Washington Society of Landscape Painters records
name: label: Creator
content: Washington Society of Landscape Painters
label: Names
content: Landscape Club of Washington, D.C.
topic: label: Topic
content: Landscape painters -- Washington (D.C.)
label: Topic
content: Landscape painting -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Gift of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters, via its past historian and archivist, 1999 and 2004.
creator: label: Creator
content: Washington Society of Landscape Painters
setName: label: See more items in
content: Washington Society of Landscape Painters records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The records of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters measure 1 linear foot and date from 1917 to 2000. The collection documents the activities of the society through scrapbooks, general records, printed matter, correspondence, and photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: The Washington Society of Landscape Painters is an art society based in Washington, D.C.  Organized in 1919, it is one of the oldest artists organization in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

The Washington Society of Landscape Painters actually traces its inception to 1916, when Charles Seaton and Winfield Scott Cline and other landscape painters formed a group called the Ramblers. 

By 1919, the organization was formally named the Landscape Club of Washington. It met at 1221 15th Street, N.W., in a wing of the home of Florida's Senator Fletcher, where they began holding exhibitions, an arrangement that lasted until the late 1920s. 

Activities were curtailed during World War II, but exhibitions continued on a slightly reduced schedule. The annual banquet, a tradition begun in 1927, continued until the start of World War II; more than 35 years later, in 1976, another annual dinner was held. In 1996, the annual luncheon/dinner was reinstated as an annual event, although it is no longer a formal affair.

During the 1950s several outspoken members of the Landscape Club were vocal about their dissatisfaction with modern art, making newspaper headlines. Membership and local press coverage of their exhibitions declined during the 1960s and 1970s, though the group remained active during this period. At various times in the society's history, there has been a club historian who collected material produced by or about the organization and its members that was assembled in a set of scrapbooks titled "W.S.L.P. Archives," covering the years 1919-circa 1976. From the mid 1970s until the mid 1980s recordkeeping was less systematic and very few items have survived to fully document activities of the organization during this period. With a resurgence of interest in the club around the mid 1980s came improved attention to recordkeeping.

In the mid 1980s Landscape Club activities increased. There were more painting excursions, the exhibition schedule expanded, and a number of memorial prizes were established. The organization formally changed its name to the Washington Society of Landscape Painters in 1986. Painting on location and critiques of members work were held quarterly. Field trips, sometimes called "paint outs," sometimes extended longer than a weekend and might be in locations farther from home than previously. The group commemorated its 80th anniversary in 1993, at which time its constitution was amended, opening membership to women.
function: label: Function
content: Arts organizations -- Washington (D.C.)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1917-2000
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.washsocl
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Visitors' books
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 5 series. Unless otherwise specified in the series descriptions, material within each folder is arranged chronologically.

Series 1: General Records, 1917-1997 (Box 1, 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1958-1993 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)

Series 3: Printed Matter, 1929-2000 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)

Series 4: Scrapbooks, 1919-circa 1976 (Box 1, 0.5 linear feet)

Series 5: Photographs, 1967-1979 (Box 1, 0.1 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was processed by Catherine S. Gaines in 2001. The finding aid was modified by Stephanie Ashley in 2001 prior to EAD conversion. The 2004 addition was incorporated in 2006, and the finding aid revised at that time.  The collection was prepared for digitization and the finding aid was updated by Rihoko Ueno in 2016 with funding provided by the Walton Family Foundation and Terra Foundation for American Art.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The collection was digitized in 2016 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website.  Materials which have not been scanned include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, and duplicates.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Visitors' books
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The records of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters (WSLP) measure 1 linear foot and date from 1917 to 2000. The collection documents the activities of the society through scrapbooks, general records, printed matter, correspondence, and photographs.

General records consist of administrative records such as the WSLP constitution and by-laws, meeting minutes, and membership lists, as well as miscellaneous material such as logbooks, guest registers, and scattered notes.

There is limited correspondence mostly on the subject of exhibitions, field trips, and membership.

Printed material consists of exhibition catalogs, announcements, reviews, newsletters, and clippings about the WSLP and its members.  

There are several scrapbooks in this collection.  The "W.S.L.P. Archives" consists of three volumes of material compiled by the club historian and contains photographs, clippings, and printed material about the organization, its activities, and its members.  There is also one other scrapbook about WSLP members that is arranged alphabetically by name.

The photographic material includes a few snapshots of people painting at their easels outdoors and a few slides of an unidentified backyard.