Practical Patriots and True Irishmen the Royal Irish Art Union 1839-59

Irish Arts Review

Practical Patriots and True Irishmen the Royal Irish Art Union 1839-59Author(s): Eileen BlackSource: Irish Arts Review Yearbook, Vol. 14 (1998), pp. 140-146Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20492998 .

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PRACTICAL PATRIOTS AND TRUE IRISHMEN THE ROYAL IRISH ART UNION 1839-59

Eileen Black

recalls

the success of the first

art union in Ireland

The Royal Irish Art Union, now

almost forgotten in the annals of

Irish art history, was the first such soci

ety to be founded in Ireland. The estab

lishment of art unions in Britain and

Ireland from the 1830s onwards stemmed from the findings of the House of Commons Select Committee on Arts and Manufactures of 1835, called 'to

inquire into the best means of extending

a knowledge of the Arts and of the

Principles of Design among the People (especially the manufacturing popula tion) of the country ..." While such an

aim may appear high-flown and idealis

tic, its purpose was purely practical.

Britain's manufacturers had become increasingly concerned with the poor quality of British design, as compared

with that of her European neighbours, especially France and Germany. Chief

among the Select Committee's concerns

was the issue of taste.2 Lack of it and the

resultant decline in sales of British

goods, the Committee found, arose from

insufficient encouragement of the arts in Britain, at all levels. The Committee's

final recommendations included the set ting up of Schools of Design throughout

the kingdom3 (put into effect from

1837), the founding of art galleries and

museums, open freely to all classes and

the establishment of art unions.4

Art unions originated in Switzerland

in the first decade of the nineteenth century and were in opera

tion in about twenty locations within the German principalities by the 1830s.5 Information concerning them was supplied to the

Select Committee by two distinguished German witnesses, Dr Gustav Waagen, Director of the Royal Gallery in Berlin and

Baron von Klenze, architect to the King of Bavaria.6 Such

'Kunstvereine' - art unions - were described as 'associations, for

the purchase of pictures to be distributed by lot ... one of the

many instances in the present age, of the advantages of combi

nation. The smallness of the contribution brings together a large number of subscribers, many of whom, without such a system of

association, would never have been patrons of the Arts.'7 This

method of spreading an appreciation of art to the less affluent

ranks of society was approved wholeheartedly by the Committee and thus sanctioned by government, the establishment of art

unions commenced. Of the many set up in Britain and Ireland

(by 1866 there were forty-eight),8 the London Art Union was

the largest and most influential. Founded in 1837, it operated

until 1914. During the course of its lengthy existence, it spent

more than ?500,000 on art patronage and distributed over one

million engravings to its members, as well as countless thousands of busts, bowls and statuettes.9 Fundamental to its existence was the conviction that anyone could be ennobled by art and

anyone could develop taste.'" To that

end, it set out to make 'cheap art good

and good art universal."'

Although established partly in conse quence of the vogue for art unions, the

Royal Irish Art Union (RIAU) was also born out of necessity. For a number of

years prior to its foundation in 1839,

there had been a marked decline in the

exhibitions of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA). By 1837, portraits predominated over other genres at the

RHA and in the four exhibitions

between 1835 and 1838, sales amounted to only one pound and ten shillings!'2 In

1839 there was no annual exhibition

whatsoever. Combined with this deterio ration of the RHA was the failure of the

Royal Irish Institution, established in 1813 to promote displays of the work of

the Old Masters." The Institution held

eight exhibitions in Dublin between 1814 and 1832 and erected a fine gallery but ran into financial difficulties and was

forced to close.'4 Overall, the state of the

fine arts in Dublin by the late 1830s was

dull and stagnant; exhibitions, to quote a local newspaper, were composed

mainly of 'great masses of portraits of the human face divine, down to that of poodle dogs - amongst

which, there seldom gleamed a work of originality and genius ..."'5

A preliminary meeting towards the establishment of the RIAU - or the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts in

Ireland, by the Purchase and Diffusion of the Works of Living

Artists - was held in Dublin on 8 April 1839.16 Prominent at

the proceedings was a young barrister, Stewart Blacker (1813

81) (Fig. 1), founder of the society and honorary secretary

throughout the course of its existence.'7 Members of the provi

sional committee included the Marquis of Ormonde, the Earl of Charlemont, Viscount Massereene and Isaac Weld, hon

orary secretary of the Royal Dublin Society. (Relations between

the latter society and the RIAU always remained close; over

the years, the RIAU presented the RDS with a number of

engravings and sculptures).'8 Briefly, the rules as laid out in the

prospectus were thus: members subscribed at least one pound per annum; a committee of twenty-one subscribers, chosen at a

general meeting of members, selected and purchased paintings and sculptures by living artists exhibited in Ireland; at the close

of the season, the works of art, as prizes, were ballotted for

1. Edward HAYES (1797-1864): Portrait of Stewart

Blacker (1813-81).Watercolour heightened with body colour, 60 x 50 cm. (Private collection). The paper in

his left hand is entitled 'Royal Irish Art Union.'

