Aberdeen Artists' Society

Foundation date: 3 January 1885

Active: 1885 -

Function: Art society

Policy: To promote arts and artists of the north-east of Scotland, mainly by means of an annual exhibition.

Rules: 1) Annual Exhibitions
2) To facilitate the intercourse of those connected to and interested in Art
3) To promote the practical and theoretical study of art [...] through forming a collection of costumes and armour and by providing a library of art literature, and a studio for the use of the members.
[summarised from 1885 minutes]

The society consists of two classes; Ordinary and Honorary (Professional and Lay respectively)

History or description: In 1827 local artists first associated together with James Giles as president and Archibald Simpson as vice-president, there were some exhibitions but the society at this point failed to continue.

In 1885, it was revived with an annual exhibition at the Aberdeen Art Gallery. These exhibitions were the main activity of the Art Gallery, until it built up its permanent collection. There were regular exhibitions either annually or bi-annually till 1912. It was sporadic after this - no exhibitions from 1920-1922, and from 1938-1957.

'The society consists of professional, ordinary, and honorary members, numbering 540.' President: Marquis of Huntly; Secretary: Alexander Emslie Smith, Jnr, Advocate (Year's Art, 1899, pp. 263-64).

Activities: art union, exhibitions (open to non-members), meetings, musical entertainments, musical evenings, social events

Benefits: advice from fellow members, eligible for exhibition, entry in member's directory, free entry to exhibitions, free entry to museums, grants and prizes, prizes, use of studio, hardship fund

Composition: amateur artists, amateur painters, amateurs, corresponding members, men and women members, professional artists, professional engravers, professional painters, professional portrait painters, professional sculptors, lay members, working artists

Funding types: annual subscription, annual subscription professional artists, annual subscription amateurs, catalogue sales, sales commission

Citing this record

'Aberdeen Artists\' Society', 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=msib6_1241537368, accessed 26 Mar 2023]