The fellows diploma of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, produced by member George W. Eve in 1904.
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), known until 1991 as the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, is a leading art institution based in London, England. The Royal Society of Painter-Etchers, as it was originally styled, was a society of etchers established in London in 1880 and given a Royal Charter in 1888. Engraving was included within the scope of the Society from 1897, wood-engraving from 1920, coloured original prints from 1957, lithography from 1987 and all forms of creative forward-thinking original printmaking from 1990.
The Society was established on 31 July 1880 at 38 Hertford Street, Mayfair, London, as the Society of Painter-Etchers for the promotion of original etching as a creative art form, inspired by the French group of the same name which existed in Paris. The first six Fellows, all elected at this formation were Francis Seymour Haden (English, 1818–1910); Heywood Hardy (English, 1852–1926); Hubert von Herkomer RA (German/English, 1849–1914); Alphonse Legros (French, 1837–1911); Robert Walker Macbeth RA, (Scottish, 1848–1910), and James Tissot (French, 1836–1902). Samuel Palmer (English, 1805–1881) – one of only two painter-etchers to be granted posthumous Honorary Fellowship of the RE – was terminally ill at the time of the Society's formation, otherwise would have been approached. James McNeill Whistler (American, 1834–1903) who was in Venice at the time of the RE's founding, had a row with his brother-in-law, Haden, and was not invited to join. Letters in support were written to the fledging Society by Frederick Leighton, then President of the Royal Academy, John Ruskin, Charles Dickens, John Everett Millais, and Auguste Rodin, amongst others. This Society achieved its Royal Charter granted by Queen Victoria in 1888 who bestowed on the President a gold chain of office, becoming the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and in 1898 this was enlarged to include Engravers. Fellow, George W. Eve, designed a new Associates and Fellows diploma in 1893 and 1904.[1]
By 1911, when HM King George V granted a Charter of Incorporation and Bye-laws, the RE, as it came to be styled, had grown in prestige and became fully established. From 1919, in token of solidarity, Presidents of the Royal Academy and the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) have been elected Honorary Fellows of the RE. The RE's original motto – "Never Stoop to be a Copyist" – changed to "Nulla Dies Sine Linea" (No Day Without A Line) in 1920.[citation needed]
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (formerly Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers) has had thirteen presidents (PRE) since 1880. They were: Sir Francis Seymour Haden (founder and PRE from 1880 to 1910), Professor Sir Francis Job Short (PRE from 1910 to 1938), Professor Malcolm Osborne MBE (PRE from 1938 to 1962), Professor Robert Austin (PRE from 1962 to 1970), Paul Drury (PRE from 1970 to 1975), Harry Eccleston OBE (PRE from 1975 to 1989), and Joseph Winkelman (PRE from 1989 to 1991), when the Society was renamed. Winkelman continued as president until 1995. Presidents elected by Members after this were Dr David Carpanini (PRE from 1995 to 2003), Anita Klein (PRE from 2003 to 2006), Hilary Paynter (PRE from 2006 to 2011), Dr Bren Unwin (PRE from 2011 to 2013), Mychael Barratt (PRE from 2013 to 2018).[citation needed]
Professor Dr David Ferry was elected President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 2018. To support the President and help direct the affairs of the Society there is an RE Council and four RE Officers as outlined in the RE Charter: these are Vice-president Michelle Griffiths (VPRE from 2018), Hon. Treasurer Louise Hayward (since 2019), Hon. Curator (Historian & Archivist) Edward Twohig (since 2021) and current Hon. Secretary of the RE is Professor Timothy Emlyn Jones (since 2022).[2]
Membership
Membership, which was and still is restricted in number in order to make it a mark of distinction, is by election on the basis of work submitted to the Society's Council for peer review. In 1920 membership was expanded to allow artists who created prints from media other than metal, which allowed the election of woodcut artists such as Gwen Raverat and Noel Rooke. Another innovation in the same year was the formation of a Print Collectors' Club to be limited to 300 members each of whom received a commissioned annual presentation print by members of the RE. Unusual in any Royal Society was the fact that work by women and men was treated equally from the outset: election based on the quality of work regardless of gender and nationality.[citation needed]
Full Fellows are entitled to use the post-nominals RE. Associates, a class of members established in 1887, can use ARE. ARE's are elevated to RE full membership by majority vote election by the RE Council.[citation needed]
↑ Moran, Mary Nimmo (31 May 2012). "Goose Pond"(PDF). Center for Fine Print Research. University of the West of England, Bristol. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
Newbolt A.R.E., Sir Francis (1930). The History of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers, 1880–1930. London: Publication No. 9, The Print Collector's Club (P.C.C. of The Royal Society of Painter Printmakers)
Hopkinson Hon. R.E., Martin (1999). No day without a line. The History of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, 1880–1999. Oxford: Ashmolean Museum.
Twohig R.E., Edward (2018). Print REbels: Haden-Palmer-Whistler and the Origins of the R.E. (Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers) published by the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers ISBN978-1-5272-1775-1
Alphonse Legros was a French, later British, painter, etcher, sculptor, and medallist. He moved to London in 1863 and later was naturalized as British. He was important as a teacher in the British etching revival.
