The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1859 was the ninety first annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square in London between 2 May and 23 July 1859. It was notable for two sequel paintings Henry Nelson O'Neil's Home Again and Abraham Solomon's Not Guilty. John Everett Millais's The Vale of Rest and Spring provoked a debate about the continuing legacy of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Millais also submitted the historical painting The Love of James the First of Scotland. One of the most popular works with the public was Dividend Day at the Bank of England by George Elgar Hicks.
Having recently had a painting rejected by the British Institution, Frederic Leighton carefully selected three works to exhibit, all featuring the Italian model Anna Risi. Daniel Maclise submitted a single painting The Poet to His Wife based on a song by Thomas Moore. Edwin Landseer's Doubtful Crumbs continued his theme of sentimental animal painting. William Powell Frith displayed the portrait Charles Dickens in His Study while other members of The Clique were also prominently displayed, with John Phillip presenting a portrait of his friend and fellow artist Augustus Egg. Francis Grant continued in the tradition of Thomas Lawrence by displaying high society portraits while Clarkson Stanfield featured romantic seascapes such as On the Coast of Brittany. Emily Osborn was amongst the female artists who displayed works.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Abraham Solomon (1824-1862) - Not Guilty (The Acquittal) - T03615 - Tate.jpg|Not Guilty by Abraham Solomon File:Henry Nelson O'Neil (1817-1880) - Home Again, 1858 - NAM. 1988-06-49 - National Army Museum.jpg|Home Again by Henry Nelson O'Neil File:Millais - Das Tal der Stille.jpg|The Vale of Rest by John Everett Millais File:Apple Blossoms by John Everett Millais.jpg|Spring by John Everett Millais File:Landseer.doutful.crumbs.jpg|Doubtful Crumbs by Edwin Landseer File:Charles Dickens by Frith 1859 (2).jpg|Charles Dickens in His Study by William Powell Frith File:Frederic Leighton (1830-1896) - La nanna, Pavonia - LH0376 - Leighton House.jpg|Pavonia by Frederic Leighton File:LeightonRomanLady.png|A Roman Lady by Frederic Leighton File:Edward Matthew Ward - Marie Antoinette Listening to the Act of Accusation the Day Before Her Trial.jpg|Marie Antoinette Listening to the Act of Accusation the Day Before Her Trial by Edward Matthew Ward File:Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) - Jeanie Deans and Queen Caroline (represents a scene from the 'Heart of Midlothian' by Sir Walter Scott) - 88029496 - Marble Hill House.jpg|Jeanie Deans and Queen Caroline by Charles Robert Leslie File:The Foreign Guest. Frederick Daniel Hardy, 1859.jpg|The Foreign Guest by Frederick Daniel Hardy File:Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793-1867) - On the Coast of Brittany - 107.1901 - Bury Art Museum.jpg|On the Coast of Brittany by Clarkson Stanfield File:David Roberts (1796-1864) - Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice - VIS.1559 - Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust.jpg|Church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice by David Roberts File:Venice (Edward William Cooke, 1859).png| Venice, Trabaccoli Carrying Wood, San Giorgio Maggiore and the Dogana Beyond by Edward William Cooke File:The Night before Naseby Augustus Leopold Egg (1816âÂÂ1863) Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|The Night Before Naseby by Augustus Egg File:John Phillip (1817-1867) - The Huff - 714 - Guildhall Art Gallery.jpg|The Huff by John Phillip File:Richard Redgrave (1804-1888) - The Emigrant's Last Sight of Home - T02110 - Tate.jpg|The Emigrant's Last Sight of Home by Richard Redgrave File:Thomas Faed (1825-1900) - Sunday in the Backwoods - OP193 - Wolverhampton Art Gallery.jpg|Sunday in the Backwoods by Thomas Faed File:Henry Holiday - The Burgesses of Calais.jpg|The Burgesses of Calais by Henry Holiday File:Frederick Goodall (1822-1904) - Felice Ballarin Reciting Tasso to the People of Chioggia - VIS.1472 - Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust.jpg|Felice Ballarin Reciting Tasso to the People of Chioggia by Frederick Goodall File:Marcus C. Stone (1840-1921) - Silent Pleading - 1974.767 - Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.jpg|Silent Pleading by Marcus Stone File:Philip Hermogenes Calderon (1833-1898) - 'Man goeth forth to his labours' - 1974.459 - Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.jpg|Man Goeth Forth to his Labours by Philip Hermogenes Calderon File:Calderon Philip Hermogenes French Peasants Finding Their Stolen Child.jpg|French Peasants Finding Their Stolen Child by Philip Hermogenes Calderon File:Presentiments.jpg|Presentiments by Emily Osborn File:To Brighton and Back for 3S. 6D - Charles Rossiter - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|To Brighton and Back by Charles Rossiter File:Robert McInnes (1801-1886) - The Sunday School - A0042 - Paisley Museum.jpg|The Sunday School by Robert McInnes File:Isabella (Watts).png|Iseball by George Frederic Watts File:Arthur Hughes (1832-1915) - The King's Orchard - 1509 - Fitzwilliam Museum.jpg|The King's Orchard by Arthur Hughes File:William Mulready (1786-1863) - The Lesson ('Just as the Twig Is Bent, the Tree's Inclined') - FA.236(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|The Lesson by William Mulready File:George Clarkson Stanfield Beilstein an der Mosel.jpg|Beilstein on the Moselle by George Stanfield File:Lord Chelmsford LC by EU Eddis.jpg|Lord Chelmsford by Eden Upton Eddis File:Eden Upton Eddis (1812-1901) (attributed to) - The Reverend Sir Erasmus Henry Griffies-Williams (1796âÂÂ1870), 2nd Bt of Llwyn y Wormwood, Myddfai, L - 869386 - National Trust.jpg|Erasmus Williams by Eden Upton Eddis File:Daniel Macnee (1806-1882) - Clarkson Stanfield (1793âÂÂ1867), HRSA, RA - 1993.206 - Royal Scottish Academy.jpg|Clarkson Stanfield by Daniel Macnee File:John Phillip (1817-1867) - Augustus Leopold Egg (1816âÂÂ1863), RA - 03-560 - Royal Academy of Arts.jpg|Augustus Leopold Egg by John Phillip File:James Wilson by Sir John Watson-Gordon.jpg|James Wikson by John Watson Gordon File:August Theodor Schoefft (1809-1888) - Sir John Cordy Burrows (1813âÂÂ1876) - FA000673 - Brighton Museum ^ Art Gallery.jpg|John Cordy Burrows by August Schoefft File:John Robert Dicksee Warren Stormes Hale.jpg|Warren Stormes Hale by John Robert Dicksee File:William Boxall (1800-1879) - William Gibbs (1790âÂÂ1875) - 22853 - National Trust.jpg|William Gibbs by William Boxall File:Harriet Goodhue Hosmer by Sir William Boxall, 1857, oil on canvas, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 95 6.jpg|Harriet Goodhue Hosmer by William Boxall File:Lord Alfred Paget (Francis Grant).jpeg|Lord Alfred Paget by Francis Grant File:Francis Grant (1803-1878) - Edward Stanley (1799âÂÂ1869), 14th Earl of Derby - 101.0040 - Weston Park.jpg|Earl of Derby, study for painting by Francis Grant File:Sir Edward Belcher by Stephen Pearce.jpg|Edward Belcher by Stephen Pearce </gallery>