Glasgow Society of Lady Artists

Last updated
5 Blythswood Square, home to the Society until 1971. 5 Blythswood Square, The Glasgow Society Of Lady Artists' Club.jpg
5 Blythswood Square, home to the Society until 1971.

The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists was founded in 1882 by eight female students of the Glasgow School of Art with the aim of affording due recognition to women in the field of art. It has been described by Jude Burkhauser as "the first residential club in Scotland run by and for women". [1] In the early days of the club, they met at 136 Wellington Street, Glasgow. [2]

Contents

The names of the founding members are somewhat under discussion, but they are thought to include: first president Georgina Mossman Greenlees, Mrs Joseph Agnew, Elizabeth Patrick, Margaret M Campbell, Henrietta Robertson, treasurer Frieda Rohl, Jane Nisbet, Helen Salmon, Jane Cowan Wyper, Margaret Macdonald (not Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh), Isabella Ure and Mrs Provan. They were all students of staff at Glasgow School of Art, and were successful artists, teachers and art workers. [3] [2] Their first meeting, in 1882, was held in the studio of Robert Greenlees, who was the Head of Glasgow School of Art, and father of Georgina Greenlees. He helped the group write a book of rules. [1] The object of the society was "The study of Art, to be promoted by means of life classes and monthly meetings at which members will be required to exhibit sketches, and by an annual exhibition of members' work". [4]

By 1895, the group had accumulated sufficient funds to allow the purchase of a house at No. 5 Blythswood Square. [5] In their new premises it included a dining room, living room, bedrooms, studio space and a custom-designed gallery (added in 1895). [6] Having bedrooms within the clubs premises allowed the ladies to have a safe place to stay, where the ladies could stay alone without any questions asked, or judged by other members. The Glasgow Art Club was based close by on Bath Street, but they only admitted men (and would continue to do so until the 1980s).

Glasgow Society of Lady Artists' Club, external wall carving Glasgow Society of Lady Artists' Club, external wall carving.jpg
Glasgow Society of Lady Artists’ Club, external wall carving

By 1897 the partnership of George Henry Walton and Fred Rowntree had designed and constructed a gallery for the club's fourteenth annual exhibition. In 1898, a fire in the club buildings destroyed the early records of the club. [3] Another disastrous fire on 27 May 1901 destroyed the gallery and pictures for a special summer exhibition mounted in conjunction with the International Exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. The gallery was rebuilt to the design of George Henry Walton and the first exhibition was held on 25 October 1902.

In 1907 a decoration committee commissioned Charles Rennie Mackintosh to carry out certain interior work and the striking black pedimented neo-classical front door. Also in 1907, the society celebrated their 25th anniversary with an exhibition opened by Sir D. Y. Cameron in October that year.

A legacy by Gertrude Annie Lauder produced the Lauder Prize. That prize went to the best adjudged work of the annual exhibition of the society.

The club thrived over the following 64 years until 1971 when the building was sold to the Scottish Arts Council in the expectation that it would continue to be an arts venue, but the council did not do so.

Some members were determined to revive the society, which duly happened in 1975 when it was renamed The Glasgow Society of Women Artists with a Centenary Exhibition being held in the Collins Gallery in 1982. [7] [8] [9] [10]

The society continues today as The Glasgow Society of Women Artists, its primary objective being : ″The promotion of interest in Art and particularly in the work of women artists, fostering this by regular exhibitions of members' work and other related activities.″ [11]

Members

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Rennie Mackintosh</span> Scottish architect and artist (1868–1928)

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was a Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. His artistic approach had much in common with European Symbolism. His work, alongside that of his wife Margaret Macdonald, was influential on European design movements such as Art Nouveau and Secessionism and praised by great modernists such as Josef Hoffmann. Mackintosh was born in Glasgow and died in London. He is among the most important figures of Modern Style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh</span> English artist (1864–1933)

Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh was an English-born artist who worked in Scotland, and whose design work became one of the defining features of the Glasgow Style during the 1890s to 1900s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ann Macbeth</span> British artist and suffragette (1875–1948)

Ann Macbeth was a British embroiderer, designer, teacher and author, a member of the Glasgow Movement and an associate of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. She was also an active suffragette and designed banners for suffragists and suffragettes movements.

