The Ruskin Art Club, L.A.'s oldest women’s club, featured in new exhibit

Art & Architecture

A new exhibit on view on the second floor of Doheny Memorial Library commemorates the Ruskin Art Club, which, founded in 1888, was the oldest women’s club in Los Angeles. (Men have been allowed to join since the 1960s.) Named after the Victorian-era English art critic and theorist John Ruskin, the club was originally a place for women to learn about the fine arts in a comfortable setting. Founder Mary E. Boyce maintained an excellent collection of prints and rare art books that allowed members to study aesthetics at a time when society was becoming increasingly mechanized. The club regularly offered lectures on art history, architecture, and archeology.

The items on display just outside the USC Libraries Special Collections include images of the historic mid-Wilshire property formerly owned by the club, their constitution, and transcribed notes detailing member lectures. The Ruskin Art Club donated their records to the USC Libraries in 2014.