In 1805 he published a poem consisting of Rhymes on Art, and a second part followed in 1809.
Lord Byron spoke well of it in his English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.
Shee published another small volume of verse in 1814, entitled The Commemoration of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other Poems, but this was less successful.
He also produced a tragedy, Alasco, set in Poland.
The play was accepted at Covent Garden, but was refused a licence, on the grounds that it contained treasonable allusions, and Shee angrily resolved to make his appeal to the public.
He carried out his threat in 1824, but Alasco was still on the list of unacted dramas in 1911.
He also published two novels – Oldcourt (1829, in three volumes) and Cecil Hyde (1834).

On the death of Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1830, Shee was chosen president of the Royal Academy in his stead and shortly afterwards received a knighthood.
In 1831 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
In an examination before the parliamentary committee of 1836 concerning the functions of the Royal Academy, he ably defended its rights.
He continued to paint till 1845, when illness made him retire to Brighton.
He was deputised for at the Academy by J. M. W. Turner, who had appointed him a trustee of the projected Turner almshouse.

From 1842–1849, he was the first president of the Birmingham Society of Artists.
In 1805 he published a poem consisting of Rhymes on Art, and a second part followed in 1809. Lord Byron spoke well of it in his English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. Shee published another small volume of verse in 1814, entitled The Commemoration of Sir Joshua Reynolds, and other Poems, but this was less successful. He also produced a tragedy, Alasco, set in Poland. The play was accepted at Covent Garden, but was refused a licence, on the grounds that it contained treasonable allusions, and Shee angrily resolved to make his appeal to the public. He carried out his threat in 1824, but Alasco was still on the list of unacted dramas in 1911. He also published two novels – Oldcourt (1829, in three volumes) and Cecil Hyde (1834).
On the death of Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1830, Shee was chosen president of the Royal Academy in his stead and shortly afterwards received a knighthood. In 1831 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In an examination before the parliamentary committee of 1836 concerning the functions of the Royal Academy, he ably defended its rights. He continued to paint till 1845, when illness made him retire to Brighton. He was deputised for at the Academy by J. M. W. Turner, who had appointed him a trustee of the projected Turner almshouse.
From 1842–1849, he was the first president of the Birmingham Society of Artists.
Martin Archer Shee