Ben Uri Gallery and Museum was founded 100 years ago in July 1915 in Whitechapel in London's East End by Russian-Jewish emigre Lazar Berson and likeminded, mostly emigre, artists and craftsmen, who were unable to access the cultural bastions of the British art establishment. From its inception as an Art Society in 1915, steeped in a vibrant Yiddish culture, to its position today as the only specialist Jewish museum of art in Europe working wholly in the mainstream, Ben Uri's unique international collection has grown to more than 1,300 artworks across a wide range of subjects and media, created by more than 380 artists, primarily (but not exclusively) of Jewish origin and from 35 countries.