A Brief History
THE LAKE ARTISTS’ SOCIETY was founded in 1904 largely on the initiative of W. G. Collingwood, the well known artist, local historian and secretary to John Ruskin, to promote the work of its members.
Members in the early years included Cuthbert Rigby, Fred Yates, Arthur and Fred Tucker and Hubert Coutts (Tucker), who was the first President. Invited exhibitors have included Frank Bramley, Sir William Russell Flint and Julius Olsson.
The first exhibition was in Coniston in 1905, and exhibitions have been staged every year since then, except for four years during the Second World War. Initially the exhibitions were in various centres, but later at the New Hall in Grasmere which is now the regular venue. The Summer Exhibition has become an established event in Cumbria, attracting over 10,000 visitors each year.
Many societies disappear when the enthusiasm of their founder members is not matched by their successors. However, the Lake Artists Society has not only survived through a century of many cultural and artistic changes, wars and economic crises, but has grown from strength to strength, continuing to present an annual exhibition which is recognised and enjoyed as of great importance in the artistic life of the North of England.
The early exhibitions were devoted almost exclusively to Lakeland landscapes. The first president, Hubert Courts, asserted that “…visitors to the Exhibition naturally looked for some relation between the choice of subjects and the name of the Society and if members would bear this in mind it might tend towards success”. Landscape remains a particular strength, but the exhibitions now include a wide range of subject matter and a variety of personal expression using many different mediums.
Members have come from many walks of life, including a secretary of Ruskin and a mountaineer who climbed on Everest with Mallory and Irvine. In the early years the exhibitions consisted of work only by members and other notable invited artists. This practice gave way gradually to the open exhibition of today to which anyone resident in Cumbria may submit work. Membership is limited to 45 and high standards are maintained through careful selection of works and a rigorous procedure for the election of new members.
The centenary of the Lake Artists Society in 2004 represented a rare achievement: the success and popularity of an arts organisation which has remained entirely independent of funding or sponsorship and completely self-sufficient.
Past Presidents
TS Hubert Coutts RI 1904- 1922
WG. Collingwood MA FSA 1922-1932
Colin B Phillip RWS 1932
Mrs OT Gnossepelius 1932- 1946
G. Motram Moorhouse 1946- 1949
Wm. H. Waddington 1949-1960
W Heaton Cooper RI 1960- 1971
Henry N. Almond MA 1971 – 1977
Ronald F Dickinson 1977- 1983
Henry N. Almond MA 1983 -1988
Walter F Parker ARCA FRSA 1988- 1989
Henry N. Almond MA 1989-1990
Philip Macleod Coupe 1990-2005
Philip L Hobbs 2006 -2012
Vivienne Pooley 2013 – 2015
Stephen Darbishire 2015 – 2018
Kevin Chester 2018 – 2021
Vivienne Pooley
Past Members
| John Abbott, (1939-1956) Jill Aldersley, (1979-2007) Jean Allday, (1968-2003) Adrian Allinson, (Invited 1954) Lady Allison, (1930-1941) Henry N Almond, (1964-2000) E H R Altounyan, (1934-1950) Edward Arden, (1904-1907) Patience Arnold, (1968-1991) James Atherton, (Invited 1915) Delmar Banner, (1947-1983) Joseph Barnes, (1905-1906) S Baskerville-Muscutt (1985-2000) James Bateman, (1934-1958) W J O Gordon Bell, (1947-1968) Ophelia Gordon Bell, (1940-1975) William Bell, (1974-2006) Graeme Bentham, (1980-1983) Lady Henry Bentinck, (Invited 1936) Kate Bentley 2012 - 2021 Percy Bigland, (Invited 1905) E Michael Bottomley (1948-2015) Henry W Bracken, (1957-1998) Mr Arthur Bracken, (1938-Ret. 1954) Samuel H Braithwaite, (1947) Frank Bramley, (Invited 1907 1912) Ernest Edward Briggs, (Invited 1909) M Elisabeth Brockbank (1925-38) Sidney Buckley (1949-1981) Thomas Bushby (1913-1918) Florence St John Cadell, (1939-Ret.1948) Dr Andrew J Caird (1928-1939) George Cannon (1962-2022) Ernest A Chadwick (Invited 1925) Ursula Chaldecott (1950-1958)(1960) Lady Elizabeth Chalmers, (Invited 1907, 1912) Peter J. Clark (1997-2004) Ernest E Clarke (1963-1982) Beryl Clay(1928-Ret.1948) Patrick Cleary (1967 - 2021) Judy Coleman (2003-2005) William G Collingwood (1904-1932) Edith M. Collingwood (1905-1927) Barbara C Collingwood (1913-1960) Violet M Common, (Invited 1938) George F Cook, (1951-Ret.1956) William Heaton Cooper, (1938-1995) Julian Heaton Cooper, (1966-1971) Alfred Heaton Cooper, (Invited 1913) Philip McLeod Coupe (1985-2013) Hubert Coutts, (1904-1921) Chris H Cowan, (1947-Ret.1950) Thomas Cowper (Essex), (1906-1907)(1918-1927) Gary Craig (2005-2011) Bardy Crewdson, (1963-2007) Francis William Crewdson, (1931-1939) Caroline Crompton, (1920-1936) James H Crossland, (1905-1936) Heather Davies, (2003-2016) Judith Da Fano, (1955-1963) Stanley Dawson, (1983- 2005) Tom Dearden, (1973-1988) Ronald Dickinson, (1962-1984) Ron Dickens (1973-2021) William Dodd, (1938-1981) James Durden, (1923-1926) Meryll Evans (1983-2012) W Eyre-Walker (Invited 1909) Bernard Eyre-Walker (1927-1971) John B Fawcitt (1936-1957) Harry Fecitt (1949-Ret.1954) Sheila Fell (Invited 1965) M Katherine Fell (1939-Ret.1948) Noel Fisher, (1977-1979) Richard Fisher (1952-2015) T Fisher-Smith, (1937-1949) Sir William Russell Flint, (Invited 1914) Ifor Freeman, (2007-2013) David Fulford (2007-2012) Mrs F M George, (1925-1939) Stanley Gibb, (1968-1973) E J Glover, (1952-1974) Harry Goodwin, (Invited 1914 1917) A Gertrude Gorton, (1950-1971) David Gould, (1904-1916) Ronald Green, (1989-1989) Winifred S Grice, (1939-Rct.1950) J R G Grundy, (Invited 1910) Sir Cuthbert C Grundy, (Invited 1911 1918) Gordon Hargrave, (1905-1907)(1920-1925) Wilfred M Harris, (1936-1949) Claude Harrison, (1951-2009) David O P M Harrison, (1958-1965) Tobias Harrison (2005-2008) Jane M L Hartley (1995-2008) John Hay, (1949-1958) G Hayhurst-France, (1939) Katherine G Henderson (1934-Ret.1948) Muriel Hine, (1936-1939) Edward G Hobley, (1906-1912) Arthur Henry Graham Hoggarth, (1938-1963) Henry G Holiday, (Invited 1906) Charles Holmes, (Invited 1935) Celia A Hunt, (Invited 1922) Mary Ethel Hunter, (Invited 1935) Thomas Huson, (Invited 1909) Alexander Inglis, (1978-1992) Brenda Inston, (1996-2000) | Audrey Johnson, (1954-2004) Edward Jeffrey, (1951-1977) Mr J B Jenkinson, (1976-1987) R Percy Kelly, (1957-1963) John D Kenworthy, (1910-1939) J Franklin Kershaw (1914-1917) Mr A K Kimm (1920-1923) Bryan Knutton (2003-2008) Joanna A Langhorne, (1984-1996) Hamel Lister (1904-1958) J Raymond Little (1925-1940) J H Bruce Lockhart (1939-Ret.1956) Ursula Luard-Selby (1938-1961) Tiana Marie, (1983-2006) Leonore F Marshall (1922-1933) Herbert Marshall (Invited 1907) W Stirling Martin (1988-1993) Percy Mason, (1905-1931) Tom Mellor, (1970-1994) James H Midgley, (1904-1929) Blanche Mortram Moorhouse, (1923-1949) George Mortram Moorhouse, (1912-1958) Harold Moss, (1905-1925) Tom Mostyn, (Invited 1909 1913) George Nelson, (1917-1922) Edmund Hort New, (Invited 1909) Arthur T Nowell, (Invited 1910) Tom Oldham, (1976-2016) Julius Olsson, (Invited 1914) Malcolm Osborne, (Invited 1951) Walter F Parker (1965-2010) Colin B Phillip, (1922-1932) Katherin Ploder, (1966-1988) Geoffrey Pooley, (1954-2006) G Sydney Prentice, (1979-1993) Arnold Priestman, (1922-1924) F H Rainbow, (1950-1968) Mrs H D Rawnsley, (1910-1916) Richard Redfern, (1905-1911) George F Reiss, (1929-1931)(1947-1970) Helen Reynolds, (1954-1977) Cuthbert Rigby, (1904-1931) James Ingham Riley (1982-2015) Gillian Robinson 2002 - 2017 John Rogers, (1982-2015) Rosetta Roberts (1969-2016) Venetia Rolland, (2001-2013) The Hon Mrs Freda Rollo, (1933-1938) Frank S Sanderson, (1950-1956) Kurt Schwitters, (1947-48) Sydney Scott, (1905-1915) J Arthur Pallister Severn, (1904-1929) Claude A Shepperson, (Invited 1912) Captain R C Sinker, (1933-1939) Arthur Sleight, (Invited 1917,1918) A Reginald Smith, (Invited 1922) Allan Smith, (1974-2007) Mr John H Smith, (1910-1913)(1920-1931) W H Somervell, (1918-1934) Dr T Howard Somervell, (1950-1974) Gilbert Spencer, (Invited 1951) George Vernon Stokes, (1918-1931) Neil Taylor, (1947-1979) Emilie Tinkler, (1927-1931) C J R Tipper, (1931-Ret. 1948) Ernest Townsend, (Invited 1914) Frederic Tucker, (1904-1933) Arthur Tucker, (1904-1929) Frederic Tucker, (1935-1939) Helen Turner, (1999-2011) William Lakin Turner, (1904-1936) Mr G S D Turner, (1964-1970) Fred Unsworth, (1947-1966) Judith Valentine, (1959-1980) Denis G Valentine, (1975-1980) Josefina de Vasconcellos, (1946-2005) Roy Waddington, (1951-1969) William H Waddington, (1917-20)(1931-61) Robin Wallace, (1920-1939) S Walshaw, (1953-1972) Ralph Waterhouse, (1976-1983) F Boyd Waters, (1950-1957) sobel Watson, (1971-2013) W Henry Watson, (1912-1931) Bert Wells, (1947-1949) Alexander Y Whishaw, (Invited 1910) Mollie Whitworth, (1986-1993) John W Wilkinson, (1923-1936) Henry R Wilkinson, (1952-1959) Anne E Williamson, (1933-1935) Derek E Willink, (1933-1964) Beatrice Willink, (1905-1923) Cherry Willis, (1938-Ret.1956) William Smallwood Winder, (1904-1909) Winder, (1904-1909) A J Carter Wood, (1913-14) Elizabeth Wood (1989-2021) John Barlow Wood, (1914-1931) Keith Wood, (1993-2004) C J Worthington, (1962-1977) Mary Yates, (1915-1975) Frederick Yates, (1905-1918) Dick Yeadon, (1935-1936) |
THE LAKE ARTISTS SOCIETY RULES
(FOUNDED 1904)
(Revised 8 September 2019)
1. The Society shall be called “THE LAKE ARTISTS SOCIETY” (L.A.S.). The number of members shall not exceed forty-five. In
addition, Honorary Life Members may be elected as noted under Rule 9.
2. The Society exists for the purpose of holding Annual Exhibitions and for such further activities as shall be resolved by the
Society at its meetings.
3. The Society shall consist of the existing members and such as shall be elected by ballot at the Annual General Meeting of
the Society. At General Meetings nine shall form a quorum.
4. Any person permanently resident in Cumbria may submit works with a view to membership. Works may be submitted also
for exhibition only.
5. Non-members may submit one or two works for the Summer Exhibition, but those applying for membership of the Society
must submit two works, and make written application to the Secretary with their Entry Form, and should submit at least five
additional examples of their work by the close of the Exhibition. All these should be available at the Annual General Meeting
for consideration.
Before an applicant can be elected as a member it is necessary:
(a) To have both works accepted for exhibition.
(b) To secure for nomination over half the votes of the Council.
(c) Election of Members – The Council, having decided the number of vacancies to be filled, will present to the A.G.M. a list of
the candidates whom they recommend for election. Each candidate who receives more than half the votes cast by the
members present shall be declared elected. Always provided that only as many candidates shall be admitted to the
membership as there are vacancies to be filled, those chosen being the candidates who have received the greatest number of
votes.
