A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WASHINGTON SOCIETY OF LANDSCAPE PAINTERS
Sequential History Membership List, (1913 - 2026)
Alphabetized History Membership List, (1913 - 2026)
View historical paintings here.
From Its Origins in 1913 to World War II
The Early "Ramblers", circa 1917, (4th person from the left is Abe Schram)
The Washington Society of Landscape Painters, one of the oldest active art organizations in the greater Washington metropolitan area, traces its origins to 1913 when Charles Seaton and Winfield Scott Clime met one Sunday while painting on location. This chance meeting led to additional weekend painting excursions there The were joined over the next four years by a number of other artists who also had an intense interest in painting out of doors. Most of these artists were government employees who could only paint on weekends and holidays, but despite the time constraints they painted on location almost every week. Trolley car was the favored early mode of transportation by which a variety of landscape scenes could easily be reached. One did not have to go far from "downtown" Washington to be literally in the countryside.
First Organized as the "Ramblers"
May" by Robert F. Cornet, circa 1917, oil on board, 8 X 10
By 1916 the group had become known as the "Ramblers." Unfortunately, there is almost no record of their earliest activities. The first written account of their painting jaunts is contained in the Log Book of the Ramblers, a fascinating handwritten chronicle of painting excursions between April and July 1917. In its opening chapter the Log Book describes how the Ramblers, now numbering nine, came to be. Of particular importance, it set forth the basic philosophy that motivated the group in its artistic endeavors and that continue to underpin Society activities today.
Charles Seaton wrote: "Man is a gregarious animal, and not withstanding a popular belief to the contrary, so is the artist. Like some fish, he runs in schools. Standing more or less aloof from the great mass of practical humanship, he yet craves the comradeship of the select few who understand, and he flourishes best when he forms a coterie of earnest workers ready with their sympathy, friendly criticism, and generous rivalry. This I believe to be the fundamental cause, the raison d'etre of the Ramblers."
Record of Landscape Club Begins in 1919
Minor Story Jamieson painting at Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, May 1927
Dr. Robert E. Motley painting Old Norbeck Mill, Maryland, October 1927
The year 1918 remains lost to the record, but in 1919 it is known that the Ramblers took on the more formal name of the Landscape Club of Washington, D.C. That year also marked the opening of a "permanent" headquarters and studio at 1221 Fifteenth Street NW in the wing of a private residence occupied by Senator Fletcher of Florida. Meetings were held at this location and art work was regularly displayed. However, for reasons not recorded, the headquarters were given up in the late 1920s.
Among the early Ramblers were August H.O. Rolle and Benson Bond Moore, who would later become prominent in Washington art circles. In 1919 Rolle was elected president of the Landscape Club, and there seems little doubt that he was a driving force in organizing and promoting Club activities. In October of that year the Club held its first exhibition of members' work (at the Fifteenth Street headquarters, and for the first time Club activities began to be reported in local newspapers.
There are a number of references to Rolle as one of the founders of the Landscape Club. However, if one looks at the events preceding the name change from the Ramblers to the Landscape Club of Washington, D.C., then the true founders of the group were clearly Charles Seaton and Winfield Scott Clime who had met on location in 1913. However, Rolle's very substantial influence on the course of Club activities continued for many years. Except for the year 1925, he was the Club's president from 1919 to 1932.
Activities Include Frequent Shows, Annual Banquet
James B. Richardson, circa 1917, oil on board, 8 X 10
A notable activity during the 1920s and early 1930s was the Club's participation in traveling shows, primarily to cities in the eastern United States but also to locations as far away as Louisiana, Texas, Arizona, and Wisconsin. At times as many as 100 paintings were sent to other cities. The Club's historical records describe many of these shows, which continued until 1935.
Train and automobile became popular modes of transportation in the mid 1920s and 1930s, facilitating painting trips away from the immediate environs of Washington, D.C., to locations such as Waterford, Va. and Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Many of these trips were two- or three-day events. Accounts of them are informative and entertaining yet serious in calling attention to the camaraderie of the outings and the infectious enthusiasm generated by painting together on location
This enthusiasm carried over into the displaying of members' work. The 1930s were particularly marked by the frequent exhibitions of members' work in the Washington metropolitan area, and these were regularly reported in the press. From 1930 to 1937 there were at least three shows each year, and in 1935 six exhibitions were held. Almost every year featured a show (commonly referred to an "the annual show") at the Arts Club of Washington, D.C., with the Mt. Pleasant Branch of the D.C. public library system a popular alternative space for displaying work. Shows were also held from time to time at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Ambassador Theater, Howard University, the Silver Spring public library, the Northwestern and Georgetown Branches of the D.C. public library system, and the Alexandria public library. There were also several one-person shows by Landscape Club artists.
