Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI) is a

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

society in Ireland, founded in 1870. The Society held its first exhibition in the Courthouse, Lismore,

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

in May 1871.

History

The ''Water Colour Society of Ireland (WCSI)'' was founded in 1870 as the ''Amateur Drawing Society'' by an informal group of six well-connected women from

, Baroness Pauline Prochazka, Harriet Keane, Frances Keane, Henrietta Phipps, Fanny Currey and Fanny Musgrave. Eight years after its founding, the organisation briefly became the "Irish Fine Art Society" before settling to its current name in 1888. The stated objective of the Society is "to promote and develop nationally the use and appreciation of watercolour and associated media among artists, students and the general public."

Exhibitions

The society held the first exhibition in 1871 at the courthouse in

Lismore, County Waterford Lismore () is a historic town in County Waterford, in the province of Munster, Ireland. Originally associated with Saint Mochuda of Lismore, who founded Lismore Abbey in the 7th century, the town developed around the medieval Lismore Castle. As ...

, and went on to exhibit at

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

Carlow Carlow ( ; ) is the county town of County Carlow, in the south-east of Ireland, from Dublin. At the 2016 census, it had a combined urban and rural population of 24,272. The River Barrow flows through the town and forms the historic bounda ...

, and finally in 1891 the society begun an annual ''Spring Exhibition'' at Molesworth Hall, Dublin. The national collection for the society which consists of painting by 122 members was founded in 1993, and is housed at the Concert Hall of the

University of Limerick The University of Limerick (UL) ( ga, Ollscoil Luimnigh) is a Public university, public research university institution in Limerick, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Founded in 1972 as the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, it beca ...

. In 2004 the National Gallery held an exhibition, ''150: The Watercolour Society of Ireland's Exhibitions''. In 2009, the university published an illustrated book, ''The Silent Companion – An illustrated History of The Water Colour Society of Ireland''. Almost 25,000 works by 1,200 artists are listed in the societies ''Exhibition List 1872–1994 (1994)''. *

Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery The Hugh Lane Gallery, officially Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane and originally the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council and its subsidiary, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust. It is in Charlemont House ( ...

1975 to 1980 *

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the Bank occupies a unique position in Iris ...

Exhibition Hall on

Baggot Street Baggot Street () is a street in Dublin, Ireland. Location The street runs from Merrion Row (near St. Stephen's Green) to the northwestern end of Pembroke Road. It crosses the Grand Canal near Haddington Road. It is divided into two sections: ...

from 1981 to 1988. *

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the RIA, the academy retained the word "Royal" after most of Ireland became in ...

''Gallagher Gallery'',

Ely Place Ely Place is a gated road of multi-storey terraces at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden in London, England. It hosts a 1773-rebuilt public house, Ye Olde Mitre, of Tudor origin and is adjacent to Hatton Garden. It is privatel ...

, Dublin in 1989. * Concourse Arts Centre at the

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

County Hall,

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

1990–present.

Notable members

Past members include: * Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler *

Frederick William Burton Sir Frederic William Burton (8 April 1816 in Wicklow – 16 March 1900 in London) was an Irish painter who was born in County Wicklow and taken by his parents to live in County Clare on the west coast of Ireland at the age of six. He was th ...

Rose Maynard Barton Rose Mary Barton (Dublin 21 April 1856 – 1929) was an Anglo-Irish artist; a watercolourist who painted landscape, street scenes, gardens, child portraiture and illustrations of the townscape of Britain and Ireland. Barton exhibited with ...

Mildred Anne Butler Mildred Anne Butler (11 January 1858 – 11 October 1941) was an Irish artist, who worked in watercolour and oil of landscape, genre and animal subjects. Butler was born and spent most of her life in Kilmurry, Thomastown, County Kilkenny and ...

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau and ...

Gerald Dillon Gerard Dillon (191614 June 1971) was an Irish painter and artist. Life Dillon was born in Belfast, he left school at the age of fourteen and for seven years worked as a painter and decorator, mostly in London. From an early age he was intere ...

Lilian Davidson Lilian Davidson Royal Hibernian Academy, ARHA (26 January 1879 – 29 March 1954) was an Irish landscape and portrait artist, teacher and writer. Early life and education Lilian Lucy Davidson was born at Castle Terrace, Bray, County Wicklow, o ...

* Phoebe Donovan *

Percy French William Percy French (1 May 1854 – 24 January 1920) was an Irish songwriter, author, poet, entertainer and painter. Life French was born at Clooneyquinn House, near Tulsk, County Roscommon, the son of an Anglo-Irish landlord, Christopher F ...

