Founded in 1857, the Alpine Club was the world’s first mountaineering club. For 150 years, it has supported members at the leading edge of worldwide mountaineering development and exploration. Today, it continues its membership of both new and experienced alpinists, and provides a varied programme of meets, lectures and exhibitions. Since its foundation, the club has amassed a collection of mountaineering-related paintings and artefacts, including maps, journals, photographs and paintings from the sixteenth century to the present. The collection includes paintings by artists such as E. T. Compton, Gabriel Loppé, Colin Bent Phillip and John Ruskin, many of which are available to buy as art prints on the Art UK Shop.