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A Study Of Art Unions In The United States Of America In The Nineteenth Century, Jane Aldrich Dowling Adams

Theses and Dissertations

During the first half of the nineteenth century in many cities in Germany, England and the United States, free and public galleries were opened to encourage the purchase of art works. Some sponsoring organizations were controlled by artists and some by interested lay persons. All of the sponsors hoped to educate the public and to elevate artistic taste as well as to sell works of art. Many of the organizations offered a premium in the form of a yearly engraving to induce interest and to promote membership. Often there was an annual distribution of paintings and other works of art …