Blacker, the founder of the Royal Irish Art Union and a

member of the Royal Irish Academy, proposed, in 1842,

that the RIAU work towards the establishment of a

National Gallery of Ireland.

140

IRISH ARTS REVIEW




among the members, one chance being given for one pound,

two chances for two pounds and so on. As an additional incen

tive - and considered essential to the future success of the soci

ety - each member was promised a free engraving published

exclusively for the RIAU.'9 In the society's first annual report,

the selection committee advised its successors to restrict the purchase of works by foreign and non-resident artists and to

give preference, when the merits were equal, to works painted within the year

and for exhibition in Ireland.20 This rec ommendation was intended to encour

age resident artists. Art unions operated by one of two

systems: a selection committee pur chased prize works of art for the lottery

or money vouchers were awarded, with the individual retaining freedom of choice in what he or she then selected

at prescribed exhibitions. The selection committee system, however, was the one more frequently used and had the

blessing of the Board of Trade, which

was made responsible for the regulation of art unions in 1846.2 The RIAU, as

stated above, used the selection com

mittee method, believing that 'with the heterogeneous mass of subscribers that are likely to come into such a society as

ours, to which there is no limit, no

selection by ballot or any other restric

tion ... the indiscriminate choice left to

the multitude would not have a ten

dency either in promoting high art, nor

would it give that degree of fair patronage to every department

of the arts that we considered would be due and fair to each.'22

The premier society - the London Art Union - on the other

hand, maintained a system of individual choice by cash vouchers

throughout its existence, a method criticised by many, who

questioned the ability of the uneducated classes to choose good

pictures. The difference between the two systems was one of outlook; the RIAU and other art unions which operated in a

similar manner were paternalistic in attitude, whilst the London

Art Union was wedded to the ethos of self-help and the edu

catability of the individual through his or her own efforts.

By the end of its first year (April 1840), the RIAU had

enlisted over a thousand members and had raised ?1,235 in sub

scriptions.23 These membership figures were reflected in the number of visitors to the RHA in 1840, where receipts from visi

tors were three times higher than those of 1838 (there was no

exhibition in 1839).24 About ?440 was spent by the society at the

exhibition and included paintings by artists such as Richard

Rothwell, George F. Mulvany and Matthew Kendrick. The RIAU collection was exhibited at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) on 8 July of the same year, when the ballot and prize dis

tribution took place. The engraving planned as the bonus gift

(but still to be executed) was a sentimental genre scene set in

the west of Ireland, The Blind Girl at the Holy Well, after

Frederick William Burton (Fig. 2).25 The original painting, later

sent to London to be engraved by Henry Thomas Ryall, was

given pride of place in the exhibition.

During 1840-41, the RIAU continued to flourish, to the extent that subscriptions increased to ?2,329.26 (By this time, the cost of basic

membership had risen to a guinea).

Evidence that the society's labours had not been in vain was seen at the RHA

in 1841, where there was a larger num

ber of 'works of originality and fancy'

than hitherto.27 A sum of ?1,145 was

spent at the exhibition, with the bulk of

the purchases being by Irish artists or

artists resident in the country. The RIAU collection was shown at the RDS

on 30 and 31 August and 1 September

1841, with the ballot and prize distribu

tion held on the latter day.26 The

engraving this year was again a senti

mental genre image, namely The Young

Mendicant's Noviciate, after Richard Rothwell (Fig. 3). The fact that the

society had been unable to produce a

print of the standard of The Blind Girl,

executed by an Irish artist in Ireland -

Rothwell was living in London - was

behind its decision, at this time, to offer

one hundred guineas in prizes for

engravings, etchings, medal dies and

models in wax, clay or plaster."9 The awarding of prizes in these

fields became standard practice thereafter. This second year of

operations saw the society filled with missionary zeal for its

undertaking; in Stewart Blacker's words in the annual report, 'If

he who has caused two blades of grass to spring up where only

one grew before, has been justly called, in some degree, a practi

cal patriot, how much more so is the term applicable to the per

son who induces even one friend to join a society such as ours. It

is to the extension of this neutral ground we must mainly look

for the moral and social regeneration of our loved country ...'32

During 1842-43, subscriptions rose to ?3,903, with ?2,120 being spent on three hundred and nine prizes.1' The society's

