Established in 1880, the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) is Britain’s longest established elected body of professional artists who make prints. The RE’s purpose is to promote and encourage the highest standards of creative and technical excellence in printmaking in all its diverse forms.

The RE holds regular exhibitions of Members’ prints at Bankside Gallery and at other venues.

The RE runs a lively annual programme of lectures and workshops.

Through many publications including Printmakers’ Secrets (A&C Black, 2009), RE Members aim to spread information and thus wider understanding about the fine art of printmaking.

Its 200-strong membership includes artists from all over the world including the USA, Japan, Argentina and Europe.

The Society’s historic Diploma Collection of prints by its entire membership, past and present, is housed at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.

The Art of Printmaking

Members of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE) use printmaking as a creative art form rather than as a means simply to reproduce paintings or drawings.

A limited edition print is signed and numbered. Each one of any edition made by an RE Member has a value as an original work of art and is not a reproduction.

The creation of prints in limited editions is an early 20th century development that has become standard practice; it enables a buyer to have confidence that their purchase is not one of an infinite number and thus a specific market value can be established for it.