Chelsea Arts Club

Last updated

The Chelsea Arts Club
Formation21 March 1891
Headquarters London, England, United Kingdom
Location
  • 143 Old Church Street, London SW3 6EB
Region served
London
Membership
2,400+
Website http://www.chelseaartsclub.com

Chelsea Arts Club is a private members' club at 143 Old Church Street in Chelsea, London with a membership of over 3,800, including artists, sculptors, architects, writers, designers, actors, musicians, photographers, and filmmakers. The club was established on 21 March 1891 (in Chelsea), as a rival to the older Arts Club in Mayfair, on the instigation of the artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, who had been a (sometimes controversial) member of the older club.

Contents

During its primary season from September–June Chelsea Arts Club serves as a host for many functions, from instrumental and choral performances to visual arts exhibitions, literary talks, weekend artist lunches and themed parties. [1]

Applicants for membership need to be sponsored by two current Members.

The club is located in the former Bolton Lodge, a Grade II listed building on the National Heritage List for England. [2]

History

The Chelsea Art Ball by William Gordon Burn Murdoch Chelsea Arts Ball by William Gordon Burn Murdoch.jpg
The Chelsea Art Ball by William Gordon Burn Murdoch

Chelsea Arts Club was originally located in rooms at no. 181 King's Road. In 1902, the club moved to larger premises at no. 143 Old Church Street. In 1933 the club's premises, which had an acre of garden, were remodeled. [3] The clubhouse includes a snooker room, bedrooms, dining room, former 'ladies bar' turned private party room, and a garden.

From 1908 to 1958 the club held a series of public fancy dress balls at the Albert Hall, latterly on New Year's Eve, which raised funds for artists' charities. [3] In 1958, balls were banned from the Albert Hall owing to their notoriety for rowdiness, nudity and public homosexuality (illegal before 1967). [4] [5] Subsequently, private functions were held at the club instead, with similarly lavish decorations and themes. [3]

In 1966 the club was redecorated, a new bar was opened, and membership was opened to women artists.

The building painted with dazzle camouflage Chelsea Arts Club - dazzle.jpg
The building painted with dazzle camouflage

Although normally a plain white building, the club exterior is occasionally painted to coincide with a themed event. It has been painted by set designer Tony Common. In 2010 it was painted bright colours with images of circus performers, and in 2011 was painted to appear as if it had been bombed in order to coincide with celebrations marking 70 years since the end of The Blitz.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gentlemen's club</span> Members-only private club

A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally set up by men from Britain's upper classes in the 18th and succeeding centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costume party</span> Fancy dress party

A costume party or fancy dress party is a type of party, common in contemporary Western culture, in which many of the guests are dressed in costume, usually depicting a fictional or stock character, or historical figure. Such parties are popular in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, especially during Halloween.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social season (United Kingdom)</span> Annual period when the social elite holds social events

The social season, or season, refers to the traditional annual period in the spring and summer when it is customary for members of the social elite of British society to hold balls, dinner parties and charity events. Until the First World War, it was also the appropriate time to reside in the city rather than in the country in order to attend such events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devonshire Club</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Arts Club</span> London private members club

The Arts Club is a London private members' club in Dover Street, Mayfair, founded in 1863 by Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and Lord Leighton among others. It remains a meeting place for men and women involved in the creative arts either professionally or as patrons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naval and Military Club</span> Private members club in London, England

The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members' club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for officers of the Navy and Army. It now also accepts female members, and members who have not served in the armed forces, but continues to observe service traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caledonian Club</span> Members club in Belgravia, London, England

The Caledonian Club is a prestigious Scottish-focused London members' club located at 9 Halkin Street SW1, near Belgrave Square in Belgravia, London, SW1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Stephen's Club</span>

St Stephen's Club was a private member's club in Westminster, London, founded in 1870.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Den Norske Klub</span>

Den Norske Klub is a social club based in London. It was founded on 17 May 1887. Its members are Norwegians living in London or Britons with a connection to or interest in Norway. It is the oldest club of its kind in the UK and is still an important meeting place for the Norwegian community in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Belgian Club</span>

The Anglo-Belgian Club was a private members' club located in Northumberland Avenue, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pratt's</span> Gentlemans club in London, England

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James's Club</span>

The St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club which operated between 1857 and 1978. It was founded by two leading diplomats and its members continued to be largely diplomats and authors. It was first established in Bennet Street, and after a brief spell in Mayfair, moved to 106 Piccadilly by 1868. In the final quarter of the twentieth century many gentlemen’s clubs of London suffered from declining membership, and in 1978 the St James's Club merged with Brooks's Club and vacated its premises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Cavendish Club</span> London private members club

The New Cavendish Club was a London private members' club, run along the lines of a traditional gentlemen's club, although it had been founded as a Ladies-only club. It was located at 44-48 Great Cumberland Place in the Marylebone district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Carlton Club</span>

The Junior Carlton Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1864 and was disbanded in 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Room Club</span> Club in London

The Green Room Club was a London-based club, primarily for actors, but also for lovers of theatre, arts and music. It was established in 1877 in a restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, and moved to premises on Adam Street in 1955, where it remained until its closure in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burlington Fine Arts Club</span>

The Burlington Fine Arts Club was a London gentlemen's club based at 17 Savile Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athenaeum Club, London</span> Club and Grade I listed building in United Kingdom

The Athenaeum is a gentlemen's club in London, founded in 1824. It is primarily a club for men and women with intellectual interests, and particularly for those who have attained some distinction in science, engineering, literature or the arts. Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday were the first chairman and secretary and 51 Nobel Laureates have been members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of London Club</span>

The City of London Club was established in 1832 and is the oldest of the gentlemen's clubs based in the City of London. Its Italian Palladian-style building was designed by English architect Philip Hardwick. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was its royal patron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Sketch Club</span> London members club

The London Sketch Club is a private members' club for artists working in the field of commercial graphic art, mainly for newspapers, periodicals, and books.

The Chelsea College of Aeronautical and Automobile Engineering was an independent and private educational organisation established in 1924 by its principal, S C H Roberts as the Automobile Engineering College. It was formally expanded to include aeronautical engineering in 1931 in association with Brooklands School of Flying.

References

  1. "The Best Private Members' Clubs London: Insider's Top Picks". Velloy. 13 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  2. Historic England, "Bolton Lodge (1225774)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 8 January 2017
  3. 1 2 3 "History | Chelsea Arts Club". chelseaartsclub.com. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  4. Gavaghan, Julian (30 December 2013). "On This Day: The Chelsea Arts Ball – London's most 'scandalous' New Year's Eve Party – is staged for last time". Yahoo News.
  5. "The Chelsea Arts Ball, 1947: The Most Scandalous Party of New Year's Eve". Messy Nessy Chic. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2016.

51°29′17″N0°10′29″W / 51.4880°N 0.1746°W / 51.4880; -0.1746