* Lady Ardilaun *

May Guinness May Guinness (11 March 1863 – 16 July 1955) was an Irish painter, noted as "the first practising artist to introduce a modernist sensibility into Irish art". Early life and education Mary Catherine or May Guinness was born in Rathfarnham, Cou ...

* Nathaniel Hone RHA *

Evie Hone Eva Sydney Hone RHA (22 April 1894 – 13 March 1955), usually known as Evie, was an Irish painter and stained glass artist.Nicola Gordon Bowe (May 2009)Hone, Eva Sydney (1894–1955) ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', online editi ...

Walter Osborne Walter Frederick Osborne (17 June 1859 – 24 April 1903) was an Irish impressionist and Post-Impressionism landscape and portrait painter, best known for his documentary depictions of late 19th century working class life. Most of his painti ...

RHA *

Norah McGuinness Norah Allison McGuinness (7 November 1901 – 22 November 1980) was an Irish painter and illustrator. Early life Norah McGuinness was born in County Londonderry. She attended life classes at Derry Technical School and from 1921 studied at ...

* Letitia Hamilton * Paul Henry *

Mainie Jellett Mary Harriet "Mainie" Jellett (29 April 1897, Dublin – 16 February 1944, Dublin) was an Irish painter whose ''Decoration'' (1923) was among the first abstract paintings shown in Ireland when it was exhibited at the Society of Dublin Painter ...

Harry Kernoff Harry Aaron Kernoff (9 January 1900 – 25 December 1974) was an Irish genre-painter. He depicted Dublin street and pub scenes and Dublin landmarks, as well as producing landscapes, woodcut illustrations, portraits, and set designs. Early ...

Frank McKelvey Frank McKelvey (3 June 1895 – 30 June 1974) was an Irish painter from Belfast. Early life and education Francis Baird McKelvey, also known as Frank McKelvey, was born 3 June 1895. He was born in Belfast at 31 Woodvale Road. He was bapti ...

Grania Langrishe Grania Sybil Enid, Lady Langrishe (née Wingfield; born 1934), is an Irish people, Irish botanical illustrator and artist. Life Born Grania Sybil Enid Wingfield on 25 April 1934 to The Right Honourable Mervyn Patrick Wingfield, 9th Viscount Powe ...

* Flora Mitchell *

Sir William Orpen Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, (27 November 1878 – 29 September 1931) was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do i ...

Bea Orpen Bea Orpen HRHA (7 March 1913 – 12 July 1980) was an Irish landscape and portrait painter and teacher. She aided in the establishment of the Drogheda Municipal Gallery of Art. Early life and education Beatrice Esther Orpen was born at Lishee ...

Kitty Wilmer O'Brien Kitty Wilmer O'Brien (7 August 1910 – 1982) was an Irish oil and watercolour landscape artist. Life Kitty Wilmer was born in India on 7 August 1910 to Major Harold Gordon Wilmer and Alice Violet McEntire. Her father was killed at Gallipoli wh ...

PRHA *

Sarah Purser Sarah Henrietta Purser RHA (22 March 1848 – 7 August 1943) was an Irish artist mainly noted for her work with stained glass. Biography Purser was born in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire) in County Dublin, and raised in Dungarvan, County Wate ...

RHA *

Nano Reid Nano, Nano-, NANO or NaNo may refer to: People * Nano (singer) (born 1988), Japanese-American J-pop singer * Nano Omar (born 1986), Swedish singer * Nano Riantiarno (born 1949), Indonesian director * Agnese Nano (born 1965), Italian actress * Fa ...

* ''Æ'' (George William Russell) * Susan Sex *

Gladys Wynne Edith Gladys Wynne (27 June 1876 – 24 March 1968) was an Irish watercolour artist who spent most of her life in Glendalough, County Wicklow. She painted the area and landscape throughout her career. Work Although Co. Wicklow, and particula ...

Jack B. Yeats Jack Butler Yeats RHA (29 August 1871 – 28 March 1957) was an Irish artist and Olympic medalist. W. B. Yeats was his brother. Butler's early style was that of an illustrator; he only began to work regularly in oils in 1906. His early pict ...

Anne Yeats Anne Butler Yeats (26 February 1919 – 4 July 2001) was an Irish painter, costume and stage designer. Early and family life She was the daughter of the poet William Butler Yeats and Georgie Hyde-Lees, a niece of the painter Jack B. Yeat ...

References

Notes

Sources

* * *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Water Colour Society Of Ireland Watercolor societies Cultural organisations based in the Republic of Ireland 1870 establishments in Ireland