6. Each non-member shall pay a handling fee when submitting work. The amount of these fees and the commission to be
charged on sales shall be determined by the Council at the previous Annual General Meeting and shall be communicated by
the Secretary to the candidate in replying to his/her application.
7. For the Summer Exhibition; All works submitted must be originals. No copies of any kind are admissible. No works may be
exhibited which have previously been in any public exhibition in Cumbria. Editions of prints or sculpture must be on sale
exclusively from the Exhibition during the period it is open to the Public.
8. Members ceasing to reside in Cumbria will be considered as resigning their membership except in those cases in which they
are invited by a General Meeting to retain it. Retiring members and eminent artists, though not necessarily connected with the
district, may be invited at the discretion of the Council to contribute no more than two works.
9. The Officers of the Society shall consist of President, Vice-President and five members of the Council. The President shall
be elected for a period of three years.
The Vice-President and the five members of the Council shall hold office for two years, the Vice-President and two new
members being elected in one year and three new members being elected in the succeeding year. The President and Vice-
President may be re-elected for consecutive terms of office, but Council members on completion of their two year term of
office must stand down for one year before being eligible again for election, except that a retiring council member is eligible
for election as President or Vice-President. All these Officers shall exercise a vote; shall constitute the Hanging Committee and
Executive Council; and shall be responsible for the election of the Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer.
Election of Officers: Nomination Forms indicating positions to be filled will be forwarded to Members with Exhibition Entry
Forms. A Ballot Paper will be sent to Members approximately 14 days before the AGM. This may be used for a postal vote or
handed in at the AGM when the elected Officers will be declared.
Honorary Life Membership: At the discretion of the President and Council and on receiving on a Ballot paper the votes of more
than half the membership, a Member who is considered to have made an exceptional contribution to the Society may be
elected an Honorary Life Member. Not more than one member may be proposed in any one year. Honorary Life Members may
retain their membership if subsequently resident outside Cumbria. They have the same voting rights and may submit works
for exhibition on the same basis as Members. Their membership is free of subscription and any fees which may be required
from time to time from Members by the Society.
10. The Hanging Committee shall have the power to reject any work in the interest of the Society as a whole. Though the
number of works submitted by any one member is not restricted, the number exhibited shall be determined by the Hanging
Committee and no more than two shall be “not for sale”.
11. The Annual General Meeting and Meeting of Council shall be held at the close of the Exhibition to receive the Secretary’s
report and to direct the Secretary as to the preparations for the ensuing year, and for other business.
12. Other Meetings of the Council may be called by the Secretary in consultation with the President. Other Meetings of the
Society may be called by the Council or upon the written request of any four members made to the President.
13. Every member shall pay an annual subscription payable to the Treasurer, and due prior to the Annual Exhibition, the
amount of which shall be fixed for the ensuing year at a General Meeting. Members shall be considered to have resigned from
the Society, if their subscriptions are unpaid for two consecutive years, or if they have not exhibited for two consecutive years,
unless a letter is received by the Secretary giving a reason.
14. A commission shall be charged on the catalogue price of all works sold. The Council shall fix the commission, which along
with the amount of the subscription, shall be circulated to all members with the notice of the next Exhibition.
15. A financial report and balance sheet shall be submitted by the Treasurer to the Council annually and after being approved
by the Council shall be circulated to all members.
16. The funds of the Society shall be spent in aid of the Exhibition, and in such ways as the Society shall resolve at its
Meetings.
17. The Rules shall not be altered except at a General Meeting of the Society, at which not less than 10 members are present.
Intimation of a proposed change shall be given to the Secretary not less than 7 days before the Meeting
18. In the case of alleged misconduct of any member, the matter may be considered at a General Meeting of the Society
which shall have the power to expel such member if two-thirds of the votes of the membership present are in favour of the
expulsion, the vote being taken by ballot. Such member shall have his/her subscription for the current year returned to them.
19. If the Society has arranged insurance cover, details will be given in the Exhibition Information Sheet; otherwise the Society
shall not be held responsible for any personal injury, or loss or damages however caused, to works of art exhibited or sent for
exhibition or submitted for consideration, whether in transit or whilst under control of the Society.
20. The above Rules shall be printed and a copy sent to every member of the Society. A copy shall also be available to
candidates on application to the Secretary.
As approved by the Annual General Meeting on 8 September 2019