Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
The establishment of the Society of Painters in Water Colours grew out of discontent at the disadvantage suffered by watercolours being hung amidst oil painting at the exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Art in Somerset House.
At a meeting at the Stratford Coffee House, Oxford St, London, on the 20 Nov 1804, William Frederick Wells initiated the establishment of the Society Associated for the Purpose of Establishing an Annual Exhibition of Paintings in Water Colours, in conjunction with the artists William Sawrey Gilpin, Robert Hills, John Claude Nattes, John and Cornelius Varley, Francis Nicholson, Samuel Shelley, William Henry Pyne and Nicholas Pocock. By the time of their first exhibition in April 1805, it had become known as the Society of Painters in Water Colours, and had gained six more members. The success of this exhibition, which enjoyed 12,000 visitors, encouraged its development into an annual event.
As a cooperative society, the Society's profits were shared among exhibitors, and at its peak in 1809, when there were more than 22,000 visitors, a profit of over £626 was divided between the twenty full members and seven associates. However poor financial management, and the uncertainty caused by renewed war with France, seems to have contributed to a decline in visitors and profits, ending in the collapse and winding up of the Society in 1812.
The Society was re-formed as the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, in Dec 1812, with largely the same membership and struggled along until 1820, when on the 30 November 1820 the Society of Painters in Water Colours was reborn, reverting to the exclusive exhibition or water colours.
1860 saw the beginning of Diploma Collection - artworks presented to the Society by members following their election. Under the Presidency of Sir John Gilbert, the Society obtained the designation of 'Royal' following the agreement of Queen Victoria to sign the Diploma, in 1881.
Annual exhibitions of water colours began in 1805, with the Winter exhibition introduced in 1862. They were held in a variety of galleries located at Brook Street, Pall Mall, Old Bond Street, Spring Gardens, and the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly. In 1823 the Society moved to number 6 Pall Mall East, where is stayed until 1938 when it moved to number 26 Conduit St. Following the expiration of the lease in Conduit St in 1980, the Bankside Gallery Charitable Limited Company was established by the Society in conjunction with the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (previously the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers) who had shared the Society's premises since 1888, and with whom it had members in common.
John Joseph Jenkins, Secretary of the Society 1854-1864, collected the papers of the Society and compiled notes with the intention of writing its history. Though he did not achieve this, they were used extensively by John Lewis Roget in his two volume publication History of the 'Old Water-Colour Society', (Longmans, Green and Co, London, 1891).
The Society's Art Club was founded in 1884 to promote interest in watercolour painting by holding evening conversazioni, which were attended by professional and amateur artists. It was wound up after its centenary in 1984 and transformed into the Friends of the Bankside Gallery.
In 1923 the Old Watercolour Society Club (OWSC) was founded, and produced volumes of essays by artists and academics relating to watercolour artists from 1924-1994.