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You are hereHarvey-LeeHomeHarvey-LeeCatalogues - Main Introduction Harvey-LeeSociety Prints

'SOCIETY' PRINTS
A selection of prints by artists
who are members of one or more artists’ societies

In dictionaries of British artists the names of the artists are usually followed by a series of letters indicating to which societies they are affiliated. Like academic qualifications, and civil honours, they are a record of recognition by peers and elders. And they give a kind of coded potted biography of the artist’s career.

While for cataloguing purposes generally, I use only the initials R.A. (for Academicians), and the specifically print- related R.E. (Royal Society of Painter-Etchers & Engravers) and S.W.E. (Society of Wood Engravers), for this catalogue I have enjoyed trying to encompass some of the other artists’ societies too, where I have prints that could represent them in some way.

Many artists are members of a number of societies and it has been a somewhat arbitrary process deciding under which ‘banner’ to put them. Wherever they appear, all the societies of which they were members are listed in that generally single entry.

The catalogue is heavily biased towards the British, not only a reflection of my stock but an indication of the greater availability of information. European artists’ dictionary entries do not come with conveniently informative ‘initials’, either as regards membership of societies or state honours. (In France many artists are in the Order of the Légion d’Honneur, a much higher percentage than are knighted or otherwise honoured in Britain - Whistler was put out that while he was officially so honoured in France, that was not the case at ‘home’ in England.)

Most societies were founded in reaction to the conservatism and monopoly of the Academy system with its control over exhibiting through jury selection. Louis XIV had instituted the French Academy in the 17th century and in the 18th century academies were founded in most countries and capital cities. Teaching institutions, in response to changing patterns of patronage they also organised annual ‘open’ exhibitions, often just known as ‘Salon’s.

Increasingly through the 19th century, and the early decades of the 20th century (essentially the period covered by this catalogue) with the development of new artistic trends, the stranglehold of the academy was challenged and different groups formed their own exhibition societies.

Societies varied from small groups of friends who met in each other’s studios and hired rooms for their exhibitions, to larger institutions with their own premises, with purpose-built exhibition space as well as dining rooms, libraries and sitting rooms, similar to gentlemen’s clubs. Convivial socialising was common to both; important in a profession that could otherwise be isolating.

In the case of prints the situation was slightly different. The principal specialist societies, all founded c1860-1910 (the era of the great revival of artists’ printmaking), such as the R.E., the Senefelder Club and The Society of Twelve in London, the Société des Aquafortistes, Société des Peintres-Graveurs and Société des Graveurs sur Bois, in Paris, (and possibly the various German city Vereins für Original-Radierung) sort to make the public aware of etchings, lithographs and woodcuts as original works of art in their own right, equal in status and validity to drawings and paintings, as well as to establish a market for them.

CORNELIS BLOEMAERT, Utrecht 1603 – 1692 Rome. What good are a candle and glasses if the owl simply refuses to see? This original etching with engraving, c1625, is for sale.

NELSON DAWSON N.E.A.C.; R.B.A.; R.E.; A.R.W.S.
Lincolnshire 1859 – 1941 London
A coastal landscape watercolourist and, in collaboration with his wife, a metal worker. He joined the New English Art Club in 1887 and the Royal Society of British Artists in 1890. Dawson took up etching in evening classes given by Frank Short at the R.C.A. in the years before the First World War and was elected an Associate of the R.E. in 1910 (Fellow in 1915). He was elected an Associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours in 1921. Dawson exhibited widely with these societies, several other societies, as well as at the Royal Academy and about ten of the leading London commercial galleries.
It is an impressive country-wide listing in the Antique Collectors’ Club Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940. The totals of works exhibited at just some of these individual venues are: Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours 7; Royal Birmingham Society of Artists 16; Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts 18; New English Art Club 21; Ridley Art Club 27; Royal Academy 39; International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers 46; Royal Society of Painter Etchers 48; Royal Society of British Artists 49; Walker Art Gallery (Liverpool) Salons 67; Leicester Galleries 67; Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours 75.

