Leeds Arts Club
Foundation date: 1903
Active: 1903 - 1923
Function: Art society, club
History or description: The Leeds Arts Club (LAC) was founded in 1903 by Alfred Orage (1873-1934), school teacher, and Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948), Yorkshire textile manufacturer in association with Arthur Joseph Penty (1875-1937), architect and social thinker. There were close ties between the club and the Independent Labour Party, the co-operative movement and the Fabian Society. At LAC weekly meetings art, spiritualism, philosophy and politics were frequent topics for debate. In 1907 Orage and Jackson moved to London to edit the journal 'The New Age'.
Following their departure, Frank Rutter (1876-1937), art critic, founder of the Allied Artists Association and Director of Leeds City Art Gallery (1912-17), took a leading role in the club. He was joined by Michael Sadler (1861-1943), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds (1911-23). Under the leadership of Rutter and Sadler, the LAC maintained its political and spiritualist connections but also embraced psychoanalysis and abstract art.
Rutter had plans to create a modern art collection at Leeds City Art Gallery. Together with Sadler, Rutter founded the Leeds Art Collections Fund to support acquisitions and mount shows of modern art. One of these was an exhibition of Post-Impressionism held at the LAC in June 1913. This event had significant local impact on, among others, the future critic, Herbert Read (1893–1968). Sadler made an important contribution to the club and city's cultural life by amassing an outstanding collection of modern art.
Institutional and Business Connections
Affiliated with Leeds City Art Gallery
There was a connection between Leeds City Art Gallery and Leeds Arts Club through Frank Rutter (1876-1937). He was Director of the art gallery between 1912-17 and also closely involved with the club.
Associated People
Founder members included Arthur Joseph Penty
According to Grosvenor (2004), Penty was involved in the foundation of the Leeds Arts Club
Sources
Alfred Orage and the Leeds Arts Club, 1893-1923
1990 (Circa)
Kelly's Directory of Leeds, 1921
1921 (Presumed)
p. 883
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2004
Caroline Zilboorg, ‘Orage, Alfred Richard (1873–1934)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/35322, accessed 9 April 2011] AND Felicity Owen, ‘Rutter, Francis Vane Phipson (1876–1937)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/54009, accessed 11 April 2011]
Citing this record
'Leeds Arts Club', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/organization.php?id=msib5_1217964803, accessed 01 Apr 2023]
