وفي عام 1769 أصبح عضوًا مؤسسًا في الأكاديمية الملكية للفنون ولكن كانت علاقته بالمنظمة شائكة لذا كان يتراجع في بعض الأحيان عن عرض أعماله.
In 1769, he became a founding member of the Royal Academy, but his relationship with the organization was thorny and he sometimes withdrew his work from exhibition.