The Interior of the British Institution Gallery

John Scarlett Davis, 1804–1845

1829

Oil on canvas

Yale Center for British Art

The British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom was founded in 1805 and held winter exhibitions at which works by living artists could be purchased. After 1813, the Institution also held summer exhibitions of works by deceased British artists and old masters. This painting commemorates the summer exhibition in 1829 of Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, and English masters. However, the works shown are not displayed as they were at the exhibition. Rather, the inclusion of the late president of the Royal Academy, Benjamin West, in the foreground holding a self-portrait by his predecessor, Sir Joshua Reynolds,