The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. The Director is Margot Heller.
The gallery traces its origins back to the South London Working Men’s College at 91 Blackfriars Road in 1868, whose Principal was the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, the grandfather of Aldous Huxley; the Manager was William Rossiter. In 1878, the College relocated to 143 Kennington Lane, where a Free Library was also opened. In 1879 Rossiter staged an art show of privately owned works at the Library. After this the name was changed to the Free Library and Art Gallery. In 1881, the library and gallery moved again to New Road, Battersea, and in 1887 to 207 Camberwell Road.
Leading artists such as Sir Frederic Leighton, President of the Royal Academy, Edward Burne-Jones and G. F. Watts supported the institution; the Prime Minister, William Ewart Gladstone, was its first president, succeeded by Leighton in 1887.
On 4 May 1891, The South London Fine Art Gallery opened in Peckham Road in a new building in the grounds of Portland House, whose freehold Rossiter had purchased. In 1893, the Prince of Wales officially opened a lecture hall and library funded by newspaper owner John Passmore Edwards. In 1896, the Gallery was relocated at the Vestry of Camberwell. In 1898, Royal Academy President, Sir Edward Poynter opened a Technical Institute, which again had been funded by Passmore Edwards (to commemorate Lord Leighton who had died) on the site of Portland House. It later became Camberwell College of Art, which was run by the London County Council from 1904, though the Gallery was still under the local authority.
The Gallery added to its permanent collection in 1953, to celebrate the coronation, with works by contemporary artists such as John Piper and Christopher Wood, and the next decade acquired over 500 20th century prints. The new London Borough of Southwark took over responsibility for the Gallery in 1965 but under independent trustees.
