Social Smoking and French Fancies: The Dublin Art(s) Club, 1886–98

Abstract ABSTRACT The Dublin Art(s) Club, which operated in the Irish capital from 1886 to 1898, offers an intriguing case study for modes of artistic networks and cultural exchange between Ireland and Britain in the closing decades of the nineteenth century. Despite this, the history of the Club has been little explored in historiography to date, often confused with other ventures by artists in the city. Examining the rise and fall of the Dublin Art(s) Club, along with its members and activities, this article retrieves its history and posits that it offers an example of an aspect of art in Ireland which was conspicuous for its cosmopolitan outlook and active engagement with the wider British art world, which then spanned across both islands. The history of the Dublin Art(s) Club poses a challenge to the extant scholarship of this period in Irish art history, which to date has been largely understood to be focused on themes of national identity, the cultural revival, and artists who left Ireland to train in Belgium and France. This article posits that by re-engaging with the activities of art clubs and societies, a more complex reading of artistic life in Victorian Dublin can emerge.