The Oxford Art Society (OAS) is a society for

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...

s based in the city of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separa ...

. The society was established in 1891 by Walter Tyrwhitt, with the aim of encouraging

art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of w ...

in the city of Oxford and also the

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

. Its first president was

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

(1849–1914), a

Royal Academician The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...

who succeeded

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany a ...

as the

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collecto ...

at Oxford. The society has held exhibitions every year except during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. It has held two exhibitions annually, a Members' Exhibition and an Open Exhibition, since 1972. The Open Exhibition is used to attract new members, by invitation. The 2018 Open Exhibition was held in The Cloister Gallery at St John the Evangelist Church, Oxford. In 2019, it was held at The Oxfordshire Museum in the town of

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

, north of Oxford. The chairman of the society is Lucy Stopford. She was on a panel of experts selecting artworks for the 2018 ''The Oxford Art Book''. Members of the society include Valerie Petts.

Former Members

*. James Allen Shuffrey (1858-1939), the watercolour artist, was an early member of the Society.

References

External links

Oxford Art Societ website
* * {{instagram, oxfordartsociety 1891 establishments in England Arts organizations established in 1891 Arts organisations based in England Art societies *Oxford Art Society Culture in Oxford