positive influence was still to be seen at the RHA, where the

exhibition of 1842 was the largest to date, with four hundred

and eighty-four works on display (of which over half were for

sale) and where sales had been a healthy ?2,199. The engrav

ing decided upon was another genre scene of Irish subject mat

ter - The Peep into Futurity or An Irish Girl Trying her Fortune,

after Daniel Maclise (Fig. 4).32 Of the hundred guineas allo

cated as prizes for the encouragement of engraving, etching,

lithography and various other pursuits, ?55 was held over until

2. After Frederick William BURTON (1816-1900): The

Blind Girl at the Holy Well. Engraving by Henry Thomas

Ryall (1811-67). (The British Museum). Promised in

1839 btit not completed until 1841, this was the first

engraving to be distributed by the Royal Irish Art Union.

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW



PRACTICAL PATRIOTS AND TRUE IRISHMEN THE ROYAL, IRISH ART UNION 1839-59

3. After Richard ROTHWELL (1800-68): The Young Mendicant's Noviciate. Engraving by Samuel Sangster(c. 1804-72). (The British Museum). This engraving

for 1840-41 was the second to be distributed by the Royal Irish Art Union.

_I/i' I.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4. After Daniel MACLISE (1806-70): The Peep inito Futurity or An Irisli Girl Tryinlg her Fortune. Engraving by Richard Golding (1785-1865). (The Victoria and

Albert Museum). Promised for 1842-43, the plate was not completed until some time between 1854 and 1859, as Golding fell ill.

1843, as a number of works submitted were of poor quality. The ballot and prize distribution for 1842 was held in the RDS on 19 August.) One of the most important points in Blacker's address to the meeting was a subject which had apparently pre occupied him for some time - the formation of a National Gallery of Ireland. Convinced that 'something more was neces sary than merely making a market for works of art on the mere

mercantile principle of other commodities,' he suggested the building up of a permanent public collection of art and pro posed that ten per cent of the society's annual funds be set aside for the purpose from 1843.) The erection of a building to house the collection, however, was not included in his plans; in his opinion, money needed to be spent on art itself at this time and not on bricks and mortar.

The National Gallery of Ireland proposal was high on the agenda in the following year (1843), in both the annual report and at the ballot and prize distribution on 29 August, held as usual at the RDS (Fig. 5). In furtherance of the idea for a Gallery, the society decided - as a first step - to establish in Dublin a collection of casts from antique and medieval sculp ture." A Society of Ancient Art, independent of the RIAU, with its own rules and resources, was to be formed towards this end. (Its prospectus, resolutions and laws were adopted at a meeting in Dublin on 14 December 1843, with the Marquis of Kildare as president and Frederick William Burton as secretary).6 Its call for support acquired patriotic overtones in the society's annual report- 'let him not be considered a true Irishman who will not, according to his means, contribute to the National Gallery of Ireland, and its forerunner, the Society of Ancient Art.37 In this fourth year of the RIAU's existence, subscriptions amounted to

?5,063, with ?2,944 being spent on prizes."8 The overall progress of the society was deemed highly satisfactory; exhibitions had improved, to the extent that there were two to select from in this year, namely the RHA and the Society of Irish Artists, pri vate patronage had increased and greater public attention was

being directed to subjects connected with art. The awarding of premiums continued, although line engraving and mezzotint were still below standard; prizes for these were therefore withheld. The engraving for the year was yet another Irish genre scene - The Aran Fisherman's Drowned Child - after Frederick

William Burton (Fig. 6).39 In 1844 the art union movement suffered a major setback.

Briefly, in the spring of the previous year, a group of print sellers and publishers, worried about possible injury to their business from the London Art Union (LAU) and similar organisations and resentful of competition, obtained advice from a barrister to the effect that art unions were illegal under the Lottery Acts of

George 1L1.4" In the war of words that followed, the LAU likewise sought legal advice, which found in its favour. Undeterred, the print sellers petitioned the Attorney General. In April 1844, the Lord Commissioners of the Treasury declared art unions to be illegal and closed them forthwith. During the ensuing year, two

Select Committees examined the work of the LAU and similar societies (including the RIAU) and recommended their continu

1 4 2

IRISH ARTS REVIEW




ance. In August 1846 they were finally legalised (after a tempo

rary reprieve) and placed under the control of the Board of

Trade. The total suspension of operations between April and August 1844 (when a temporary legalising bill was passed) had

deleterious consequences for the RIAU; subscriptions, which reached about ?4,000, were ?1,000 less than those of 1843 and

at the RHA and Society of Irish Artists exhibitions, the number

of works on display was down by two hundred and forty-five.4'

Nevertheless, the society maintained its awarding of premiums to resident artists and staged its ballot and prize distribution only

some three months later than usual, on 10 December (1844).

