International studio (23.1904)

The Langham Sketching Club

“a window on the street”

the whole of their art-schooling at the evening
gatherings of the Artists’ Society. In the early days
of its existence it was less exacting in its demands
on candidates for election than it is now, and it was
easier for the ambitious student to work his way
into its innermost ranks and profit by the associa-
tion and suggestion of men who, though known to
fame, were still glad to remain students.
Twice there have been unfortunate splits in the
ranks of the Langham, which have lost them some
good men; the Hogarth being the outcome of the
first, and the London Sketch Club, of which an
account has already appeared in The Studio, being
the result of the other. But considering the import-
ance of the organisation, there has been remarkably
little of an unhappy character associated with its life.
The Langham has always had something of a
reputation for its spirit of Bohemianism, and from

the old days one hears echoes of
the most delicious camaraderie
and innocent tomfoolery in-
dulged in by its members on
special fete nights. Modern
Bohemianism is not very much
in touch with those old times,
however, and while there is an
effort always to keep up the old
customs and to call back the old
charm of simplicity and good-
hearted cheer, one never quite
gets away from the feeling that
there is an effort at the back of
it. The artistic temperament,
one may say, is the same the
world over, one century with
another ; but, nevertheless, this
same artistic temperament owes
much of its expressiveness to
the age in which it finds itself
placed, and the twentieth-cen-
tury artist, despite his attempts
at past-century Bohemianism,
is not altogether at home in its
atmosphere.
On the evenings when sketches
and studies are on show the
Langham gives a conversazione, to
which all members are entitled
to ask their friends, and these
evenings are known to be agree-
ably jolly and free from restraint.
On arrival at the street door
guests are given a low
bow by an apparition in the
form of a male model in Georgian costume;
while inside the library a feminine model, dainty in
cap and apron, dispenses the cup that cheers from
behind a temporary bar fitted up for the occasion.
The rooms are not large, and there is a great crush,
but everyone is good natured, laughing and joking
and telling stories, munching merrily away on
cheese and celery, and drinking beer out of a
bumper. In the model room the throne has been
re-arranged as a temporary stage, and holds a
piano with other accessories of amateur entertain-
ment giving. Lively tunes are rendered by men
from other clubs and talented professional enter-
tainers who join in the festivities of the Langhamites
with the most delightful of good fellowship. Various
ways of amusing the guests are resorted to, such
as humorous imitations of children and well-
known actors, mock sermons, and so forth. Many
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BY WILLIAM MONK