Francis D’Avignon (artist), Sarony & Major (lithographers). Distribution of the American Art Union prizes, at the Tabernacle, Broadway, New York, 24th Dec. 1847 [Lithograph, 1848]. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Contents
History of the American Art-Union
Other Prints Distributed by the American Art-Union
Publications of the American Art-Union
History of the American Art-Union
The American Art-Union (AAU) existed for a little more than a decade, from 1838 until 1853. Known until 1844 as “The Apollo Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in the United States,” the association was created by a group of New York City businessmen and society leaders with the goals of championing and supporting living American artists through the purchase and exhibition of their art and of cultivating “good taste in the Fine Arts” in the United States.
For an annual fee of five dollars, subscribers were entitled to free exhibition admission, included in an annual lottery to distribute the artworks purchased by the Association that year to members, and received a “large and costly Original Engraving from an American painting.” This type of organization had precedence in Europe but it was the first of its kind in North America, and it became very influential.
The AAU was run by a “Committee of Management,” a group of fifteen men who, per the group’s constitution, were expressly not artists. Instead, they were prominent businessmen, politicians, and society members. It was this group of men who selected the art to be purchased, as well as the painting that would be engraved.
The Association counted 686 subscribers in 1840; at the height of popularity in 1849, it had 18,960 subscribers. As the AAU grew in status and members, it increased its buying. In 1851, the AAU applauded its own contribution to the American art world:
Without the purchase of paintings, painters must either seek other employment or starve, and there can be no galleries, no exhibitions. In 1841, the institution purchased six pictures and one bust, costing together $1059! Last year we distributed 500 paintings and statuettes, and 500 medals, costing $43,120; and the institution has purchased works of art since its organization from 257 artists, residing in 45 different cities and towns, and in 15 different States of the Union. (“The History, Plan, and Position of the American Art-Union,” Bulletin of the American Art-Union, April 1, 1851)
But after its high point in 1849, subscriber numbers began to fall. Along with mounting costs, in 1851, the New York City District Attorney charged that the annual art drawing violated the State’s statutes related to lotteries. After a legal battle, the New York Court of Appeals ruled in October 1852 that the lotteries were indeed illegal. Unable to distribute its art by lottery, in December 1852, the AAU sold the works by auction. In order to pay their outstanding debts, steel and copper printing plates, real estate, and furniture were also auctioned. Left with $2,685 after the sale, all remaining property was eventually given to the New-York Historical Society.
The Prints
For print collectors, the 36 prints distributed to subscribers have long been a sought-after group. The prints were intended to generate a national audience for “fine art,” with the engravings bringing art into more households than just those of the wealthiest Americans. The chosen artists have become some of the best-known 19th-century American painters and include George Caleb Bingham, Thomas Cole, Asher B. Durand, William Sidney Mount, and Richard Caton Woodville. The Committee of Management recognized that the quality of the painting could only be properly represented through the work of a highly skilled engraver. Throughout the years, they contracted with a small group of well-respected engravers to make the prints including Charles Burt (6 prints), Alfred Jones (6 prints), James Smillie (6 prints), and John Sartain (2 prints).
There was no print engraved for 1839; the Committee had been “unable to unite in the selection of a subject.” For each subsequent year through 1852, a painting was chosen, though the AAU Transactions often reported delays in production and delivery of the yearly engraving. Enough impressions of the prints were made to supply subscribers, and the society’s records also indicate that, in the following years, members could also purchase past engravings for $5. In addition to the large engraving (various sizes, usually over 16 x 20 inches size), some years saw additional prints selected and sent to subscribers: a supplemental print in 1844 (Escape of Captain Wharton) and 1847 (A Sibyl); two booklets containing stories accompanied by six lithographed plates of “outline” line drawings (Rip Van Winkle in 1848 and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in 1849); and a Gallery of American Art, No. I, in 1850 and a Gallery of American Art, No. II, in 1851, with each portfolio containing five plates measuring about 8 x 10 inches.
Beyond the 36 prints distributed to subscribers, the AAU also published smaller engravings that appeared in its monthly Bulletin.
Gallery of Prints Issued by the Apollo Association and the American Art-Union
VIEW GALLERY OF LARGE-SIZE IMAGES
Date: 1839 [No print issued]
Date: 1840 Subscribers: 686
Title: Gen. Marion in his Swamp Encampment Inviting a British Officer to Dinner.
Mezzotint and etching
Artist: John Blake White
Engraver: John Sartain
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1841 Subscribers: 937
Title: The Artist’s Dream.
Mezzotint and engraving
Artist: George H. Comegys
Engraver: John Sartain
Date: 1842 Subscribers: 1,120
Title: Caius Marius on the Ruins of Carthage.
Engraving
Artist: John Vanderlyn
Engraver: S. A. Schoff
Date: 1843 Subscribers: 1,452
Title: Farmers Nooning.
Engraving and etching
Artist: William Sydney Mount
Engraver: Alfred Jones
Printer: James R. Burton
Date: 1844 Subscribers: 2,080
Title: Sparking.
Engraving
Artist: Francis William Edmonds
Engraver: Alfred Jones
Printed: Dalton
Date: 1844 (supplementary print)
Title: Escape of Captain Wharton.
Etching
Artist: Thomas F. Hoppin
Engraver: J. F. E. Prud’homme
Printed: C. Thomas
Date: 1845 Subscribers: 3,233
Title: The Capture of Major Andre.
Engraving
Artist: Asher B. Durand
Engraver: Alfred Jones; Smillie & Hinshelwood
Printer: W. E. Smith
Date: 1846 Subscribers: 4,457
Title: Sir Walter Raleigh, Parting with his Wife.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Emanuel Leutze
Engraver: Charles Burt
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1847 Subscribers: 9,666
Title: The Jolly Flat Boat Men.
