The Senefelder Club is an organization formed in London in 1909 to promote the craft of art reproduction by the process of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

. The club was named in honor of Aloys Senefelder, who in 1796 invented the lithographic process. The process was slow in development and even slower in gain acceptance in the art world. At the turn of the century, it began to flower and to be considered as an art form in its own right. The principles of lithography are still in practice around the world today. The club provided a forum for the artists to meet and exchange information on this heretofore semi-secret process. Further, it provided a means to instruct artists and their patrons that lithography was an art as well as a craft. In 1909, Ernest Jackson, A.S. Hartrick, and James Kerr-Lawson called a meeting to form a society for the artist lithographer and in the following year, the Senefelder Club was formed.Trivick, H. (1961). Introduction in ''The Senefelder Group 1910-1960. An Exhibition of Lithographs'', London: Arts Council

Joseph Pennell Joseph Pennell (July 4, 1857 – April 23, 1926) was an American draftsman, etcher, lithographer and illustrator for books and magazines. A prolific artist, he spent most of his working life in Europe, and is known for his interest in landmarks, l ...

was elected President and Hartrick, Jackson and Kerr-Lawson formed the Committee. John Copley (1875-1950) and

Ethel Gabain Ethel (also '' æthel'') is an Old English word meaning "noble", today often used as a feminine given name. Etymology and historic usage The word means ''æthel'' "noble". It is frequently attested as the first element in Anglo-Saxon names, ...

soon joined (and married in 1913), followed by

Frank Brangwyn Sir Frank William Brangwyn (12 May 1867 – 11 June 1956) was a Welsh artist, painter, watercolourist, printmaker, illustrator, and designer. Brangwyn was an artistic jack-of-all-trades. As well as paintings and drawings, he produced des ...

, Spencer Pryse, Charles Shannon,

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

. C.W.R. Nevinson, Claude Sheperson,

E. J. Sullivan Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869–1933), usually known as E. J. Sullivan, was a British book illustrator who worked in a style which merged the British tradition of illustration from the 1860s with aspects of Art Nouveau. Life Sullivan was th ...

Edmund Blampied Edmund Blampied (30 March 1886 – 26 August 1966) was one of the most eminent artists to come from the Channel Islands, yet he received no formal training in art until he was 15 years old. He was noted mostly for his etchings and drypoin ...

and many other notable artists. Foreign members included

Théophile Steinlen Théophile Alexandre Steinlen (November 10, 1859 – December 13, 1923), was a Swiss-born French Art Nouveau painter and printmaker. Biography Born in Lausanne, Switzerland, Steinlen studied at the University of Lausanne before taking a job as ...

Jean-Louis Forain Jean-Louis Forain (23 October 1852 – 11 July 1931) was a French Impressionist painter and printmaker, working in media including oils, watercolour, pastel, etching and lithograph. Compared to many of his Impressionist colleagues, he was mor ...

, and

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

. In 1958 the Club was renamed the Senefelder Group when members included

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

, James Fitton,

Phyllis Ginger Phyllis Ethel Ginger (19 October 1907 – 3 May 2005) was a British artist and illustrator who, although she had a long career in several different media, is now best known for the topographical watercolours she produced during the Second Worl ...

and

Henry Trivick Henry Houghton Trivick (1908 — 1982) was a British painter, lithographer and author of art books. Biography Henry Trivick was the great grandson of the Anglo-American artist Benjamin West. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts ...

, who was then Chairman. The Group seems to have held their last exhibition in 1961. The British watercolorist and lithographer

Anthony Raine Barker Anthony Raine (A.R.) Barker (4 September 18809 August 1963) was a British artist. He was educated at Framlingham College, Suffolk, and trained initially as an architect at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). In 1909, he won the RIBA ...

was an enthusiastic supporter and member of the club's committee in the 1920s.

References

Further Sources

*''Archibald Standish Hartrick, BM, RSW, OBE'' by Lester J. Hartrick *''Artists Index'' Roe and Moore *'The Adventures of an Illustrator' by Joseph Pennell, 1925, p. 169 {{Authority Control Arts organisations based in the United Kingdom