In art, a reception piece is a work submitted by an artist to an academy for approval as part of the requirements for admission to membership.
The piece is normally representative of the artist's work, and the organization's judgement of its skill may or may not form part of the criteria for accepting a new entrant. The work itself is usually retained by the academy, and many academies have large and valuable collections acquired in this way. Alternative terms include diploma work at the Royal Academy in London (where some 18th and 19th century examples are on display), diploma piece, and in France at the Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture, tableau de réception or morceau de réception. The term masterpiece originated in the same way under the earlier system of guilds, including those for artists.
