The purpose of the society was to promote watercolor painting as an art in itself, which until then had been known only as a sketching technique.
In 1855, the Société Belge des Aquarellistes was established in Brussels and one of the founders was Willem Roelofs.
Among the honorary members were several artists who visited the Netherlands, such as: Paul Jean Clays,[3] Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël, Charles Hermans, Edouard Huberti,[4] Jean Baptiste Madou,[5] Charles Rochussen and Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
The German painter Max Liebermann was a summer resident, as was Hubert von Herkomer[6] from Londen.
Among the Dutch members were: David Adolph Constant Artz,[9] Albert Neuhuys, Elchanon Verveer,[10] Sina van Houten and Willem Bastiaan Tholen.