The Glasgow Art Club

About

The spirits lift as you step from Bath Street into the elegantly proportioned hall with its fine wooden pannelling.

It's lunchtime. You might find yourself joining in the discussion (or argument) at the bar; or if you prefer a quiet life you could take your pre-lunch drink into the gallery and inspect the current exhibition or glance through the newspapers and magazines. Moving to  the dining-room overlooking Bath Street you might  have lunch with a friend or your guest or join others at the members' table for some sole en papillote or roast pheasant or just a plate of fish and chips. Wine is sold by the glass as well as by the bottle.The dining-room dress code is relaxed although business suits are not banned!.

If you're showing a guest round the club, don't forget the library with its notable collection of art books and venerable mahogany furniture. On the way up to the library pause on the staircase to look at the Japanese prints on the wall. They were among the gifts received by the club when it moved into these premises in the summer of 1893.

History

The Club wasfounded in 1867 and has been in its present home since 1892. For more historical information on the Glasgow Art Club.

Library and Archive

Shortly after the present Clubhouse was opened in 1893, a library was created from a collection of books, most of which had been donated over the years by members and ex-members. The library was set up as a lending-library for Club-members. For decades this format functioned well under the supervision of successive library-committees and slowly a very attractive collection was formed. Unfortunately, two wars interrupted the keeping of records. The consequence of the Second World War in particular led to the conditions that caused the demise of the library-format which had been used and eventually the Club was left with a depleted collection of books without any library-format. This collection or what was left of it has been reorganised into a research-library system.

Records have been kept since the very first meeting of the newly found Club in November 1867. Due to the way they were kept, in the office of the respective Secretaries, serious work to enable accessibility only began in 2002. This work has been disrupted by the urgent need for a ‘sub-archive of building matters’. That sub-archive is now complete and therefore accessible for consultation and/or research. Although complete accessibility of the main archives has not yet been finalised, our Honorary Librarian and acting Archivist, Theo van Asperen, is able and prepared to provide guided accessibility if required for research.

Accessibility to the library or to the archives is available by appointment with the Honorary Librarian. Use the Contact Form on the Contact Page

Restoration

Although the Club has always assiduously carried out routine maintenance on our building, the time has now come when our historic home needs thorough restoration work.
For more information on restoration work at the Glasgow Art Club.