Prints make RA summer show art's bargain corner

It is the exhibition where unknowns get to show their art next to David Hockney and Lucian Freud.

The broad theme of this year's Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, which opens on Tuesday, is the use of multiple images with a focus on print-making. Stephen Farthing, one of the Royal Academicians who curated the show, said it was popular partly because visitors could buy the works: "There's more work in this show that is affordable than probably any previous show because of the preponderance of prints."

The American Chuck Close and the German Andreas Gursky are among the international stars taking part for the first time. Margaret Hockney, a retired nurse, is hanging an image of an octopus near new portraits by her younger brother, David.

Several hundred of the 1,333 works were chosen from 9,000 submitted by the public. The others are by academy members and invited artists, such as Tracey Emin. The exhibition runs until 15 August.