 |
| Anonymous artist A Painter's Studio 1820s watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum |
 |
| Caspar David Friedrich Woman at a Window (Caroline Friedrich, the artist's wife, in his studio) 1822 oil on canvas Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
 |
| Martinus Rørbye View from the Artist's Window ca. 1825 oil on canvas Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Alfred Joseph Woolmer Interior of the British Institution (Old Master Exhibition, summer 1832) 1833 oil on canvas Yale Center for British Art |
The British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom existed from 1805 until 1867. This was a private society organized by art-collecting London aristocrats to mount public exhibitions of paintings loaned by themselves. Public art museums with permanent collections on permanent display were still rare, not at all the universal temples of culture that cover the earth today. In most years the British Institution mounted two major shows, one for the work of native artists (living and dead) and another of Old Masters (almost always foreigners). The admission fee of one shilling stayed the same for half a century, and more than covered the Institution's expenses. Some of the surplus funds were used to purchase paintings "for the Nation" and to encourage English art students in various ways. But the fee served another purpose as well, excluding the majority of ordinary Londoners – for whom a shilling would have counted at that period as a prohibitive price.
 |
| Johann Peter Hasenclever Studio Scene 1836 oil on canvas Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf |
 |
| Anonymous artist Interior of a Library ca. 1830-50 watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
 |
| Adolph Menzel Balcony Room 1845 oil on canvas Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
 |
| Adoph Menzel Studio Wall 1852 oil on paper, mounted on panel Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin |
 |
| James Roberts Queen's Sitting-room at Buckingham Palace 1848 watercolor, gouache Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
 |
| Christoffer Wilhelm Eckeresberg At a window in the artist's studio 1852 wash drawing, watercolor Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen |
 |
| Otto Scholderer Violinist at a window 1861 canvas Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt |
 |
| Karl Wilhelm Streckfuss Artist's studio in Berlin 1860s watercolor Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
 |
| William Merritt Chase Studio Interior ca. 1882 oil on canvas Brooklyn Museum |
 |
| Harriet Backer Blue Interior 1883 oil on canvas National Gallery of Norway, Oslo |