(Fishermen pulling in their boat)
238 x 248 mm. Original soft-ground etching. The plate initialled. Signed in pencil. A dedicated proof to Ernest Brown, who ran the Leicester Galleries (Dawson exhibited 67 works at the Leicester Galleries). Printed by the artists in brown-black ink on laid paper.

Historically, engravers had often been their own publishers, and their workshops were both studios and retail shops, selling both their own prints and those of other printmakers from whom they commissioned plates or whose plates they acquired posthumously. By the late 18th century publishing engravers such as the Basan family in France, issued such re-prints pasted at the corners into large books, Recueils. Though earlier collectors had occasionally framed and hung prints on their walls, most mounted them into albums, stored on bookshelves.

Equally prints also had a strong direct relationship to the book trade, in being produced as illustrations to books. Large expensive projects were usually pre-marketed by subscription and issued in instalments or ‘Parts’ as loose sheets of images in a paper cover.

This tradition informed the earliest of the etching societies, the ‘old’ Etching Club and Junior Etching Club in England, and the Société des Aquafortistes in Paris. Neither group held exhibitions, but rather were publishing ventures to subscribers, the Etching Club in books with accompanying poetry, the French Society through their ‘annual’ albums, issued in parts, Eaux-fortes Modernes.

And in a modified form it was a tradition that continued through the 1880’s into the 1920’s. Art periodicals such as The Studio and The Art Journal in England, the Gazette des Beaux Arts and L’Art in France, the Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst and Pan in Germany and Die Graphischen Kunst in Austria, included impressions of artists’ original etchings and lithographs, printed separately and bound into the journals.

Various societies and publishers issued annual portfolios of prints, some, like those in the Jahresmappen of the Gesellshcaft für vervielfältigende Kunst, Vienna of impressively large dimensions; printed images that could hold their own on a wall alongside paintings. In both France and Germany art dealers and entrepreneurs published numerous albums smaller in scale, and some in quite small editions, with each of the prints pencil signed by the relevant artist.

Conversely new specialist print shops opened from the late 1870’s: for instance in Paris, Paul Prouté; in London Robert Dunthorne. From 1881 Dunthorne, who named his business The Rembrandt Gallery, was appointed the official publisher to the newly founded Society of Painter-Etchers.

The Fine Art Society published prints and held specific print exhibitions from the 1880’s. The long established Colnaghi’s, which had begun as a print shop and publisher of prints in 1760 but expanded over the 19th century into the sale of paintings and drawings, from the beginning of the 20th century was central to the development of the British etching boom, publishing the etchings of Muirhead Bone, Francis Dodd, the Australian Lionel Lindsay, among many more.

The catalogue is arranged geographically and chronologically, from the old Etching Club, founded in 1838 to the short-lived Society of Painter-Printers, founded in 1948, and includes the still ongoing R.E. (Society of Painter-Etchers / Printmakers), the S.W.E. (Society of Wood Engravers) and the London Group, as well as many more (see the list below).

Many of the artists are represented by only a single print, but there are small groups by Frank Brangwyn, Wilfred Fairclough, Andrew Freeth, Albert Garrett, Hilary Paynter and Lesley Ward.

I hope this catalogue gives some impression of the astonishing burst of activity and enthusiasm for prints and printmaking from the 1860’s to the outbreak of the Second World War, both generated by, and reflected in, the activity of the various artists’ societies, their print collectors’ clubs, and other related publishing societies.

Published September 2017.
Quarto paperback; 116 pages, 239 illustrations including 39 in colour
(Price U. K. £15; Overseas £25)

Prints available
Prints from this catalogue are still available.

