Cincinnati Art Club

The Cincinnati Art Club was formed in 1890 and is one of the oldest continually operating groups or collectives of artists in the United States.

It was formed for the purpose of “advancing the knowledge and love of art through education.” The Club achieves its mission through exhibitions, lectures, hands-on demonstrations, sketch and painting group work sessions, monthly critique sessions, maintenance of an art library and awarding of student scholarships.

History
In the latter part of the 1800s a strong colony of working artists had established a small 'Montmartre' on the upper end of Vine Street in Cincinnati. One group of artists gathered informally as the Cincinnati Sketch Club and had its origins in the studio of John Rettig in 1883. The loose collection of artists became the Cincinnati Art Club on 15 March 1890. Its first president was John Rettig and consisted of 14 members (which included a pet dog so the membership number wasn't an unlucky 13). The founding members were: Rettig, Clarence D. Bartlett, James McLaughlin, Edward S. Butler, Matthew A. Daly, Albert O. Elzner, Edward Johnson, Remmington Lane, Leon van Loo, Lewis C. Lutz, William A. McCord, Perry Morris and Joseph Henry Sharp.

The club grew rapidly and within a year of its founding growing to 32 active members and 36 associate members.

Initially the club was bohemian in nature and did not have a fixed abode and met in the homes or studios of members. The host of the meeting would become the owner of all sketches made. In 1907, the club moved to a new home in the Harrison building and was considered the most attractive home to artists in the Middle West. A club house was eventually purchased in 1923 on Third Street.

A regular constitution was adopted in 1892 “to advance the knowledge and love of art through exhibitions of works of art, lectures on subjects pertaining to art, and to promote social intercourse amongst its members.”

The club became an advocate for artists and in 1908, the CAC President John Ritter submitted a letter which was presented at a congressional hearing on the arts tariff in Washington DC before the Ways and Means Committee.

The club was restricted to males until 1979 when women were allowed to become members.

Notable members

 * Wilbur G. Adam, club president - 1965–67, portraiture and landscapes painter.
 * Frank Duveneck, club president - 1896–98. Cincinnati's best-known artist in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was appointed the club's critic.
 * Henry Farny, club president - 1892–94, creator of the club's trademark, the dragonfly. A famed painter of American Indians.
 * John Hauser, one of the club's earliest members. Painter best known for his portraits of American Indians and Indigenous peoples of the Americas.
 * Charles S. Kaelin, an American Impressionist painter.
 * Winsor McCay, an American cartoonist and animator.
 * Lewis Henry Meakin, club president - 1912–14. An American Impressionist landscape artist.
 * Frank Harmon Myers, Impressionist painter known for seascapes.
 * Edward Henry Potthast, an American Impressionist painter.
 * John A. Ruthven, an American wildlife painter.
 * Joseph Henry Sharp, a painter of the American West.
 * Leon Van Loo, the club's third and eighth president. Belgian-born photographer and art promoter.

Club presidents
2023–present Christine Kuhr

2018–2023 Donald A. Schuster

2016–2018 Clark Stevens

2012–2016 Todd Channer

2010-2012           Tom Bluemlein

2008-2010           Kay Worz

2006-2008           Tim Boone

2003-2006           Mike McGuire

2001-2003           Lester W. Miley

1998-2001           David Klocke

1995-1998           Roger Heuck

1993-1995           Judith Q. Barnett

1990-1993           Thomas R. Eckley

1989-1990           Oren Miller

1987-1989           Lester W. Miley

1985-1987           Martha Weber

1983-1985           Sherman Peeno

1981-1983           Dale Benedict

1978-1981           Lou Austerman

1976-1978           Ray Loos

1974-1976           Gene Hinckley

1973-1974           Charles Baltzer

1971-1973           Don Dennis

1969-1971           Joseph E. Peter

1967-1969           George Stille

1965-1967           Wilbur G. Adam

1964-1965           Ray Becker

24 April 1964    Charles W. L. Schlapp (Honorary President)

1963-1964           Jerome P. Costello

1961-1963           Mathias J. Noheimer

1959-1961           E. Kenneth Moore

1957-1959           George H. Strietmann

1955-1957           Frederic H. Kock

1953-1955           Vernon C. Rader

1951-1953           Joseph O. Emmett

1949-1951           Harland J. Johnson

1947-1949           Lawrence H. Smith

1945-1947           Merton W. Willmore

1943-1945           Maurice R. Rhoades

1941-1943           Norman H. Doane

1939-1941           Arthur L. Helwig

1937-1939           Julian J. Bechtold

1935-1937           Carl J. Zimmerman

1933-1935           Reginald L. Grooms

1929-1933           Theodore C. Dorl

1928-1929           Ernest Bruce Haswell

1927-1928           John E. Weis

1924-1927           Ernest Bruce Haswell

1922-1924           Herman H. Wessel

1920-1922           George Debereiner

1918-1920           Martin Rettig

1916-1918           James R. Hopkins

1914-1916           Paul Ashbrook

1912-1914           Theodore C. Dorl

1910-1912           Lewis Henry Meakin

1908-1910           John Rettig

1908      Henry F. Farny

1906-1908           W. F. Behrens

1904-1906           John Dee Wareham

1903-1904           Leon Van Loo

1902-1903           Paul Jones

1899-1902           John Ward Dunsmore

1898-1899           Clement Barnhorn

1896-1898           Frank Duveneck

1894-1896           Leon Van Loo

1892-1894           Henry F. Farny

1890-1892           John Rettig