In 1927 the Landscape Club held its first "annual banquet" at the Arts Club of Washington D.C. Members appeared in formal dress to honor the occasion, an event that continued until World War II started in the early 1940s. By 1927 the membership had grown to 39 and now included a number of such noted individuals as:
- Dr. William H. Holmes, artist and scientific illustrator for the great early exploratory surveys of the western states in the 1870s and later director of the old Smithsonian National Gallery;
- Benson Bond Moore, who became well known for his art conservation work as well as for his paintings and etchings; and
- R. Bruce Horsfall, a well known artist of animal paintings.
Abe Schram painting en plein air, November, 1926
Painting at Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC, November 26, 1936
A.H.O. Rolle, Omar R. Carrington, Bruce R. Hosfall, C. Frank Whittenauer
Garnet Jex preparing to paint at Rock Creek Park, 1936
Originally for Men Only
It is not known when the Club's first constitution became effective but in 1928 a document presented as a revision of the constitution appeared in the historical record. Of particular note is Article III which stated: "The membership shall consist of active and honorary artist members, all men, the active membership to be limited to 40." The rationale for excluding women was centered on the rigors of painting on location and the difficulty of traipsing over the rugged countryside, which were deemed too arduous for the fairer sex!
Received Extensive Press Coverage
First Annual Banquet The Arts Club, Washington, DC, February, 8, 1927
During the 1920-1940 period, local art activities received extensive press coverage, and Landscape Club events were often the subject of newspaper stories. The Club made a special effort to collect these reports for the historical record. In addition, exhibit programs, circular letters, and other records of Club activities were also collected regularly and, together with newspaper clippings, pasted into large scrapbooks.
With the advent of World War II, Landscape Club activities were curtailed somewhat. Annual banquets were abandoned, and gasoline shortages put a damper on some painting excursions. But except for the fall of 1942, exhibitions continued to be held, though much less frequently than before the war. After the war, Landscape Club activities resumed with a new vigor and continued emphasis on painting on location and critiquing of work at informal meetings at members' homes.
Meager information from 1960s to mid-1980s
As mentioned above, data on Club activities had been collected in scrapbooks. Ultimately three scrapbooks, each containing about 140 pages of material, were filled with information covering the period 1919-1967. After 1967, the regular collection and filing of historical data tapered off drastically, and only occasionally were information items set aside in large envelopes or manila folders. There appears to have been no attempt to keep a careful and continuous accounting of Society activities between 1967 and 1985. The scrapbook records and their treasure of information were "lost" from 1967 to 1988.
Press coverage of the local art scene had already begun to decline by the 1960s, and this, combined with the casual reporting of Club activities by the members there was a limited historical record for the 1967-1985 time period.
We do know that Club members continued to be very active. Exhibitions were still held and painting excursions scheduled, often overnight, to places such as the Eastern Shore. On at least one occasion (1977) an annual dinner again took place.
Recent Actions Include Name Change, Admission of Women
It was not until the mid-1980s that information on Club activities again began to be collected on a regular basis. The post-1985s historical record is quite complete, particularly regarding meetings where members' work was critiqued. Of special note was the change in 1986 of the organization's name from the Landscape Club of Washington, D.C. to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters. (Too many people thought Landscape Club members were gardeners!) Society activities featured frequent paint-outs, and at least one exhibition of members' work was held each year. In 1993 the Society scheduled a special luncheon to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Society. The luncheon was held, appropriately, at the Arts Club of Washington, D.C., the site of so many early exhibitions.
In 1993, the constitution was amended to admit women and the Society now includes a number of them who are ardent outdoor painters and who clearly fit the mold of the individuals to whom Charles Seaton alluded to in his 1997 reference to the raison d'etre of the Ramblers, the forerunners of the current Washington Society of Landscape Painters.
* This brief history of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters was prepared by Dick Ray in March 1997 based on his extensive work on the Society's historical Record
The primary focus of the Society today is the painting outdoors on location with fellow members and guest artists, enjoying peer camaraderie, and critiquing each others work in a constructive way. In addition to these paint-outs, the Society also promotes the advancement of landscape painting through meetings, exhibitions and get-away painting trips. Meetings are held four times each year, and paint-outs are usually held the last Sunday of every month except December.
The Society holds at least one month-long exhibition each year at a gallery or public art space. The Society holds a luncheon, to which each member brings one painting for judging by all the members and the guests. Each person has one vote and monetary awards are given to the top three paintings.
In 2013, the Society celebrated their Centennial with an exhibition at The Arts Club in Washington DC.
In conclusion... reflecting on the history of the Society, it is impressive to note that the organization is now
104 years old. As in 1913, when the Society was founded as a loose-knit group of artists called the "RAMBLERS", painting on location continues to be the foundation on which its activities are based.
