Chazen Museum of Art, Madison WI: The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting
The Tile Club was one of many societies that formed across the United States during the late nineteenth century. Including such well-known artists as Winslow Homer, William Merritt Chase, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Edwin Austin Abbey, J. Alden Weir, and John H. Twachtman, the club was founded in 1877 riding a wave of interest in the decorative arts. Members met once a week and would each contribute to the “decorative age” by painting an eight-by-eight-inch ceramic tile. These meetings became a time to socialize, dine, and enjoy the music performed by guests and honorary members.
Tiles formed only a small part of the Club’s output. Members made excursions to Long Island and up the Hudson River to sketch and paint. These trips were lively journeys, and the works completed during them document the first plein-air painting organization in the young nation. Tiles, paintings, sculptures, and sketches—many by distinguished artists working early in their careers- Chazen Museum
The following sketch done in 1865 by Frederick Dielman, (1847-1935) shows Millet in the foreground and some of the other Tile Club members out working plein air painting during one of their outings. It is in the Library of Congress, Washington DC: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2010715585/
