The Royal Watercolour Society (originally called the Society of Painters in Water Colours, briefly the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, and for much of its existence the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours) is an English institution of painters working in watercolours. It should not be confused with the separate organisation, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.
Its members, or associates, use the postnominal initials RWS. Members are elected annually by the membership: there were 6 new members elected in 2009, and 3 in 2010. The current president of the Royal Watercolour Society is David Paskett, who was elected in April 2009. [1]
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The society was founded as the Society of Painters in Water Colours (sometimes referred to as the Old Water Colour Society, and just Old Society)[2] in 1804 by William Frederick Wells and its original membership was: William Sawrey Gilpin, Robert Hills, John Claude Nattes, John Varley, Cornelius Varley, Francis Nicholson, Samuel Shelley, William Henry Pyne and Nicholas Pocock. The members seceded from the Royal Academy where they felt that their work commanded insufficient respect and attention.
In 1812, the Society reformed as the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, reverting to its original name in 1820. The Society obtained its Royal charter 1881 under the presidency of Sir John Gilbert as the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours. In 1988, it changed its name again to the Royal Watercolour Society, by which it had always previously been generally known.
Current members include Sonia Lawson, Elizabeth Blackadder and David Remfry.
It is a separate organisation from the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours.