1866.
NB
This is the last dying Speech of the Institution !

BRITISH INSTITUTION FOR PROMOTING THE FINE ARTS IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM.

An Appeal

I am desired to give notice, that, in compliance with a requisition from many of the usual
Exhibitors, the Directors have determined to afford them, and others who may be desirous to avail
themselves of it, an opportunity of exhibiting their works in the Gallery of the Institution for a short
season previous to Lady-day next, when the present tenancy of the premises terminates.
The Exhibition will be opened in the middle of January and continue into March.
ALL PICTURES, therefore, must be sent to the Gallery for the inspection of the Committee
on WEDNESDAY the 2nd and THURSDAY the 3rd of January next, and the SCULPTURE on
WEDNESDAY the 9th, between the hours of ten in the morning and five in the afternoon, subject to
the usual regulation.
GEORGE NICOL,
Secretary.
52, Pall Mall, December 8th, 1866.

============

(COPY.)
To the PRESIDENT and DIRECTORS of the BRITISH INSTITUTION.
MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
We the undersigned Artists, Exhibitors at the British Institution, respectfully
solicit your consideration of the following Memorial, relying on that desire to promote the
interests of Art and Artists by which you Honourable Board has ever been distinguished.
The important influence of the British Institution on the development of English Art is a
historical fact; and it may safely be asserted that the high estimation in which that Art now
stands is greatly due to the encouragement and fostering care of the British Institution.
And whereas for a long series of years the Exhibition at the British Institution has been
regarded, both by the public and the profession, as one of the most important, as it has also
been the first, of the season, – associated too as it has always been with the rise and progress of
British Art, – the closure of such an Exhibition will be deemed a public loss, while, to those
Artists hitherto mainly dependent on its agency for placing their works before the public, the
want of such an exhibition must be severely felt.
The brief interval between the notice of closure and the usual period of opening the Exhibi-
tion precluded the possibility of any arrangement being entered upon by the Artists themselves
so supply such a want, even if it were practicable in other respects.

2
It is therefore humbly submitted to the consideration of your Honourable Board, whether it
might not be in your power to afford the undersigned, and other Exhibitors, the privilege of a
short season for the exhibition of their works, as it is understood the lease of the rooms does not
terminate until the end of March. It is humbly suggested, that, by opening the rooms to the
public in the middle of January, and to continue them to the end of the second week in March,
a fair measure of satisfaction would be afforded to the usual frequenters of the Exhibition, and
an important boon conceded to the Memorialists, who, in common with many others, cherish,
what they trust will prove a well-grounded hope, that your Honourable Board will not suffer
such a time-honoured and valuable aid to Art and Artists as the British Institution to become
but a respected memory.

JOHN W. OAKES. CHARLES ROSSITER.
JOHN A. HOUSTON, R.S.A. GEORGE D. LESLIE.
R. BEAVIS. EDWIN HAYES.
GEORGE F. CHESTER. HENRY GARLAND.
ROBT. COLLINSON. EDWARD RADFORD.
CHARLES LUTYENS. J. SCOTT.
EDWIN LONG. JAMES D. LINTON.
ALBT. LUDOVICI. E. C. BARNES.
C. W. NICHOLLS. W. E. MARSHALL.
THOS. JONES BARKER. ARTHUR J. STARK.
ALEXANDER JOHNSON. HENRY JUTSUM.
THOS. FRAS. DICKSEE. G. E. HERING.
GEORGE SMITH. J. WOLF.
FRANK DILLON. W. KUEMPEL.
THOS. BROOKS. GEORGE EARL.
ALFRED CORBOULD. EDWARD HARGITT.
CHAS. J. LEWIS. JAS. C. WAITE.
WOLFGANG BOEHM. J. A. FITZGERALD.
HAYNES KING. FRANCIS J. WYBURD.
S. S. BODEN. F. C. COOPER.
JOHN PETTIE. J. WATKINS CHAPMAN.
THOMAS DANBY. JOSEPH BOUVIER.
L.J. WOOD. GEORGE CHESTER.
CHARLES LUCY. J. W. BOTTOMLEY.
GEORGE C. STANFIELD. J. H. S. MANN.
HARRY JOHNSON. JAMES D. BARNETT.
WILLIAM MELBY.