The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1842 was an art exhibition held at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in London between 2 May and 23 July 1842. It was the seventy fourth annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It took place during the early Victorian era and featured submissions from leading painters, sculptors and architects of the period.
The greatest attention was drawn by five paintings by J.M.W. Turner. These included two cityscapes of Venice and '. His War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet showing Napoleon under British guard in exile on the island of Saint Helena was almost universally savaged by critics, although the praise of Turner's admirer John Ruskin.
It was the first exhibition to be held since the death of David Wilkie, a leading member of the Academy for several decades, who has died near Gibraltar while travelling back from the Holy Land. His friend Turner paid tribute to him with his painting Peace â Burial at Sea. Another friend William Collins, who had named his son Wilkie Collins in his honour, displayed a picture of Wilkie's Kensington house. Several of Wilkie's paintings from his trip were shown posthumously including the Portrait of Abdülmecid I and Portrait of Muhammad Ali of Egypt. After a period of absence Edwin Landseer returned to the Academy after several years absence, displaying works he had produced for Queen Victoria. Crossing the Ford, the only work sent in by the Irish artist William Mulready, was one of the most popular paintings on display. Daniel Maclise sent in the large theatrical canvas The Play Scene in Hamlet.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Dogano, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa - Google Art Project.jpg|The Dogano, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Campo Santo - WGA23179.jpg|Campo Santo, Venice by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth - WGA23178.jpg|' by J.M.W. Turner File:Turner - War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet, exhibited 1842, N00529.jpg|War. The Exile and the Rock Limpet by J.M.W. Turner File:Sultan Abdülmecid I.jpg|Portrait of Abdülmecid I by David Wilkie File:Mehmet AlÃÂ, pachá de Egipto, por David Wilkie.jpg|Portrait of Muhammad Ali of Egypt by David Wilkie File:Sir David Wilkie's residence in Kensington London, by William Collins 1841 (painted just after Wilkie's death).JPG|View of Sir David Wilkie's House in Kensington by William Collins File:Sorrento, Bay of Naples.png|Sorrento, Bay of Naples by William Collins File:The Villa d'Este, Tivoli.png|Villa d'Este, Tivoli by William Collins File:Mary, Lady Haddo.jpg|Portrait of Lady Haddo by Margaret Sarah Carpenter File:Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) - The Play Scene in 'Hamlet' - N00422 - National Gallery.jpg|The Play Scene in Hamlet by Daniel Maclise File:The Origin of the Harp.png|The Origin of the Harp by Daniel Maclise File:Queen Katherine and Patience.jpg|Queen Katherine and Patience by Charles Robert Leslie File:William Mulready (1786-1863) - The Ford ('Crossing the Ford') - N00395 - National Gallery.jpg|Crossing the Ford by William Mulready File:The Village Schoolmaster.png|The Village Schoolmaster by Charles West Cope File:Ophelia Weaving Her Garlands.png|Ophelia Weaving Her Garlands by Richard Redgrave File:Bad News from Sea.png|Bad News from Sea by Richard Redgrave File:Richard Redgrave - Cinderella About to Try on the Glass Slipper.jpg|Cinderella About to Try on the Glass Slipper by Richard Redgrave File:Measuring Heights.png|Measuring Heights by William Powell Frith File:Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) - The Tired Soldier Resting at a Roadside Well - N00451 - National Gallery.jpg|The Tired Soldier Resting at a Roadside Well by Frederick Goodall File:The Departure of Charles II from Bentley in Staffordshire.jpg|The Departure of Charles II from Bentley in Staffordshire by Charles Landseer File:Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73) - The Sanctuary - RCIN 403195 - Royal Collection.jpg|The Sanctuary by Edwin Landseer File:A Highland Shepherd's Home.jpeg|A Highland Shepherd's Home by Edwin Landseer File:Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73) - Eos - RCIN 403219 - Royal Collection.jpg|A Favourite Greyhound of Prince Albert by Edwin Landseer File:Henry VI, Part Two, Act II, Scene 1 at St Albans.png|Henry VI, Part Two, Act II, Scene 1 at St Albans by Edward Matthew Ward File:Agasse, Jacques-Laurent - The Fish Shop.jpg|A Fishmonger's Shop by Jacques-Laurent Agasse File:The Watering Place.png|The Watering Place by Frederick Richard Lee File:The Black Prince Thanking Lord James Audley for his Gallantry in the Battle of Poitiers.png|The Black Prince Thanking Lord James Audley for his Gallantry in the Battle of Poitiers by Benjamin Robert Haydon File:The Death of Sir William Lambton at the Battle of Marston Moor.jpg|The Death of Sir William Lambton at the Battle of Marston Moor by Richard Ansdell File:GL GM 3016.jpg|The Marriage of the Covenanter by Alexander Johnston File:Robert Farrier - 0344ad2ab0.jpg|Floretta by Robert Farrier File:William Etty (1787-1849) - The Magdalen - N00365 - National Gallery.jpg|The Magdalen by William Etty File:The Ravine Leading to Petra.jpeg|The Ravine Leading to Petra by David Roberts File:Charles West Cope (1811-1890) - The Hawthorn Bush - FA.54(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|The Hawthorn Bush by Charles West Cope File:Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865) - The Sisters - RCIN 408970 - Royal Collection.jpg|The Sisters by Charles Lock Eastlake File:John Partridge (1790-1872) - Queen Victoria (1819-1901) - RCIN 403022 - Royal Collection.jpg|Portrait of Queen Victoria by John Partridge File:John Partridge (1790-1872) - Prince Albert (1819-1861) - RCIN 403021 - Royal Collection.jpg|Portrait of Prince Albert by John Partridge File:Francis Thornhill Baring.jpg|Portrait of Francis Baring by John Linnell File:William Coningham (1815-1884) by John Linnel (1792-1882).jpg|Portrait of William Coningham by John Linnell File:Admiral Sir Robert Stopford.jpg|Portrait of Robert Stopford by Frederick Richard Say File:Edward Pyndar Lygon by William Salter.jpg|Portrait of Edward Pyndar Lygon by William Salter File:Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth.png|Portrait of the Bishop of Chichester by Thomas Phillips File:Portait of Michael Faraday2.png|Portrait of Michael Faraday by Thomas Phillips File:Hon. William Gordon, Vice Admiral of Scotland - Henry William Pickersgill - ABDCC001033.jpg|Portrait of William Gordon by Henry William Pickersgill </gallery>