2005.5068 - Ferens Art Gallery.jpg|Cottage in Ambleside by Julius Caesar Ibbetson File:Julius Caesar Ibbetson - Lake Windermere - Google Art Project.jpg|Lake Windemere by Julius Caesar Ibbetson File:Frances Wyndham, later Lady Burrell, as Hebe â William Beechey (1804).jpg|Frances Wyndham as Hebe by William Beechey File:Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830) - James Curtis - 1953.441 - Manchester Art Gallery.jpg|Portrait of James Curtis by Thomas Lawrence File:Sir James Mackintosh by Sir Thomas Lawrence.jpg|Portrait of James Mackintosh by Thomas Lawrence File:Portrait of Mary Montagu and Her Brother, Robert.png|Portrait of Mary Montagu and Her Brother by John Singleton Copley File:ST. CECILIA, A PORTRAIT (MRS. RICHARD CROWNINSHIELD DERBY).jpg|Mrs. Richard Crowninshield Derby as St. Cecilia by John Singleton Copley File:Baron Graham SC-000257.jpg|Portrait of Robert Graham by John Singleton Copley File:John Hoppner (1758-1810) - Miss Harriet Cholmondeley - NG3512 - National Gallery.jpg|Portrait of Harriet Cholmondeley by John Hoppner File:Thomas Holcroft by John Opie (2).jpg|Portrait of Thomas Holcroft by John Opie File:John Opie (1761-1807) - William Blizard (1743âÂÂ1835) - RCSSC-P 26 - Hunterian Museum.jpg|Portrait of William Blizard by John Opie File:Mrs Williamson Martin Archer Shee.jpg|Mrs Williamson as Miranda by Martin Archer Shee File:Patrick Tonyn.jpg|Portrait of Patrick Tonyn, mezzotint based on the painting by Martin Archer Shee File:Martin Archer Shee (1769-1850) - Francis Rawdon Hastings (1754âÂÂ1862), Earl of Moira (later Marquess of Hastings), c.1804 - NAM. 1956-02-598 - National Army Museum.jpg|Portrait of the Earl of Moira by Martin Archer Shee </gallery>