The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and until it dissolved in 1976 it provided a way for women to exhibit their art work. The first exhibition of the club was held in Paris in 1900, and another at the

Grafton Galleries The Grafton Galleries, often referred to as the Grafton Gallery, was an art gallery in Mayfair, London. The French art dealer Paul Durand-Ruel showed the first major exhibition in Britain of Impressionist paintings there in 1905. Roger Fry's t ...

in London in the same year. Members of the club included

Elisabeth Frink Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...

Gwen John Gwendolen ''Gwen'' Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh people, Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. Her paintings, mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters, are rendered in a range of closely relat ...

and Orovida Pissarro.

History

The Paris International Art Club was founded in Paris in 1900, and changed its name to the Women's International Art Club in the same year. The first exhibition of the club was held at the Grafton Galleries in

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

, London, in 1900, and was followed by a second show at the same gallery in March and April 1901. Annual exhibitions were held in London until the club dissolved in 1976. Some smaller exhibitions were also held in other parts of Britain and overseas. The membership of the club was international, and there were sections in France, Greece, Holland, Italy and the United States. The club is thought to have dissolved in 1976, but held an exhibition at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

in 1977.

Exhibitors

The early annual exhibitions were held at the

. Later the Goupil Gallery was used, and then the galleries of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fi ...

. Initially only members of the club could participate in the exhibitions; the club had a limit of 150 members. From 1921, non-members could, for a fee, exhibit one picture each. These exhibitions helped to make up for the lack of opportunity for women to exhibit at mainstream venues such as the

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

. Eileen Agar, Anthea Alley, Gwen Barnard,

Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Wilhelmina Barns-Graham Order of the British Empire, CBE (8 June 1912 – 26 January 2004) was one of the foremost British Abstract art, abstract artists, a member of the influential Penwith Society of Arts. Early life Wilhelmina Barns-Grah ...

Elinor Bellingham-Smith Elinor Bellingham-Smith (28 December 1906 – 4 November 1988) was a British painter of landscapes and still life. Her paintings are in the collections of Tate, Museums Sheffield, the Government Art Collection, Arts Council Collection and other ...

, Ithell Colquhoun,

Sonia Delaunay Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

, Dame

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...

, Stanisława de Karłowska, Dame

Laura Knight Dame Laura Knight ( Johnson; 4 August 1877 – 7 July 1970) was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressi ...

Lee Krasner Lenore "Lee" Krasner (born Lena Krassner; October 27, 1908 – June 19, 1984) was an American painter and visual artist active primarily in New York whose work has been associated with the Abstract Expressionist movement. She received her ear ...

, Marg Moll, Orovida Pissarro,

Anne Redpath Anne Redpath (1895–1965) was a Scottish artist whose vivid domestic still lifes are among her best-known works. Life Redpath's father was a tweed designer in the Scottish Borders. She saw a connection between his use of colour and her own. ...

and Dame Ethel Walker were among those who exhibited. A full list of exhibitors from 1900 to 1966 was published in 1981.

History

Exhibitors

References

Further reading