Distribution of the American Art-Union Prizes, at the Tabernacle, Broadway, December 24, 1847
Francis D'Avignon
An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art
This print shows an annual lottery of art works held for the subscribers of the American Art-Union, New York. In 1847, the event was held at the Broadway Tabernacle, a large church with a circular interior. In 1847, national membership topped nine thousand, and would peak in 1849-50 at nearly nineteen thousand. For an annual fee of five dollars, each subscriber received a large, finely engraved print and was entered in the year-end lottery where artworks were distributed after being shown at the Art-Union's Free Gallery. The organization aimed to educate the public about contemporary American art and its distribution network reached every state. This contributed to the creation of a national market for landscapes, genre paintings, and small bronze sculptures. The system flourished for a limited period, however, since no lottery was held in 1851, and the Union was forced to dissolve in 1852-53.
Drawings and Prints
An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.