Engraving with etching and mezzotint
Artist: George Caleb Bingham
Engraver: Thomas Doney
Printed: Powell & Co.
Date: 1847 (second print)
Title: A Sibyl.
Engraving
Artist: Daniel Huntington
Engraver: John W. Casilear
Printed: F. A. Casilear
Date: 1848 Subscribers: 16,475
Title: The Signing of the Death Warrant of Lady Jane Grey.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Daniel Huntington
Engraver: Charles Burt
Printed: J. Dalton
Date: 1848 (supplementary prints)
Title: Illustrations of Rip Van Winkle [with 6 plates]
Lithographs
Artist: Felix O. C. Darley
Printer: Sarony & Major
Date: 1849 Subscribers: 18,960
Title: The Voyage of Life — Youth.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Thomas Cole
Engraver: James Smillie
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1849 (supplementary prints)
Title: Illustrations of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow [with 6 plates]
Lithographs
Artist: Felix O. C. Darley
Printer: Sarony & Major
Date: 1850 Subscribers: 16,310
Title: Anne Page, Slender and Shallow. A Scene from The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Engraving
Artist: Charles Robert Leslie
Engraver: Charles Burt
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1850 (supplemental portfolio) Gallery of American Art No. I (Portfolio with 5 plates)
Plate 1
Title: Dover Plains.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Asher Brown Durand
Engraver: James Smillie
Printer: W. E. Smith
Plate 2
Title: Dream of Arcadia.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Thomas Cole
Engraver: James Smillie
Printer: W. E. Smith
Plate 3
Title: The Image Breaker.
Engraving
Artist: Emanuel Leutze
Engraver: Alfred Jones
Printer: J. Dalton
Plate 4
Title: The New Scholar.
Engraving and etching
Artist: F. W. Edmonds
Engraver: Alfred Jones
Plate 5
Title: The Card Players.
Etching
Artist: Richard Caton Woodville
Engraver: Charles Burt
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1851 Subscribers: 13,578
Title: Mexican News
Engraving and etching
Artist: Richard Caton Woodville
Engraver: Alfred Jones
Printer: J. Dalton
Date: 1851 (supplemental portfolio) Gallery of American Art No. II (Portfolio with 5 plates)
Plate 1
Title: Bargaining for a Horse.
Engraving and etching
Artist: William Sidney Mount
Engraver: Charles Burt
Plate 2
Title: Old ’76 and Young ’48.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Richard Caton Woodville
Engraver: Joseph Pease
Printer: J. Dalton
Plate 3
Title: American Harvesting.
Engraving and etching
Artist: Jasper Cropsey
Engraver: James Smillie
Printer: J. Dalton
Plate 4
Title: Mount Washington. From the Valley of Conway.
Engraving and etching
Artist: John Kensett
Engraver: James Smillie
Printer: J. Dalton
Plate 5
Title: Marion Crossing the Pedee.
Engraving and etching
Artist: William Ranney
Engraver: Charles Burt
Printer: J. Dalton
For image credits, view the prints in the large-size gallery.
Other Prints Distributed by the American Art-Union
Of the prints below, only the “Distribution of the American Art-Union Prizes” (1850) was produced for the AAU. The others were produced elsewhere, with the AAU merely purchasing a small number to include in the annual lottery. In addition, the AAU also published smaller engravings that appeared in its monthly Bulletin (not list below).
Date: 1844
Title: Harvey’s American Landscape Scenery.
Artist: George Harvey
Note: By lottery. Ten sets of 4 plates each.
Date: 1848
Title: Distribution of the American Art-Union Prizes, at the Tabernacle, Broadway, New York; 24th Dec. 1847.
Lithograph
Artist: T. H. Matteson
Lithographer: Fracis D’Avignon
Printer: Sarony & Major
Note: Distributed to the Honorary Secretaries.
Date: 1850
Title: Outlines & Sketches by Washington Allston.
Artist: Washington Allston
Engraver: J. & S.W. Cheney
Publisher: Stephen H. Perkins
Note: By lottery. Fifty sets of 18 plates each.
View portfolio here (The Clark Institute)
Date: 1850
Title: Battle of Bunker Hill.
Proof impression of line engraving
Artist: John Trumbull
Engraver: J. G. Muller
Note: By lottery. Thirty pairs of the two Trumbull prints.
Date: 1850
Title: Death of General Montgomery.
Proof impression of line engraving
Artist: John Trumbull
Engraver: J. F. Clemens
Note: By lottery. Thirty pairs of the two Trumbull prints.
Information chiefly based on the chart prepared by Judith Blakely for Imprint (Autumn 1976).
Publications of the American Art-Union
Transactions of the Apollo Association, 1839-1844 (HathiTrust)
Transactions of the American Art Union for the Years 1845-1849 (HathiTrust)
Bulletin of the American Art-Union, November 10, 1848-May 1, 1853 (JSTOR)
Further Reading
American Antiquarian Society. Art Union Prints.
Judith Blakely, “The American Art-Union Contribution to American Prints,” Imprint (Autumn 1976)
Mary Bartlett Cowdrey, American Academy of Fine Arts and American Art-Union: Introduction: 1816–1852 (New York: The New-York Historical Society, 1953)
Maybelle Mann, The American Art-Union (Otisville, NY: ALM Associates, 1977)
Kimberly Orcutt with Allan McLeod, “Unintended Consequences: The American Art-Union and the Rise of a National Landscape School,” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (Spring 2019)
Joy Sperling, “Art, Cheap and Good:” The Art Union in England and the United States, 1840–60,” Nineteenth-Century Art Worldwide (Spring 2002)