History
The formation of the New Society of Artists (NSA) was announced in 1921. It was initially intended for artists whose works were “crowded out” from hanging by the RA, [1] and to give artists in the provinces a chance to exhibit in London. [2] The Provisional Council consisted of The Hon. John Collier, Mr Alex Maclean, Mr C R Chisman, Mr Henry S Kortright, Mr Percy Edsall and Mr Stafford Leake. [3] [4]
The inaugural exhibition was to have been at the Guildhall Art Gallery on 8 June, [5] but instead it opened at the Royal Society of British Artists in Suffolk Street, not far from the RA, on 3 July. [6] The location had been hired for five weeks each summer thanks to the efforts of Charles Robert Chisman [7] and Percy Edsall, “both secretaries of well-known art societies”. [5]
A Yorkshire newspaper reported that the exhibition opened with nearly 400 paintings and drawings, “and a very ordinary lot they are, showing in several instances marked imitative tendencies”. [4] One of the most prominent exhibitors was the Welsh artist Miss Margaret Lindsay Williams, with two works: “Lorenzo Babini” and “The Imprisoned Soul”. [8] Charles de Lacy reported that there had been a rush for membership of the new society. [6]
The following year, the first provincial exhibition of works by NSA members was opened by the Mayor on 10 February at the Museum and Art Gallery, Burton on Trent. [9] In April, a second such exhibition was opened in Worthing; it was greeted with lukewarm praise in the local press. [10] In June 1922, the second annual exhibition opened. It was “an improvement on the first, and less like a collection of Academy crowded-outs. Women provide much of the quality…” [11]
In 1923, the Westminster Gazette commented:
At the Suffolk-street Galleries there is the exhibition of the New Society of Artists. “New,” in this connexion, means lately formed, the general character of the work being that of a not very recent Academy exhibition. With the best will in the world it is impossible to say that the technical standard is high, too many of the works, particularly in portraiture, suggesting the anxiety of immature artists to come before the public. [12]
Others took a more parochial view. The Hampstead News, for example, said that "There is much in it to interest residents in Hampstead and St John's Wood, as so many well-known artists from these parts have sent exhibits. The Hanging Committee ... have done their work well". [13]
The regional exhibition in February 1924 was held in Northampton. [14] From there it moved to Cheltenham in March. [15] At the 1924 annual exhibition in London, excellent portraits by W Howard Robinson, Frank E Beresford, A Jonniaux and E Newling were highlighted among the 400 exhibits. [16]
The fifth annual show opened as usual at Suffolk Street in June 1925. One reviewer commented:
Members of the New Society pride themselves that their work does not belong to the modern school of painting. When they paint a spade it looks like a spade, and no one could possibly mistake it for a banana. There is, among the 334 paintings shown at the exhibition, a refreshing lack of attempt at subtlety. [17]
A significant change came in 1926, when the annual London show opened in January instead of the summer.
In June 1932 the annual exhibition opened in London, but this time under the name of the United Society of Artists; members were entitled to use the post-nominal UA. [18]
The main reasons for the name change were
The United Society of Artists, hitherto styled the New Society of Artists, has decided to disuse the latter title because, as the Society was established in 1921, it is no longer appropriate. It was also found to be inconvenient, as it gave the erroneous impression that it is a body of so-called “advanced” artists, which is not the case. The aim is rather, while interfering in no way with the freedom of the members, to adhere to and if possible develop the best traditions of British Art, in preference to imitating those of Continental nations. An additional reason for the change of name was to avoid any misunderstanding due to the use of the word New, which is part of the title of an older and more distinguished Art Society. [19]
The Society's 65th Annual Exhibition was held in London from 30 January to 10 February 1985, with an entrance fee of £1. [20] The last known exhibition was in Margate in June 2017. [21] A large number of the Society's annual exhibition catalogues is held at the National Art Library in London. [22]
