Royal Watercolour Society – Forthcoming Exhibitions

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June 17, 2011

One of the key aims of the Royal Watercolour Society is to make the work of their members available to the general public and they achieve this by holding a number of exhibitions throughout the year, both solo exhibitions of individual artists but also exhibitions where all their members can display their latest work.

The two main Royal Watercolour Society exhibitions are held twice a year, in the spring and autumn at their home at the Bankside Gallery but they have two special exhibitions coming up this summer.

A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall

This successful exhibition, which has been on show at the Royal Albert Hall (see our previous post dated May 1 for more details) is coming to the Bankside Gallery.  ’A Year in the Life of the Royal Albert Hall’ is the culmination of a partnership between the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Albert Hall and sees the ‘coming-together’ of these two Royal institutions, where for the first time, Members of the Royal Watercolour Society have been given access to the iconic building in order to capture the events which took place at this working venue over the period of one year, from on stage performances to behind the scenes.

The exhibition takes place at the Bankside Gallery from 28th June to 3rd July 2011.

High Watermark II

After 182 years of rivalry, the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), who we have also previously featured on this site, will be temporarily joining forces for the second time, as they present an exhibition of paintings by both Societies’ Members under the same roof!

The biennial combined RWS/RI exhibition is rapidly becoming a must see event which showcases the best of contemporary watercolour painting by members of the two major Royal watercolour societies.  The exhibition begins at Bankside Gallery and concludes at the Mall Galleries (see below for schedule of dates).

Bankside Gallery – 8th to 24th July 2011
Mall Galleries – 16th to 20th August 2011

Royal Watercolour Society Autumn Exhibition

A bit of prior notice but this year’s Autumn exhibition by the Royal Watercolour Society will take place between 7th October and 5th November 2011 where you will be able to see it’s Members latest vibrant pieces.

Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Societies.

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Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours

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June 8, 2011

In our last post, we provided you with a brief history of the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS), and we made reference to another society calling themselves the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, who would go on to become the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI).

Like the RWS, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours is one of the oldest societies of professional watercolour painters and both societies were started at a time when the Royal Academy was refusing to accept watercolours as a suitable medium for serious artistic expression, despite its use by many highly regarded painters.

The RI was inaugurated in 1807 as an alternative to the RWS, who only exhibited the work of its own members. From the start the RI showed the work of non-members’ alongside that of members and their exhibitions attracted some of the foremost watercolourists of the time including David Cox, Peter De Wint, William Blake, Samuel Prout, Paul Sandby and Joseph Powell.  Financial problems caused them to fold in 1812 but in 1831, Joseph Powell, with several like minded artists, resurrected the New Society of Painters in Water Colours but unfortunately they decided to abandon the policy of exhibiting together both non-members and member’s work thus losing a vital component of the difference between themselves and the RWS.

In 1863 the New Society became the Institute of Painters in Water Colours and two years later a new group of watercolour painters was inaugurated, known as the Dudley, whose exhibitions were open to all-comers thereby filling the gap left when the New Society closed their doors to outsiders.  In 1883 the Institute and the Dudley joined forces and this amalgamation saw a significant change in the Institute’s  exhibition policy, and after many years of exhibitions limited to the work of members only, the RI once again opened their doors to all comers, a policy still followed today.  It was in 1885, by command of Queen Victoria, that the Institute was able to add the prefix ‘Royal’ to its title.

 

 

Categories: European Artists, Exhibitions, Watercolour Facts, Watercolour Societies.

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