The Charcoal Club has been an arts club in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, on an intermittent basis since 1883.
Started as the Sketch Club in 1883 by a group of male artists in Baltimore who "desired to draw and paint from life" (meaning nude models), the Charcoal Club was incorporated in 1885. [1] [2] The founding officers included Adalbert J. Volck. Joseph Evans Sperry, Alfred Winfield Strahan, and Lee Woodward Zeigler. [3] [4] [5] The Club held exhibitions of local and national artists and its "annual juried exhibition of contemporary American art [was]...from 1911 to 1926...the high point of Baltimore's brief art season". [6] The club was also known for its wild annual "Bal des Arts", and in the 1920s many New York City-based artist would attend. [6] [7]
In 1991, the Charcoal Club decided to allow the admission of women artists to the club. [8] The club is known for a focus on traditional art techniques and realism. [8]
Charcoal Club of Baltimore incorporated 1885