ARTS CLUB
The Arts Club was founded in 1863 for the purpose of facilitating the social intercourse of those connected, either professionally or as amateurs, with Art, Literature, or Science. The founder of the Club was Arthur James Lewis (1824-1901), an amateur artist of considerable merit, whose pictures were often to be seen at the Royal Academy exhibitions. The number of members was originally fixed at 250, but was afterwards extended to 400, then to 450, and finally to 600. Foreign artists and literary and scientific men whose usual residence is out of the United Kingdom might be elected honorary members for a limited period, a privilege of which a number of foreign artists—especially Belgian —were glad to avail themselves during the First World War. At various times the Club has elected under this Rule such representative men as Mark Twain, Bret Harte, Henry M. Stanley, Gustave Dore, Jules Claretie, the two Coquelins, Bastien le Page, Benjamin Constant, Rodin, Rossi, Joachim, and many others. The majority of the members have always been painters and architects; sculpture, literature, and journalism have been well represented, and so long as the Club was located in Hanover Square, where the next house in Tenterden Street was occupied by the Royal Academy of Music and in 1896 the Club moved to 40 Dover Street. Members included James Archer RSA (10 June 1823–3 September 1904); Thomas Armstrong (19 October 1832–24 April 1911) and Suffolk members included Charles Samuel Keene, Vivian Desmond Ryan