Societies of Art

Exhibiting Societies.

(a) Old Established.—Those in Lon don are: The Royal Academy, the Royal Water Colour Society, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Royal Insti tute of Oil Painters and the Royal Society of British Artists. In the provinces, the Birmingham Royal Society of Artists has been in existence since 1825, and has a life academy with professors at tached. (h) Modern.—In this category are those which reflect the new spirit which came into artistic life in the last quarter of the 19th century. The New English Art Club, founded in 1885 as a protest against academic art, achieves its purpose by exhibi tion only, yet it is ironical to add that many of its members have been taken into the Royal Academy. The International Society of Painters and Engravers again represents the wider ideas of the 2oth century, but, owing to the lack of a fixed home, is compelled to hold its exhibitions infrequently. The Royal Society of Painter Etchers and Engravers, consisting of fellows and associates, not exceeding 15o in all, conserves the interests of a large body of workers, and, in addition to holding exhibitions, confers diplomas (R.E. and A.R.E.) on the exhibitors of meritorious etchings or engravings. The Society of Women Artists (formerly the Society of Lady Artists) and the Women's International Art club hold annual exhibitions. In 1891 the (now Royal) Society of Portrait Painters was formed to carry out the object conveyed in its title, but this society and the National Portrait Society suffer, similarly to the International Society, from the lack of a gallery. Undeterred by these obstacles the Portrait Society held an inaugu ral exhibition in 1928. Two associations advance the art of the miniature-painter, and the Pastel Society, formed in 1898, holds displays of members' work at the Royal Institute Galleries. Other London art societies which achieve their purpose by the holding of periodical exhibitions are such as the Society of Graphic Art for the display of every type of monochrome ; the New Society of Artists, founded in 1921 ; the Ridley Art club (1889) ; the Old Dudley Art Society; the New Forest Group and the London Group of modernist painters. In Scotland there is the Royal Scottish Academy. The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Water Colours (Glasgow) grants the title R.S.W. to its members, and the Society of Scottish Artists (Edinburgh), founded in 1891, has a membership of nearly 30o young artists; the artist members and lay members of the Paisley Art Institute which has held an annual exhibition since 1876, number i,000. There is also a flourishing art society in Dundee. Other exhibiting societies which call for mention are: the Society of Yorkshire Artists (Leeds), which consolidates many local societies; the Nottingham Society of Artists, which also encourages drawing from the living model; the Liver Sketching Club, founded in 1872, which holds an annual exhibition ; the Oxford Art Society, founded in 1891; the Bath Society of Artists (1904) ; the Shef field Society of Artists; the South Wales Art Society at Cardiff and the Royal Institution of South Wales Art Society at Swansea.

The Belfast Art Society has held exhibitions since 1879, and the membership exceeds 300. In the Dominions the Ontario Society of Artists has held displays in Toronto since 1872, and the British Columbia Art League, founded in Vancouver in 1921, is a very enterprising association.

Societies of Instruction and Popular Encouragement.— In this category the most important is the National Art Collec tions Fund, already mentioned. The Artists' Society, the Art

Workers' Guild, and the Junior Art Workers' Guild, provide meetings, from which the public is excluded, where profitable dis cussions take place on questions of craft and design. The old Langham Sketching Club (1838) and the London Sketch Club may also be cited as furthering an artist's knowledge. The old Society of Arts in the Adelphi, founded in 1754, has in recent years devised a scheme by which travelling scholarships and awards are made to student-workers in industrial art design. The Royal Drawing Society, 1888, has for its object the teaching of drawing as a means of education.

The great wave of enthusiasm aroused by Ruskin's teach ings caused Societies of the Rose to be founded in London, Man chester, Sheffield, Birmingham, Aberdeen and Glasgow; but some of these eventually ceased active work, to be revived again, how ever, by the Ruskin Union, formed in the year of the writer's death (1900). The Home Arts and Industries Association con tinues a work which was started in 1884, and anticipated much of the present system of technical education.

Societies of Special Study, Practice and Protection.— Under this head should be placed those associations which affect a cult, or are composed of particular workers, or which protect public or private interests. The most important of these is a society which has never yet held an exhibition, the Royal Society of British Sculptors (1904). The Blake Society and the Wren Society throw further light on the work of the great seer and the great architect. The Vasari Society, founded in 1905, carries on the work of reproducing drawings by the old masters. In this category of special study may also be placed the Egypt Explora tion Society and the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The number of societies devoted to the art of engrav ing and lithography in their various forms prove unfounded the old fear that photographic processes would cause these graphic arts to become extinct. As an instance of the tendency of art workers to combine, the National Society of Art Masters is a good illustration. This is an association of teachers of art schools, controlled by the art branch of the Board of Education, and has a membership of over 300. Good work of another kind occupies the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty. The council of the trust includes 25 representa tives of such bodies as the National Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, the Society of Antiquaries, the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Uni versities, Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Selborne Society. (X.) In the United States there are more than 600 art societies and associations, not counting endowed institutions or art schools, or even art departments of clubs organized for social or general educational purposes. Of this number nearly 200 are professional organizations—painters, sculptors, architects, craftsmen banded together for mutual benefit and the advancement of their art ; 40 or more are associations, chiefly of laymen, sponsoring and directing the development of art galleries or museums; the re mainder, and the majority, are organizations composed of laymen who have come together to spread knowledge and appreciation of art either locally or throughout the country. Of each kind of organization described in this article there are not one or two but many, yet almost all of the 600 and more will be found to fall naturally into one or another of these types.