 Following the Walpole sale many artists , including James Barry and John Flaxman , had made renewed calls for the establishment of a National Gallery , arguing that a British school of painting could only flourish if it had access to the canon of European painting . The British Institution , founded in 1805 by a group of aristocratic connoisseurs , attempted to address this situation . The members lent works to exhibitions that changed annually , while an art school was held in the summer months . However , as the paintings that were lent were often mediocre , some artists resented the Institution and saw it as a racket for the gentry to increase the sale prices of their Old Master paintings . One of the Institution 's founding members , Sir George Beaumont , Bt , would eventually play a major role in the National Gallery 's foundation by offering a gift of 16 paintings . 