The Glasgow School was a circle of influential artists and designers that began to coalesce in Glasgow, Scotland in the 1870s, and flourished from the 1890s to around 1910. Representative groups included The Four, the Glasgow Girls and the Glasgow Boys. Part of the international Art Nouveau movement, they were responsible for creating the distinctive Glasgow Style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie M. King</span> Scottish illustrator (1875–1949)

Jessie Marion King was a Scottish illustrator known for her illustrated children's books. She also designed bookplates, jewellery and fabric, and painted pottery. King was one of the artists known as the Glasgow Girls. She was described in 1927 in the Aberdeen Press and Journal as "the pioneer of batik in Great Britain".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances MacDonald</span> Scottish artist (1873–1921)

Frances MacDonald MacNair was a Scottish artist whose design work was a prominent feature of the Modern Style during the 1890s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Newbery</span> Scottish artist (1864–1948)

Jessie Newbery was a Scottish artist and embroiderer. She was one of the artists known as the Glasgow Girls. Newbery also created the Department of Embroidery at the Glasgow School of Art where she was able to establish needlework as a form of unique artistic design. She married the director of the Glasgow School of Art, Francis Newbery, in 1889.

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

Glasgow Art Club is a club in Glasgow for artists and non-artists interested in the creation and enjoyment of art - all illustrative arts, sculptures, poetry, prose, plays, music, song, choreography and dance. To advance, promote and encourage the arts in all forms. Each year it has a range of exhibitions, events and concerts, open to the public for their enjoyment; and, subject to club events, a number of its rooms are available as venues for social occasions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bessie MacNicol</span> Scottish painter (1869–1904)

Elizabeth MacNicol (1869–1904) was a Scottish painter and member of the Glasgow Girls group of artists affiliated with the Glasgow School of artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annie French</span> Scottish artist (1872–1965)

Annie French was a Scottish painter, engraver, illustrator, and designer associated with the Glasgow School.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Paxton Brown</span> Scottish artist (1876–1956)

Helen Paxton Brown also known as "Nell", was an artist associated with the Glasgow Girls. Born in Hillhead, Glasgow to a Scottish father and English mother and she spent most of her life in Glasgow. Best known for her painting and embroidering she also worked in a range of mediums such as leather, book binding and also painted china.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stansmore Dean Stevenson</span> Scottish painter (1866–1944)

Stansmore Richmond Leslie Dean Stevenson was a Scottish artist known for her oil paintings. She was a member of a group of women artists and designers known as the Glasgow Girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Courcy Lewthwaite Dewar</span> Scottish metalwork designer (1878–1959)

De Courcy Lewthwaite Dewar was a decorative metalwork designer, and member of the Glasgow Girls group of artists during the 1890/1900s.

Peter Wylie Davidson (1870–1963) was a Scottish sculptor and silversmith who taught decorative metalwork at the Glasgow School of Art from 1897 to 1935.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessie Keppie</span> Scottish artist

Jessie Keppie (1868-1951) was an artist from Glasgow, Scotland, described as one of the "leading women proponents of the Glasgow Style".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Aitken (artist)</span> Scottish artist

Janet Macdonald Aitken CBE (1873–1941) was a Scottish portrait and landscape painter. She was described by Jude Burkhauser as "one of the leading women proponents of the Glasgow Style."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agnes Raeburn</span> Scottish artist

Agnes Middleton Raeburn (1872-1955) was a Scottish member of the informal group of artists known as "The Immortals".

Jane Younger (1863–1955) was a Scottish artist known for her watercolour paintings and embroidery work.

Georgina Mossman Greenlees (1849–1932) was a Scottish artist known for her landscape painting. She was an advocate for art education and practice for women.

References

  1. 1 2 Burkhauser, Jude (1990). Glasgow Girls: Women in Art and Design 1880-1920. Canongate.
  2. 1 2 Brownrigg, Jenny. "The ladies would seem to have turned their attention: tracing the founding members' of Glasgow Society of Lady Artists" (PDF). Glasgow School of Art. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 Dewar, de Courcy Lewthwaite (1950). History of the Glasgow Soctey of Lady Artists. Glasgow: Robert Maclehose and Company.
  4. ↑ Glasgow Society of Lady Artists Club Book of Rules. 1882.
  5. ↑ Glasgow's Blythswood by Graeme Smith, 2021, www.blythswoodsmith.co.uk
  6. ↑ Kacir, Rachel (28 October 2021). "A roomful of radicals? The Glasgow Society of Lady Artists". Glasgow City Heritage Trust. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "Collins Gallery - University of Strathclyde". Archived from the original on 28 January 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  8. ↑ "Glasgow Society of Women Artists". Archived from the original on 6 October 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "Charles Rennie Mackintosh - 5 Blythswood Square". www.armin-grewe.com.
  10. ↑ Glasgow Society of Women Artists https://www.gswa.org.uk/
  11. ↑ https://www.gswa.org.uk/
  12. ↑ Dumbarton -School of Art : Lennox Herald - Saturday 26 November 1892
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.