Glasgow Art Club


Glasgow Art Club is a club for practising and retired artists and lay members with an interest in the arts, that has become over the generations “a meeting place for artists, business leaders and academics.”

History and premises

One of Glasgow's, and Scotland's, most respected institutions Glasgow Art Club was founded in 1867 by amateur artist William Dennistoun and friends. Following initial discussions at a tea room above a baker's shop in Candleriggs, Glasgow, on the proposal to form a club, the first formal meetings of the club were held at the Waverley Temperance Hotel, on Buchanan Street, Glasgow, with Dennistoun elected the club's first president. Membership was to grow during the 1870s, with professional artists joining and exhibitions being held and in 1875 the club moved to another hotel called the Waverley, this time one on the city's Sauchiehall Street. From there the club was to relocate to the Royal Hotel on the city's George Square, renting rooms for six months at a time, where life and sketching classes were held.
Membership of the club began to be extended beyond painters ''
In 1878 the club moved to rented premises at 62 Bothwell Street and the need to raise funds led to a change in the club’s constitution and the admission in 1886 of male lay members with an interest in the arts With membership burgeoning new premises were rented at 151 Bath Street, these formally opened on 12 November 1886 but soon afterwards two adjacent town houses on Bath Street were purchased, these converted by the architect John Keppie, a member of the club, creating also an exhibition gallery in what were the back gardens of the adjacent houses. It has recently been discovered that the young Charles Rennie Mackintosh was involved in the decorative details of the renovations and created a mural. The club’s new premises were formally opened on 14 June 1893. The club has recently embarked on a major programme of renovation of its historic category A Listed building on Bath Street, Glasgow.
The club first admitted women as members in 1984, and elected its first female president, Efric McNeil, in 2015.

Exhibitions and notable exhibitors

The club’s stature in Glasgow was confirmed when on the occasion of the official opening by the Prince of Wales of the Glasgow International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry in 1888, the Lord Provost of Glasgow presented the Prince and Princess of Wales with an album of paintings by members of the Glasgow Art Club. In the succeeding years the club has played host to many events, including, on the evening of 28 October 1932 a dinner honouring Dr. Pittendrigh Macgillivray RSA, King’s Sculptor in Ordinary for Scotland a member of the Club for some fifty years, and club member James B. Anderson ARSA.
Initially the Club’s exhibitions were open only to members, in later years admission extended also to the general public. In 2008 Glasgow Art Club exhibited the jewelled panel The White Rose and The Red Rose by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, wife of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, before its sale for £1.7 million at Christie's on 30 April 2008. Since 2010 the club has opened its exhibition spaces and collections to the public on a regular basis
Many notable member artists have exhibited at the club's exhibitions, including:
The club's Winter exhibition of 1909 included works by: Sir James Guthrie, E A Hornel, Muirhead Bone Sir David Murray RA
The club's Spring exhibition of 1923 included works by: E A Hornel, Sir David Murray RA, James Kay
The club's Memorial Exhibition of 1935 included works by: E A Walton, Sir James Guthrie, W Y Macgregor, James Paterson, Maurice William Greiffenhagen, Leslie Hunter, Stuart Park, E A Hornel
The club's exhibition April 1939 included works by: Sir John Lavery and J W Ferguson, who submitted a portrait

Notable members

Notable members have included/include: