British Institution
The British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in The United Kingdom was a private English arts association founded in London in 1805 . It should present works by both living and deceased artists.
The art association was not founded by artists, but by aristocrats interested in art. They appointed the art dealer William Seguier, who later also became Surveyor of the Kings's Pictures and first director of the National Gallery after it was founded in 1824, as its director.
The Kunstverein organizes an annual exhibition with works by living artists in the spring and, from 1813, a second exhibition with works by old masters in the summer. The selection of works followed a conservative taste and adhered strictly to the genre hierarchy . One of the aims was to promote history painting, which was regarded as the highest, in contrast to the genre paintings and portraits popular on the art market at the time. Therefore the British Institution did not follow the artistic development in the UK. As a result, while the number of visitors to the modern exhibition has decreased, the exhibition of old masters has remained popular.
The art association also awarded prizes to artists, primarily for history and battle paintings. She also commissioned and bought paintings that the National Gallery and other institutions such as B. were given to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Greenwich Hospital . Religious works were bought for churches.
In 1867 the art association was dissolved.
literature
- Smith, Thomas, Recollections of the British Institution, for promoting the fine arts in the United Kingdom , London 1860. [1]
- Benjamin West, The British Institution , The Art Journal. London 1866. [2]
