South Australian Society of Arts

The South Australian Society of Arts was a society for artists in South Australia, later the The Royal South Australian Society of Arts.

History

The Society was formed as a result of a meeting called for 10 December 1856 at Charles Hill's School of Arts (which was also his home) in Pulteney Street, Adelaide.^[1] Owing to inclement weather, only five people turned up to that meeting: Hill, James Macgeorge, W. W. R. Whitridge, David Culley (a gilder and framer) and one Blenkinsop.

From the outset, the board of the Society consisted of a President, who was always the Governor of the day, several Vice-Presidents, Secretary, Treasurer and a committee of twelve. From 1883 both the Society of Arts and the Philosophical Society were affiliated by Act of Parliament to the Public Library, Museum, and Art Gallery of South Australia and had the right to nominate one member each to be Gazetted to the Libraries Board.

Membership of the Society consisted mainly of dilettante art enthusiasts keen to promote South Australian art rather than working artists, and its activities centred on the running of art unions and exhibitions, and foundation of South Australia's School of Arts and the South Australian Art Gallery. Attendance at meetings, though initially strong, became spasmodic and the work of the Society largely devolved onto Abraham Abrahams (ca.1812 – 3 April 1892), the Society's Secretary from 1866 to 1885.

In April 1887 the South Australian Society of Artists, largely associated with the old South Australian School of Design (the school underwent a bewildering succession of names and functions over the next hundred years), was formed with the express purpose of securing an exhibition space for local artists in the Jubilee Exhibition, held later that year. A. Abrahams, James Ashton, J. W. Billiatt, A. S. Broad, H. Clayton, J. L. Davidson, F. W. Davis, S. V. Fizey, Leonard D. Garlick, H. D. Gell, W. K. Gold, E. Govett, George Greer, J. Hammer, G. C. Hawker, C. Hill, P. Hoare, John Hood, W. R. Hunt, James Irving, A. L. Jessop, W. J. Kennedy, T. H. Lyons, A. MacCormac, M. H. Madge, A. Marval, A. Molten, D. Murray, Poole, R. Rees, Reid, G. A. Reynolds, H. Scott, J. Shakespeare, S. J. Skipper, S. Solomon, W. J. Sowden, L. Tannert, W. Wadham, Samuel Way, W. A. E. West-Erskine, J. White and W. Wivell were among its members,^[2] and quickly merged with the Society of Arts, having accomplished its ends.

In 1892 a group of disgruntled members left to form the Adelaide Easel Club, and around the same time the Society enjoyed a resurgence of activity. The Library Board granted it top-lit rooms with plenty of hanging space in the Institute Building on North Terrace and members were given keys, meaning the rooms were in almost constant use. Non-members were encouraged to submit works so that exhibitions were representative of South Australian artists not merely members.^[3]

In 1927 Fred C. Britton, retiring principal of the North Adelaide School of Fine Arts, and Henry Van Raalte were critical of amateur members who wanted to paint without bothering to learn sketching.^[4]

In 1935 the Society's Patron, King George V, authorized the Society to be renamed the Royal South Australian Society of Arts.

In 1942 a breakaway group formed the South Australian chapter of the Contemporary Art Society to promote non-realist forms of art.

Office holders

President

• 1857–1862 Sir R. G. MacDonnell
• 1862–1868 Sir Dominick Daly
• 1868–1873 Sir James Fergusson
• 1873–1877 Sir Anthony Musgrave
• 1877–1883 Sir William Jervois
• 1883–1889 Sir William Robinson
• 1889–1892 (perhaps) Lord Kintore
• 1892–1909 Samuel Way
• 1909–1911 H. P. Gill
• 1911–1914 John White
• 1914–1918 James Ashton
• 1919–1921 John White
• 1921–1923 Edward Davies
• 1923–1927 John White
• 1927–1932 L. H. Howie
• 1932–1934 Leslie Wilkie
• 1934–1935 H. E. Fuller

(became Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1935)

• 1935–1937 L. H. Howie
• 1937–1940 John C. Goodchild
• 1940–1950 George Whinnen (died in office)
• 1950–1953 Duncan Goldfinch
• 1953–1956 F. Millward Grey
• 1956–1958 Allan C. Glover
• 1958–1959 Paul Beadle
• 1959–1964 John S. Dowie
• 1964– Stewart Gates

Secretary

• 1857–1866 James Macgeorge
• 1866–1885 Abraham Abrahams
• 1887–1892 R. E. Minchin
• 1892–1895 W. K. Gold^[5]
• 1895–1898 Sydney H. James (resigned)^[6]
• 1898 H. E. Fuller
• 1898–1921 Herbert E(dward). Powell^[7]
• 1921–1947 H. E. Fuller (also served as Treasurer for 24 years)
• 1947–1954 Lisette Kohlhagen

Melrose Prize

Named for Alex Melrose (1865–1944), chairman of trustees of the Art Gallery of South Australia, the prize for portraiture was awarded intermittently from 1929 and triennially from 1949. Prizewinners included:^[8]

• 1929 George Whinnen
• 1932 George Whinnen
• 1935 Ivor Hele
• 1936 Ivor Hele
• 1937 William Rowell
• 1939 Ivor Hele
• 1949 Russell Drysdale
• 1952 Charles Bush
• 1955 J. Carington Smith
• 1958 Jacqueline Hick
• 1961 Dora Chapman
• 1963(?) John Rigby
• 1967 Michael Kmit

References