Guildford Art Society had their 75th Annual Exhibition at Guildford House Gallery in October 2007.
The first exhibition was held on 28 and 29 September in 1926 in the Borough Hall (the Borough Hall was in North Street, on the site of Argos today. It became the Guildford Repertory Theatre after World War II, and was destroyed by fire in 1963). Much has changed since then, and some of today’s members of the Society have been trawling through the archives for several months to find out more about the history of the Society.
Guildford Art Society was born from the Abbotswood Sketching Club, which was founded in 1923 by Mrs Kitchener. Members of that club had the idea of forming an Art Society, and enlisted the help of two local artists, Max Ludby RI and Victor Burnard ARCA. Consequently on the 11 June 1926 Guildford Art Society was born, with their first annual exhibition in September of that year. There were 358 exhibits and artists included A. Brownrigg ARIBA, Joseph Farquharson RA, the late George Frederick Watts OM, RA and E.H. Shepherd. Prices started at £1 1s 0d, with an average price of between 5 and 10 guineas. The most expensive painting was “A Cornish Litany” by S.H. Sime, which was £30.
Joseph Farquharson RA was the first President, and Mary Watts, widow of George Watts, officially opened the first exhibition. Admission on the first day was one shilling, dropping to sixpence on the second day (tax included!). By the end of the two days, 17 paintings had been sold at a total price of £79. 10s 0d. The exhibition was reviewed in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Morning Post and The Advertiser. Many of the reviews were extensive, with paintings being described in detail.
The Society is fortunate to have had a number of distinguished Presidents over the years. After Farquharson resigned in 1932, another Royal Academician, Philip Connard was elected President, followed by Bernard Rackham, Borough Remembrancer of Guildford in 1947. Councillor Lawrence Powell became President in 1952. He was a long time Chairman of the Borough’s Library, Museum and Arts Committee, was Mayor of Guildford in 1935/6, and was the driving force behind the purchase of Guildford House itself, and its conversion from a restaurant to an art gallery which opened in 1959. The Powell Room of Guildford House Gallery is named after him. Ronald Smoothey MBE, Art Dip. FRSA succeeded Laurence Powell in 1974. At that time, he had been Chairman of the Society for the previous 20 years. Following that Edward Wesson became Chairman and work by both Ronald Smoothey and Edward Wesson feature in Guildford Borough’s own art collection.
The Society’s activities were suspended during World War II. However the committee meeting of 10 July 1939 made no mention of any potential disruption to its affairs, and when the committee reconvened on 12 April 1946, the minutes simply record that “The Minutes of the meeting held on July 10th 1939 were read and signed.”
By November 1926, there were 230 members of the Society, of which 156 were full exhibiting members. Today the Society is still flourishing with around 350 members, of which 250 are full exhibiting members.
At the time of the very first Guildford Art Society Annual Exhibition, membership was five shillings (25p) a year. Today it costs £15 per annum. Postage stamps cost a halfpenny each, as opposed to 23p today, but many members today communicate by email – a concept not even dreamt of in 1926.
Throughout the year, Guildford Art Society hold a series of demonstrations, which embrace today’s technology using a video camera linked to a projector so that detailed work can be seen by as many as 80 people at a time. The original demonstrations were limited to only 30-40 people and even then, it involved looking over the heads of the people in front.
Over the years, Guildford Art Society held several outdoor exhibitions in the summer. These exhibitions had many locations, including the bandstand in the Castle Grounds and by the river at the bottom of the High Street. For many years, these exhibitions were organised by long-serving Secretary, Mrs Olive Atherton. Guildford Borough has several works by Olive Atherton in the Borough Collection, but cannot trace any of her descendants. Gallery staff would like to hear from anyone who can help them trace the current copyright owners of her work, so that images can be included on the online database.
Guildford Art Society has enjoyed extensive press coverage over the years. In the 1950s, the critics spurred the Society to strive for better art, and this worked with the inclusion of craftwork and sculpture in the exhibition. Some reports were less than kind, describing the pictures as “Paintings in the Society were still in the style in which their grandmothers would have painted them”. However, the critics delighted in the work of Ronald Smoothey (1914-1966), describing him as a real adventurer.
Ronald Smoothey, MBE, Art Dip FRSA served Guildford Art Society for more than half a century. He became Chairman in 1951, while at the same time teaching art at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford. He became President in 1974 until his death in 1996. He had a large following in the world of Art Education and taught open days and courses at many schools and colleges. His was awarded an MBE for services to Creative Education. His own abstract style is easily identifiable and several works by Smoothey are in Guildford Borough’s collection. Kenneth Dean, a current long serving member who knew Ronald Smoothey personally says: -
“His contribution to the Society was a valuable and constructive one, spiced with his own particular character.”
Edward Wesson, RI, RBA, RSMA (1910-1983) was Chairman of Guildford Art Society from 1970 to 1981. At the time, he was busy running art courses all over the country and on the Committee of the royal Institute for Painters in Watercolours at the Mall Galleries. He also wrote articles for ‘The Artist’ and ‘Leisure Painter’. He played a very active part in the Society, which included giving demonstrations, organising summer painting days and judging work on selection days.
Wesson was self-taught and proud of it and could sometimes be heard saying unkind things about art schools and the 'Art Establishment'. Wesson generally never understood who made the 'rules' in art, and why one was considered a Philistine if one didn’t agree.
His legacy lives on as so many students learned from him and remember his teachings fondly, as well as his pithy sayings an ebullient personality.
Members of the Society today are as enthusiastic as they have ever been, and still attend demonstrations and talks, and work toward the annual exhibition. One of the oldest members of the Society is Hilda Hansell who is now in her 91st year. Painting is in her blood as her grandfather was the nephew of the famous artist George Frederick Watts OM, RA. Hilda Hansell learned to paint at the W.I. and enjoys painting in oils. She still regularly attends Saturday demonstrations, but no longer submits work to the exhibitions.
Another long-standing member was Barbara Crowe, who died in 2006. Her art career spanned 70 years and she was well known for her flower paintings. However, her original style was to draw children. She gave up art when she married until her children were grown up in the 1950s.
One of the youngest members is Nathaniel Fowles who was born in 1975. He is currently the Artist in Residence at St Catherine’s School in Bramley. Nathaniel trained in art at Canterbury. His work is mainly urban paintings, depicting London, its traffic and its people.
So what makes the Annual Guildford Art Society exhibition so very popular? Visitors flock to see well-known and well-loved local artists who work appears every year in the exhibition. These include Roger Dellar, Jan Harbon, Juliet Renny, Alan Hunt, Jackie Walker, John Walker, Nola Armstrong, Pauline Dean, Sue Jelley, Sheila Corby, Rose Seber, Michael Woods and many more. Biographies and examples of their work can be found by clicking on the artist's name in the menu on this page.
Guildford House Gallery
155 High Street
Guildford
Surrey
GU1 3AJ
Tel: 01483 444742
Fax: 01483 458563
Email: guildfordhouse@guildford.gov.uk
Open Tuesday to Saturday. 10am to 4.45pm. Admission Free