New English Art Club

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William Orpen : New English Art Club
Paul Berthier: John Singer Sargent (1880)
Henry Herbert La Thangue :
In The Dauphiné (1885)

The New English Art Club (NEAC) is an association of professional British painters and belongs to the Federation of British Artists (FBA). The club is based in the Mall Galleries in London , where the other of the nine members of the Federation of British Artists are also housed. The club currently has 70 members and shows the works of emerging and established artists of the new figurative painting at annual exhibitions.

history

The New English Art Club was founded in 1885 by a group of young artists as an alternative to the Royal Academy of Arts . These painters, including John Singer Sargent , Stanhope Forbes and Thomas Cooper Gotch , had studied in Paris and were now dissatisfied with the conservative orientation of the Royal Academy, chaired by Frederic Leighton . It was decided to organize a counter-event in competition with the annual show of the Royal Academy, so that in April 1886 the first exhibition of the New English Art Club took place in the Egyptian Hall , at which around fifty artists were represented.

In the Dauphiné by Henry Herbert La Thangue , a large-format sketch-like representation of harvest workers , caused a stir and heated controversy . La Thangue then tried to win the club's members for the ambitious plan to create a national counter-movement to the Royal Academy by radically increasing the number of members. This brought him into conflict with William James Laidlay , who, as a leading member of the NEAC, wanted to restrict membership. The plan ultimately failed due to a lack of financial support.

In contrast to the Royal Academy, the NEAC's early exhibitions, all of which were set up in the Egyptian Hall, did not follow an academic approach, but tried to represent the latest trends in art. Therefore, the Impressionists and their successors mostly presented their works at the New English Art Club, whereas artists who followed a conceptual approach and created paintings aimed at galleries, oriented themselves towards the Royal Academy. Membership in NEAC often made admission to the Royal Academy difficult. The then very famous Thomas Cooper Gotch was never accepted into the Royal Academy. In contrast, Stanhope Forbes exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy and became its member in 1910.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the New English Art Club gained great influence and was able to count among its members well-known artists such as Walter Sickert , Augustus John , Henry Tonks and William Rothenstein . Stanley Spencer , Paul Nash , Duncan Grant and Mark Gertler joined them in the 1920s . Almost every member of the Camden Town Group , a group of post-impressionists around Walter Sickert, had previously been to the New English Art Club. Soon the New English Art Club was an integral part of an artist's development. Numerous new styles in painting were made accessible to the general public for the first time in the New English Art Club.

During this time, many members of the New English Art Club were later admitted to the Royal Academy and often exhibited at both locations during their careers. In the 1940s and 50s, the link between the New English Art Club and the Royal Academy was so close that membership in that club became a prerequisite for acceptance into it. Today the NEAC shows figurative painting, which is mainly based on impressionism , while the Royal Academy focuses on abstract art and conceptual art . Well-known members of the club in recent times are William Bowyer and Bernard Dunstan .

Members (selection)

Prices

So far, the following prizes have been awarded at the annual exhibition of the New English Art Club:

  • The A&K Wilson Gallery Award
  • The Arts Club Dover Street Award
  • The Bill Patterson Memorial Award
  • The Bowyer Drawing Prize
  • The Cecil Jospe Prize
  • The Contemporary Arts Trust Prize
  • The David Messum Prize
  • The Dry Red Press Award
  • The Doreen Mackintosh Prize
  • The Horan Prize
  • The Jackson's Art Prize
  • The Manya Hedgehog Prize
  • The NEAC Critics' Choice
  • The Peter Ashley Framing Prize
  • The St Cuthberts Mill Award
  • The Winsor & Newton Award
  • The Woodhay Picture Gallery Prize for Drawing
  • The Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers' Award

A maximum of 6 works by one artist can be sent in, each of which must be for sale. Paintings, drawings and framed prints are permitted, provided they do not exceed certain dimensions. Sculptures are not accepted.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ newenglishartclub.co.uk
  2. ↑ named after the artist Cecile Jospé (1928–2004)
  3. ↑ named after the gallery Manya Igel Fine Arts