Index of Societies

  • Artists’ International Association (A.I.A.)
  • Arts Club Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society
  • Art Workers’ Guild
  • Associacion de Artistas Espagnoles
  • Australian Society of Painter-Etchers
  • Berlin Secession
  • Berliner Verrein der Künstlerinnen
  • Bournemouth Society of Artists
  • Bristol Savages
  • Brooklyn Society of Etchers
  • Burlington Fine Arts Club
  • Chicago Society of Etchers
  • Colour Woodcut Society
  • Deutscher Künstlerbund
  • Die Brücke
  • English Wood Engraving Society
  • Etching Club
  • Freie Vereiningung, Munich
  • Freunde der Graphische Kunst
  • Gesellscaft für vervielfältigende Kunst, Wien
  • Guild of St Joseph & St Dominic
  • International Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers
  • Ipswich Society of Artists
  • Junior Etching Club
  • Kunstverein München
  • La Libre Esthétique
  • Leipziger Künstlerbundes
  • L’Essor
  • Les XX Leicester Society of Artists
  • London Group (L.G.)
  • London Sketch Club
  • Munich Secession
  • National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers
  • New English Art Club (N.E.A.C.)
  • New York Etching Club
  • Neue Secession Berlin
  • Novembergruppe
  • Paris Salon (Salon des Champs Elysées)
  • Philadelphia Society of Etchers
  • Printmakers’ Society of California
  • Ridley Art Club
  • Royal Art Society of N.S.W.
  • Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
  • Royal British Colonial Society of Artists
  • Royal Institute of British Architects
  • Royal Institute of Oil Painters (R.O.I.)
  • Royal Institute of Painters in Waters (R.I.)
  • Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolours
  • Royal Society of British Artists (R.B.A.)
  • Royal Society of Painter Etchers & Engravers (R.E.)
  • Royal Society of Painter Printmakers (R.E.)
  • Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours (R.W.S.)
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters
  • Salon des Indépendants
  • Scottish Arts Club
  • Senefelder Club
  • Seven and Five Society
  • Société Anonyme des Artistes peintres, sculpteurs et graveurs
  • Société des Aquafortistes
  • Société des Artistes Français (‘official’ Paris Salon)
  • Société de L'Estampe Originale
  • Société des Graveurs sur Bois
  • Société Nationale des Beaux Arts (Salon du Champ de Mars)
  • Société des Peintres-Graveurs Français
  • Société de propagation des Livres d’Art
  • Société des Trois Society of Artists (Australia)
  • Society of Artist Printmakers
  • Society of Scottish Artists
  • Society of Graphic Arts
  • Society of Graver-Printers in Colour
  • Society of Industrial Artists and Designers
  • Society of London Painter-Printers
  • Society of Mural Painters
  • Society of Twelve
  • Society of Wildlife Artists
  • Society of Women Artists
  • Society of Wood-Engravers (S.W.E.)
  • St Ives Society of Artists
  • Staithes Art Club
  • Stratford on Avon Art Society
  • Verein Leipziger Jahres-Austellungen
  • Verein für Original-Radierung, Berlin
  • Verein für Original-Radierung, Düsseldorf
  • Verein für Original-Radierung Munich
  • Vienna Secession
  • Womens’ Guild of Arts
  • Yorkshire Union of Artists

 

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'Society' Prints, Catalogue 61 from Elizabeth Harvey-Lee, Summer 2017

Artists included in the catalogue:

  • Anderson S.
  • Ansell W H
  • Appian A
  • Ardizzone E
  • Badmin S
  • Banks H
  • Bartlett A
  • Bartlett C
  • Beckmann M
  • Bentley A
  • Blampied E
  • Blum T
  • Bone M
  • Bonvin F
  • Bracquemond F
  • Brangwyn F
  • Brett S
  • Cameron D Y
  • Cameron K
  • Carter F
  • Chauvel T
  • Church F S
  • Clarke J
  • Clausen G
  • Colley W F
  • Cope C W
  • Copley J
  • Corinth L
  • Corot C
  • Cowern R T
  • Creswick T
  • Daubigny C F
  • Dawson N
  • Desboutin M
  • Earthrowl E
  • Ensor J
  • Fairclough W
  • Fantin Latour H
  • Farleigh J
  • Francis E J
  • Freeth M
  • Friedensen T
  • Gabain E
  • Garrett A C
  • Gaul A
  • Griggs F L
  • Groome M E
  • Hackney Ar
  • Hackney Al
  • Haden S
  • Hallward P
  • Harrison H W
  • Hartrick A S
  • Heckel E
  • Hérau J
  • Heseltine J P
  • Hoch F X
  • Hofmann L
  • von Holloway E
  • Hook J C
  • Ingham B
  • Jacquemart J
  • Jongkind J B
  • Keene C
  • Kirkpatrick E
  • Klemm W
  • Klinger M
  • Knight L
  • Lalanne M
  • Lançon A A
  • Lee-Hankey W
  • Legros A
  • Leighton C
  • Lemmen G
  • Lepère A
  • Lepic L N
  • Levé F L
  • Liebermann M
  • Lindley K
  • Lindsay L
  • Lumsden E S
  • Mackie C
  • Manet E
  • Marshall H M
  • McLaren S
  • Melland S
  • Menpes M
  • Moore T S
  • Morgan D N
  • Müller H A
  • Myrbach F
  • von Neiland B
  • Nolde E
  • Nowak A
  • Oppler E
  • Orlik E
  • Osborne J T A
  • Palmer S
  • Paynter H
  • Payton C See
  • Pennell J
  • Phipps H
  • Piper J
  • Pissarro C
  • Pissarro L
  • Poole M
  • Pott C
  • Pryse G S
  • Rawlinson W T
  • Ray-Jones R
  • Reddick P
  • Robins W P
  • Robinson M C
  • Rothenstein W
  • Roussel T
  • Rushbury H
  • Sandford L
  • Shannon C
  • Shepperson C A
  • Schmidt-Rottluff K
  • Schltze P H
  • Schwichtenberg M
  • Sloane M A
  • Smith E
  • Smith S Ure
  • Spencer Pryse G
  • Sproule S
  • Stein M
  • Sterrer K
  • Strang I
  • Sturge Moore T
  • Sutherland G
  • Taylor C W
  • Taylor E
  • Thoma H
  • Thiemann C
  • Tissot J J
  • Todd A M
  • Urushibara J
  • Ury L
  • Vicary R
  • Walcot W
  • Ward L
  • Warlow H C
  • Watson C
  • Wedgwood G
  • Weiss E R
  • Whistler J M
  • Wilson S
  • Wolff H
  • Wolfsfeld E
  • Wyles G

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ALBERT CHARLES GARRETT, Kingsclere, Hampshire 1915 – 1983 Ruislip. Evening Reflections 1, 2 & 3. Series of three original wood engravings, 1971. Click for enlargement.

ALBERT CHARLES GARRETT P.S.W.E., R.O.I..
Kingsclere, Hampshire 1915 – 1983 Ruislip (?)

After the War, Garrett trained as a painter and wood engraver, attending successively Camberwell School of Art, 1947-49, where his tutors in wood engraving were Gertrude Hermes and Buckland-Wright; the Anglo-French Art Centre, 1949-50, and the Slade, 1950-51.

As an engraver, Albert Garrett, in his day, was a lone pioneer in producing purely abstract images; rhythmic, calligraphic designs often in sequence, letting increasing light into the design as it developed, influenced by theories in modern physics such as the fourth dimension and ‘time-space’.

A member of the Society of Wood Engravers from 1958, Garrett acted as Hon. Secretary from 1965 to 1967, when he took over as President. He did much to promote the technique of artist’s original wood engraving and was the author of A History of British Wood Engraving, published 1978 and British Wood Engraving of the 20th Century, A Personal View, in 1980.

Evening Reflections No.1
Evening Reflections No.2
Evening Reflections No.3

278 x 160 mm (each)
The series of three original wood engravings, 1971.
Each signed in blue ink, entitled and numbered 8/15.
On cream Japanese vellum.

Sold

*Please click on the thumbnail above to view an enlargement.

Ex collection William T Rawlinson, from an artists’ exchange of prints.

Garrett wrote in his A History of British Wood Engraving;

... when a series of engravings is being developed each print must stand in its own right as a complete aesthetic statement. The lines of the first engraving are retained and brought forward into the block successively through to the last one. In this concept of the changing of growth forms, one form or part of a form is able to move through another and thus it is an essential feature of growth.