SOCIETIES OF ART. According to a pious tradition St. Luke was a painter, and for that reason, one of the earliest art societies, the Guild of St. Luke in Florence, bore his name. Certain it is that, in banding themselves into societies and asso ciations, artists have always been especially remarkable. The fundamental motive of such leaguing together is apparent, for, by the establishment of societies, it becomes possible for the work ing members of these to hold exhibitions and thereby to, obtain some compensation or publicity for their labours.
The growth of cults and the specializing of work have given rise to many new associations in Great Britain, besides the Royal Academy. (See ACADEMY, ROYAL.) At the outset, therefore, it will be well to mention the leading art societies. The (now Royal) Society of Painters in Water Colours, founded in 1804, and the (now Royal) Society of British Artists (1823), are typical of those societies which exist merely for purposes of holding exhibitions and conferring diplomas of membership. The British Institution (for the encouragement of British artists) was started in 1806 on a plan formed by Sir Thomas Bernard; and in the gallery pictures were exhibited from time to time till 1867, when the lease of the premises expired. A few years later, scholarships in painting, sculpture, architecture and engraving were instituted, and they are still annually awarded. The Artists' Society was formed in 183o to enable its members to perfect themselves in their arts. In the furtherance of a cult the Japan Society, devoted to the encouragement of the study of the arts and industries of Japan, is a typical example. Others in this category are the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, the Egypt Exploration So ciety, the India Society, the Vasari Society, the Walpole Society, the Blake Society and the Wren Society. The Society of Master Glass-Painters, the Church Crafts League, the Society of Parson Painters, the Society of Wood-Engravers, the Society of Mural Decorators and Painters in Tempera, the Society of Graver Painters in Colour, the Colour-Woodcut Society, the Senefelder club and the Woodblock Society are representative of bodies formed in the interests of particular groups of workers. One of the
remarkable features in the history of art in Great Britain has been the rapid increase of the artistic rank and file. At the end of 1927 it was estimated that there were quite io,000 practising art ists and designers. Portrait painters, pastellists, miniaturists, women artists, etc. have felt the necessity of organization.
Not until 1903, however, did a society exist in England with the determined object to enlist the sympathies and activities of every kind of art lover, either professional or lay, to help the national art institutions to acquire some of the treasures which were rapidly being bought up by millionaire collectors in other countries. This National Art Collections Fund has had some astonishing successes. At the beginning of 1928 the membership of this patriotic association was nearly 7,000. In this connection the Contemporary Art Society, founded in 191o, should also be mentioned. Founded three years earlier, the Scottish Modern Art Association continues to do similar work in Scotland. In 1909 the Imperial Arts League was formed to provide a central organization to which all members can appeal for advice or as sistance in matters of professional business.
Another important society, The Faculty of Arts, was founded in 1921 to cover an even wider field, as it embraces the kindred arts of music and the drama. The British Confederation of Arts is the British section of that international Confederation des Travailleurs Intellectuels which has its headquarters in Paris, where the fourth international was held in 1927.
Societies created for the specializing of some study or for the display or protection of some particular branch of practice are tinged more with the spirit of the old guilds than with that of modern trade unionism, such as the British Institute of In dustrial Art, with which is incorporated the Civic Arts Associa tion, and the Design and Industries Association. The parent body of these is the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society.