The First Fifty Years

2004 marked the Suffolk Art Society's 50 th anniversary. This article charts some of the major events in our history, including our long association with Gainsborough's House, some quite famous members, and of course many exhibitions.

It all grew from very modest beginnings. The Phoenix Art Gallery at Lavenham was owned by Mr Ronald McCausland-White from 1950, and in 1954 he started a small art club which continued to meet and occasionally exhibit there until 1960. That year the club adopted the Suffolk Art Society name and a formal constitution. A committee was elected and it was decided to operate independently of the gallery. From then onwards election to membership has normally been by annual selection from applicant artists. The Society's first President was T B Huxley-Jones, who stood down in 1961 in favour of Edward Wesson. However, Wesson himself soon had to relinquish the office, having moved away to Surrey.

Cavendish Morton became President in 1962 and Muriel Simmons became Secretary. The Phoenix Gallery was fully booked that year and the Society had its first ‘away' exhibition at the Cloisters, St Edmundsbury Cathedral. We showed again at the Phoenix in 1963, our final exhibition at that venue. Cavendish Morton had by then also become President of the Gainsborough House Society at Sudbury and arranged for us to exhibit there in 1964. This was the start of a long association, and we held an exhibition at Gainsborough's House every year for the next 40 years, for some time under the curatorship of David Coke (also a member of the SAS committee) and from 1979 of Stephen Jones, who had moved from The V & A to take up the post. Our AGMs were also held at Gainsborough House during these years and at that time our exhibitions there were selected by three or four independent judges.

Cavendish Morton stood down from the SAS presidency in 1970 and Sir Francis Meyell took over, but stood down the following year in favour of Reginald Brill, who was supported by Louis Prince as Vice-president. Brill died in 1974 and Cavendish Morton offered to take up the Presidency again and was duly elected, continuing for some years. At that time the Society's membership stood at about 100, at which level it has been maintained to the present day.

Hugh Belsey took over as Curator at Gainsborough's House in the early 1980's. In 1988 Hugh Belsey and I negotiated a sponsorship deal with Nationwide Anglia for our exhibition there that year, which provided some high quality publicity material. Our association at Gainsborough's House continued up to the end of 2002, when the House decided that for the time being they could not accommodate us in their programme. We hope that in the near future it may be possible to renew this association. Kaye Gibson became Chairman of our Society at about the same time as Hugh came to GH, and both Phyllis Russell and Arthur Essex were revered long serving members, Phyllis becoming President in 1998 and Arthur continuing our links with GH.
Another longstanding and hard working member was Don Macaree who did a tremendous amount behind the scenes to help the Society in many ways, and later followed Phyllis as the Society's President.

Apart from venues already mentioned, the Society has held exhibitions at many other places. In 1965 we held a Spring show at the Haste Gallery in Ipswich and for some years thereafter held ‘open' exhibitions from which new applicants for membership were selected. Our June exhibition at Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford, in 1979 was the first of what has become an annual visit to that venue. We have regularly held exhibitions at Lavenham and have also exhibited at Clare, Ipswich, St Edmundsbury Cathedral, Dedham, Kersey, Finchingfield, Castle Hedingham and Sudbury. We generally hold three exhibitions each summer and are always open to suggestions for new venues. Individuals and small groups of members have also held shows independently, as well as within the Society, at galleries and other venues in the region.

Much has changed in the past 50 years. The Suffolk Art Society can take great pride in its long association with East Anglian churches and in the role it has played in donating thousands of pounds in support of their maintenance and improvement. We are ever looking at widening our horizons to include other worthy causes.  We face new challenges and more competition, but we trust that the same sterling qualities that have seen us through in the past, not least the high standards set by our artists, will enable us to prosper in the years ahead.



John Everrett, President.