New English Art Club
The New English Art Club was founded in London in 1885 as an alternate venue to the Royal Academy. Scores of young British artists returning from studying art in Paris mounted the first exhibition in April 1886. Among them were John Singer Sargent and Wilson Steer.
The Impressionist style was well-represented at the NEAC in comparison to the old-school academic art shown at the R.A. For a time, the NEAC was seen as a stepping-stone to R.A. membership. Today the NEAC continues in a realistic, figurative style, while the R.A. has embraced abstract and conceptual art.