The Adelaide Art Circle was an association of artists in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

, founded by H. P. Gill. The club was founded early in 1890, with Gill as president and G. A. Reynolds as hon. secretary. According to the rules as laid down by Gill, membership was restricted to professional artists, by invitation, and limited to 12 members. They would meet monthly in one or other of the members' homes, and each had to submit a new work to be critiqued by the other members. They would hold annual exhibitions. The first members were Gill and Reynolds, watercolorist W. P. H. Haines, A(lfred) Scott Broad, Edward Davies, M. F. Cavanagh, H. E. Powell, W. K. Gold,

E. J. Woods Edward John Woods F.R.I.B.A. (1839 – 5 January 1916) was a prominent architect in the early days of South Australia. History Woods was born in London and educated at several private schools, then, deciding to become an architect, served ...

and W. J. Maxwell. W. J. Wadham and his brother Alf Sinclair were elected to the circle in 1892. Two exhibitions were held, and generally well received, but clearly dominated by Gill's prodigious output. The club folded in 1892 without fanfare, but seemed to coincide with the rebirth of the moribund

South Australian Society of Arts The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later with a royal warrant renamed The Royal South Australian Society of Arts in 1935. History A meeting of persons interested in the formation of a society for the ...

and the election to its board of Gill president), Gold (secretary), Powell (treasurer), and a new committee consisted of Broad, Cavanagh, James Keane, Reynolds, and Wadham, Keane alone in not being a member of the Circle. In December that year the Wadham brothers, Reynolds and Broad broke away from the Society of Arts to help found the

Adelaide Easel Club The Adelaide Easel Club was a society for South Australian painters which broke away from the South Australian Society of Arts in 1892 and which re-merged with the parent organization in 1901. History The club was founded in November 1892 when a g ...

. The Easel Club merged with the Society of Arts in 1901, largely through the diplomatic efforts of the society's president, Chief Justice Way and Prof. W. H. Bragg.

References

{{Reflist 1890 establishments in Australia Australian artist groups and collectives Defunct clubs and societies of Australia Art societies