Club History

Study in Grey and Black ("Whistler's Mother) by James McNeill Whistler

History of Dublin Painting and Sketching Club

The Dublin Sketching Club was founded in 1874 by a small group of professional and non professional artists. The aims were: Bringing artists together, holding public exhibitions and stimulating artistic taste.

The founding group included Dr William Stokes FRS, President of the Royal Academy and Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. Alfred Grey became the first President and Alexander Williams the first Hon. Secretary, both were academicians of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA).

Many of Ireland’s leading artists of the time became members, including John Butler Yeats, Walter Osborne, Nathaniel Hone. Later Sarah Purser, Richard Moynan and Bingham Mc Guinness joined, all were academicians of the RHA.  The latter two held the post of President of the Club.

The first exhibition was held in 1876 and within a few years the exhibition became very popular and highly regarded. The Exhibition of 1884 was a particularly notable one as James Mc Neill Whistler, was invited as a guest exhibitor. He showed 25 paintings including ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black’ more popularly known as ‘Whistler’s Mother.’ This exhibition elicited great public interest and created some controversy.

The Club continued to attract artists of note and later members included Percy French, Flora Mitchell and Earnest Hayes, RHA.

The Club is now the oldest of its type in the country and after 140 years of activity the Club continues to prosper, with over eighty members chosen by a strict selection process.  The title of the Club was changed in 2000 to, the Dublin Painting and Sketching Club.  While Dublin is still retained in the title members come from various parts of the island of Ireland

The majority of members come from a background of representational art and the work in the annual exhibition represents a wide spectrum of styles and mediums, within this broad genre. The annual exhibition of members’ work was, and still is, very highly regarded.

In recent years, in addition to the Annual Exhibition, the Club has been involved in fulfilling the primary objectives  of the founders in seeking ‘to bring artists together and stimulate artistic taste’.  To achieve this we have sought to promote an understanding and appreciation of representational painting and to advance education in the visual arts by organising activities and events for the general public, for school children and artists.

Pencil study by Sarah Purser