Sir Francis Seymour Haden PPRE, was an English surgeon, better known as an original etcher who championed original printmaking. He was at the heart of the Etching Revival in Britain, and one of the founders of the Society of Painter-Etchers, now the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, as its first president. He was also a collector and scholar of Rembrandt's prints.
Bankside Gallery is a public art gallery in Bankside, London, England. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980, Bankside is an educational charity, situated on the Thames Path just along from Tate Modern.
Sir Charles Holroyd RE was an English painter, original printmaker and curator during the late Victorian and Edwardian eras up to and including the First World War. He was Keeper of the Tate from 1897 to 1906, Director of the National Gallery from 1906 to 1916 and Assessor (Vice-President) of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers from 1902 to 1917.
Sir Francis Job Short PPRE was a British printmaker and teacher of printmaking. He revived the practices of mezzotint and pure aquatint, while expanding the expressive power of line in drypoint, etching and engraving. Short also wrote about printmaking to educate a wider public and was President of the Royal Society of Painter Etcher & Engavers from 1910 to 1938. He was a member of the Art Workers' Guild and was elected Master in 1901.
The etching revival was the re-emergence and invigoration of etching as an original form of printmaking during the period approximately from 1850 to 1930. The main centres were France, Britain and the United States, but other countries, such as the Netherlands, also participated. A strong collector's market developed, with the most sought-after artists achieving very high prices. This came to an abrupt end after the 1929 Wall Street crash wrecked what had become a very strong market among collectors, at a time when the typical style of the movement, still based on 19th-century developments, was becoming outdated.
Sir David Young Cameron was a Scottish painter and, with greater success, etcher, mostly of townscapes and landscapes in both cases. He was a leading figure in the final decades of the Etching Revival.
The California Society of Printmakers (CSP) is the oldest continuously operating association of printmakers and friends of printmakers in the United States. CSP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization with an international membership of print artists and supporters of the art of fine printmaking. CSP promotes professional development and opportunity for printmakers, and educates artists and the public about printmaking. New members are admitted by portfolio review. Friends, Institutional and Business members are admitted by fee. CSP is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
Robert Sargent Austin RA PPRWS PPRE was a noted artist, illustrator, engraver and currency designer and widely considered to be one of Britain's leading mid-twentieth century printmakers.
Malcolm OsbornePPRE was a British original printmaker known for his intaglio prints of landscapes, urban views and portraits.
Henry John Fanshawe Badeley, 1st Baron Badeley, KCB, CBE, known as Sir Henry Badeley between 1935 and 1949, was a British civil servant and engraver. He was Clerk of the Parliaments from 1934 to 1949.
Alfred Brunet-Debaines was a French artist and printmaker who depicted street scenes and architecture, and who was the son of the architect Charles-Louis-Fortuné Brunet-Debaines. In 1863, he began his art studies at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. During this period he learned etching techniques under masters such as Maxime Lalanne and Jules-Ferdinand Jacquemart (1837–1880). Brunet-Debaines exhibited his first etchings at the Paris Salon in 1866. Around 1870, he was invited to England by writer and critic Philip Gilbert Hamerton who commissioned him to contribute original etchings to his publications, the monthly magazine The Portfolio and Etching and Etchers. Brunet-Debaines thus spent a considerable part of his prolific career in London and Scotland, and regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1872 and 1886. Museums in France and Britain include examples of his etchings in their permanent collections. In 1882, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.
George William Eve, (1855-1914) was an English etcher, who designed bookplates and also several important British stamps. He was an authority on heraldry, a member of the Heralds' College, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers and a member of the Art Workers' Guild. When the Painter-Etchers and Engravers required a new diploma, it was Eve who was chosen from amongst their ranks to create it.
Geoffrey Heath Wedgwood, ARCA, RE was a British etcher and engraver, best known for his architectural etchings.
Charles William Sherborn, was an English engraver, who chiefly made bookplates. He has been hailed as having led the revival in copper-engraved bookplates, and came to be called the "Victorian little master".
David Lawrence Carpanini is a Welsh artist, etcher, teacher and printmaker whose drawings, paintings and etchings are mostly concerned with the natural and industrial landscapes of South Wales. He was President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (1995–2003) and was Professor of Art at the University of Wolverhampton (1992–2000).
James Thomas Armour Osborne RE (1907-1979) was a British painter, original printmaker, etcher and engraver known for his ornithological and wildlife prints. He was a student at the Royal College of Art, a Rome Scholar, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and a founder of the Society of Wildlife Artists.
Stephen Frederick Gooden CBE, RA, RE was an English artist, engraver, illustrator and designer of banknotes. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers in 1933 and a Fellow of the Royal Academy in 1946. He was created a Commander of the British Empire in the 1942 Birthday Honours.
Frances Sally McLaren is a British painter, printmaker and etcher who was born in London in 1936. She lives and works in East Knoyle, Wiltshire.
Leonard Marchant RE was a painter and printmaker, particularly admired as a master of the mezzotint.
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