Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1981.25.212
Gallery Label:
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, underscores the allegorical rather than documentary purpose of John Scarlett Davis’s painting. West’s figure is itself based on a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence, his successor as PRA until 1830. Therefore, the first three presidents of the Royal Academy are included among works by old masters with whom they wished to identify. Gallery label for installation of YCBA collection, 2016
