Young English artists returning from studying art in Paris mount the first exhibition of the New English Art Club in April 1886 n protest of the pseudoclassicism prevalent in the Royal Academy.

Among them are William Laidlay, Thomas Cooper Gotch, Frank Bramley, John Singer Sargent, Philip Wilson Steer, George Clausen and Stanhope Forbes.

Another founding member is G. P. Jacomb-Hood.

An early name suggested for the group was the 'Society of Anglo-French Painters', which gives some indication of their origins.

As a note in the catalogue to their first exhibition explains, 'This Club consists of 50 Members, who are more or less united in their art sympathies. They have associated themselves together with the view of holding an Annual Exhibition, hoping that a collective display of their works, which has hitherto been impossible, will prove not only of interest to the public, but will better explain the aim and method of their art.'

The Society will hold regular Spring and Autumn exhibitions, a number of which will be held at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London, until its demolition in 1905