Did you know that we support 4 major British art societies through the sale of our cards?
The artists and their work have always been at the heart of Dry Red Press. As publishers of art greeting cards we are proud to be working with such well established artists as well as being committed to introducing young and emerging artists’ work to our growing collection.
Members of each society send us a selection of their images and we have the wonderful job of looking through all the impressive works of art and selecting those that we feel will make popular greeting cards. Once published, we pay the art societies ongoing royalties from the sale of all the cards in the range. So when you order cards from our art society ranges you are helping to raise much needed funds for their continuation, helping to promote British art and making it available to us all.
The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA)
The RBA was formed in 1823 by a group of painters as an alternative to the Royal Academy of Arts. Both Monet and Alfred Stevens became honorary members which raised the profile of the society hugely. It currently has 115 elected members and is under the umbrella of the Federation of British Artists (FBA). An annual open exhibition is held at the Mall Galleries, the next one is in 2017 which will be RBA exhibition number 300! The society supports young artists through the RBA scholarship, their own Rome scholarship and their partnership with NADFAS and the Rising Star exhibition. Our artist Sue Campion has been a member of the RBA for 10 years!
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour (RI)
The beginning of the RI can be traced back to 1807, although it was resurrected in 1831 under the name New Society of Painters in Watercolours. The RI was started when watercolour was used for serious artistic expression when artists like Cotman, Turner and Cox were using the medium to great acclaim. The RI also holds an open exhibition every year at the Mall Galleries and they too are members of the FBA. Keep your eyes out for the excellent workshops run by its members!
The Royal Watercolour Society (RWS)
Founded in 1804, the RWS is the oldest and most prestigious art society in the world. The members work in traditional watercolour but also in a variety of media such as gouache, acrylic, pen and ink, pigment, collage and mixed media. The aim of the society is to promote, by example and education, the understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of these media. At the Bankside Gallery – next door to Tate Modern – the RWS hold regular exhibitions, talks, courses, family events, open competition and art demonstrations.
The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE)
Alongside the RWS, the RE is also based at the Bankside Gallery. Established in London in 1880, it is a world leading printmaking organisation. The RE host a number of shows and events throughout the year, such as the RE Original Prints exhibition showing the work of the society’s members. They organise prizes for young artists, and don’t miss out on their popular ‘meet the artist’ sessions which are held at all of their exhibitions.
We are very lucky to have the opportunity to publish images by such talented artists. The cards from our art society ranges continue to be very popular and we regularly ask the members for new images enabling us to keep the ranges fresh and exciting.
The images above are some of the best sellers from each art society range.
We hope you will enjoy browsing our art society collection.
Thank you for reading,
Laura and Kicki