Society of Western Artists (1896–1914)

A 1909 poster for an exhibit by the society in Indianapolis.

The Society of Western Artists was founded by William Forsyth, T. C. Steele, J. Ottis Adams, John Elwood Bundy and fourteen other artists in 1896. These impressionist painters were active primarily in the American Midwest. Other members included Frank J. Girardin, Frank Reaugh and Mathias Alten.

"The Society of Western Artists feels that it has passed beyond its first yourh, and that it can afford to take upon itself a more critical and dignified attitude."—Edmund H. Wuerpel, "The Fourth Annual Exhibition of the Society of Western Artists," Brush & Pencil, Vol.5, No. 4 (Jan. 1900), p. 165, <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25505502>