Portland Gallery

The National Institution of Fine Arts was a short-lived Victorian-era art society founded in London to provide alternative exhibition space for artists. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown notably exhibited there. The organisation began as the "Institution for the Free Exhibition of Modern Art" in 1847 ("Free Exhibition" for short), and mounted shows from 1848–49 in a temporary building known as "St. George's Gallery" on Knightsbridge (road), next to Hyde Park, London. Its purpose was stated in an 1848 catalogue, "Freedom for the Artist, certainty of Exhibition for his works, and the Improvement of the Public Taste." The society then changed its name to the "National Institution of Fine Arts" ("National Institution" for short) and from 1850–61 exhibited works at the old Portland Gallery at 316 Regent Street. The National Institution aimed to provide a less-restrictive and more equitable alternative to the established exhibitions at places like the Royal Academy. The organisers allocated space by lottery, so there was no favouritism, allowed artists more control over the display of their pictures, and space was cheaper — making it more accessible to women artists who suffered discrimination by other exhibiting bodies. The exhibition was "free" in the sense that any artist was welcome to exhibit. Dante Gabriel Rossetti exhibited his first major oil painting, The Girlhood of Mary Virgin, at the Free Exhibition in March 1849, and in April 1850 Ecce Ancilla Domini at the National Institution. Ford Madox Brown also exhibited there in 1848 with Wycliffe reading his Translation of the New Testament to John of Gaunt and in 1849 with The Young Mother and Lear and Cordelia. Robert Scott Lauder was the first president of the National Institution. Chambers's Edinburgh Journal described exhibitors at the National Institution as "..mainly composed of dissenters from the other associations — gentlemen who conceive that they have been ill-treated by Hanging Committees, and a large class of juvenile but promising artists, who resort to the less crowded institutions in the hope of there meeting with better places for their works than in the older and more established bodies".

St James's Street is the principal street in the district of St James's, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall. The main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road; in the 17th century, Clarendon House faced down the street across Piccadilly from the site of what is now Albemarle Street.

White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London.

50 St James's Street is a Grade II listed house in St James's Street, St James's, London SW1, opposite White's Club. It was built in 1827, and designed by the architects Benjamin Wyatt and Philip Wyatt, as Crockford's, a gentleman's club. It was altered from 1870–75 by C. J. Phipps.From 1999 to 2009, a luxury casino named Fifty, owned by Robert Earl, operated on the premises.Next, the property was secured by Luca Del Bono, an Anglo-Italian property developer. To this end, in 2011, Westminster City Council approved plans to create a members' club, spa, 14-bedroom hotel, and two public restaurants.In 2014, the property was bought by the Russian billionaire Andrey Goncharenko for £70 million, apparently with the intention of converting it to residential use. The building sat empty, until it was occupied by squatters in 2017.

Crockford's, the popular name for William Crockford's St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved. It was established in 1823, closed in 1845, re-founded in 1928 and closed in 1970. One of London's older clubs, it was centred on gambling and maintained a somewhat raffish and raucous reputation. It was founded by William Crockford who employed Benjamin Wyatt and Philip Wyatt to construct the city's most opulent palace of gentlemanly pleasure, which opened in November 1827. and he employed two of London's finest chefs of the time, Louis Eustache Ude and then Charles Elmé Francatelli to feed its members, food and drink being supplied free after midnight.From 1823, the club leased 50 St. James's Street, and then nos. 51–53, which enabled Crockford to pull down all four houses and build his palatial club on the site. After the club's closure, this continued to be used as a clubhouse, at first briefly by the short-lived Military, Naval and County Service Club, and then between 1874 and 1976 it was home to the Devonshire Club. The current Crockfords, though using much of the "Crocky" imagery and high-end reputation, has no connection with the original club and operates from an entirely different building at nearby 30 Curzon Street.

The Devonshire Club was a London gentlemen's club which was established in 1874 and was disbanded in 1976. Throughout its existence it was based at 50 St James's Street. The major Liberal club of the day was the Reform Club, but in the wake of the 1868 Reform Act's extension of the franchise, the waiting list for membership from the larger electorate grew to such an extent that a new club was formed to accommodate these new Liberal voters. The clubhouse was on the western side of St James's Street. The original intention was to call it the 'Junior Reform Club', along the model of the Junior Carlton Club formed in 1866, but complaints from the Reform Club's members led it to being named the Devonshire, in honour of its first chairman, the Duke of Devonshire, an aristocrat from a long line of Liberals. The club was fortunate in obtaining the St James's Street premises of Crockford's Club, a renowned eighteenth century club which had closed down in 1845. The Devonshire did well in its first decade, but found itself in an awkward position from the 1880s upon the establishment of the National Liberal Club. With a further extension of the franchise in 1885, the much larger National Liberal was aimed at these new electors, and the Devonshire came to possess neither the prestige of Brooks's or the Reform, nor the broader appeal of the National Liberal. The Devonshire soon lost its political flavour. In the 1960s the Golfers Club shared the premises using a club room at the back of the building and there was also a Masonic temple on site, catering for those lodges without premises. After a great deal of financial trouble in the 1970s (mirrored in many other clubs of the time, including the Reform, the Carlton, the St James's, the United University, the Junior Carlton, the Army and Navy, and the United Service Club), it finally closed in 1976, with its membership being absorbed by the East India Club.

Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world.

Boodle's is a London gentlemen's club, founded in January 1762, at No. 50 Pall Mall, London, by Lord Shelburne, the future Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The Representative of Bermuda in London is the diplomatic mission of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda in the United Kingdom. It is located in a multi-use office building in St James's. Unlike most diplomatic missions there is no flag or plaque indicating its existence, only a small label on the door-buzzer.

Le Caprice was a restaurant in London's St James's area famous for being frequented by celebrities. It was originally opened by Marco Gallati in 1947 at 20 Arlington St. Famous patrons included Princess Diana.It closed in 2020. Its owners plan to reopen it in a new location.

Arlington is a restaurant located at 20 Arlington Street in London's St James's area. Between 1947 and 2020 the building was occupied by Le Caprice, formerly run by Jeremy King and his then business partner Chris Corbin. It has been described as an 'unabashedly sentimental remastering of Le Caprice' with a similar menu and interior. It launched on 11 March 2024, following a soft opening during the week prior. Giles Coren, writing in The Times, described the food as 'sort of stuff that you really can eat every day'.

Pratt's is a gentlemen's club in London. It was established in 1857, with premises in a house in Park Place, off St James's Street, and close to the Ritz London.