Originally called The Paris Club for International Women Artists, the WIAC was founded on June 1st 1898 by a group of women artists from Britain and North America who were working and studying in Paris. The aim of The Paris Club was to forward the cause of international women artists and unite for mutual help in exhibiting in different countries. The initial aims of the WIAC continued throughout its history and, although predominantly British, just under 40% of WIAC exhibitors were of international origin. The club established links with women’s art societies abroad, invited individual artists to exhibit in London and had a sizeable émigré membership. This transnationalism offered women a unique and fertile arena to come together and mobilise their efforts across borders, but the cost of exhibiting internationally often prevented the club from fulfilling many of its ambitions. The WIAC held its first exhibition in London at the Grafton Galleries in 1900 and, with only a few exceptions, continued to hold an annual exhibition, as well as smaller regional exhibitions, until the late 1970s when the club disbanded.