The engraving for the year was Belisarius

(a somewhat unappealing image, regarded by the society as a fine example

of the highest style of art), after Sir

Martin Archer Shee (Fig. 7). As a bonus,

paid for out of surplus funds from 1842,

members were also promised an engrav

ing of Fortune Telling by Cup Tossing,

after Nicholas Joseph Crowley.42 (The original of this was the premier prize in

the 1844 distribution).43 The year 1844 seems to have been a

watershed for the RIAU; thereafter it never attained the popularity it reached

in 1843. (Perhaps indicative of this

decline, the author has been unable to

unearth further annual reports and such

information as is available has had to be

gleaned from newspaper reports). During 1845 the society continued to raise funds

to the extent that by June financial mat

ters were regarded as progressing satisfac

torily 'after the unpleasant contretemps'

of the year before (the exact figure is

unavailable).44 A plan of Blacker's, to

extend the premium system to the awarding of national premi

ums for the five best works at the RHA and the Society of Irish

Artists, was voted upon and accepted. The engraving for the

year was The Fight Interrupted, after William Mulready (Fig. 8), a

picture owned by the well-known English collector John Sheepshanks.4s (The engraving never actually materialised as

the engraver, Charles Fox, died). In 1846 the society, out of

necessity, rescinded its rule that the annual engraving be after a

work by a living Irish artist; the preferred choice for the year, an

engraving after Francis Danby, would have taken too long to

execute.46 Instead, it settled on an engraving of Correggio's

Egeria, by William Humphrys of Dublin. Perhaps in recompense,

members were also given a set of prize outlines by Michael

Angelo Hayes, illustrative of the ballad Savoumeen Deelish.

The ballot and prize distribution, held at the close of the year

since 1844, was deferred until 4 February 1847.47

Though the prizes had been on exhibition at the RDS from

early January, if not before, slowness by the Board of Trade to

sanction the ballot was the cause of the delay. Permission was

granted by 22 January (1847), on which date Blacker also laid a

particularly enterprising plan before the committee - that the society organise a loan exhibition of Old Masters, in aid of relief

for the Famine.48 Blacker viewed the exercise as a useful oppor

tunity; the society had hoped to organise an Old Masters exhibi

tion in the past, to help the fund for its proposed National

Gallery of Ireland scheme, but had been forced to postpone the

undertaking because of the Lottery Acts upheaval. The philan

thropic aspect was also to the forefront of his mind -'We could

thus also bear our part, and shew our sympathy in the general

1 M7

5. A view of the Royal Irish Art Union ballot and prize distribution in the theatre of the Royal Dublin Society on 29 August 1843. (Published by the Illustrated London News immediately after the proceedings and illustrated

in W G Strickland, A Dictionary of Irish Artists (Dublin, 1913), Vol. II, pl. LXVII).

and most praiseworthy exertions now making everywhere to relieve the dire calamity, under which our humble countrymen are absolutely perishing ...

The exhibition, organised within the space of about three weeks, ran from April to May 1847 and was held in the Royal

Irish Institution gallery in College Street, with Blacker as hon orary secretary.50 Among the lenders of the two hundred and

twenty-eight works listed in the catalogue were the Earl of

Arran, the Earl of Charlemont and the Earl of Milltown. In the

latter's loan were a number of fine works now in the National

Gallery of Ireland including the Holy Family by Nicholas

Poussin, Rome, the Campo Vaccino after Claude Lorraine and

The Colosseum by Giovanni Paolo Panini. Proceeds from the

exhibition amounted to ?500, all of which went to famine

relief.5' Besides this enterprising venture, the business of the society proceeded as normal; by September some thirty-five paintings had been purchased for the next prize distribution.52

Members were given two engravings for the year instead of one:

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IRISH ARTS REVIEW




6. After Frederick William BURTON (1816-1900):The Arani Fisherman's Drowned

Chiild. Engraving by Frederick Bacon (1803-87). (The British MuseuLmI).This extremely popular genre scene was the engraving for 1843.

7. After Sir Martin ARCHER SHEE (1 769-1850): Belisanius. Engraving by Samuel

Sangster (c. 1804-72) (The British Museum). Regarded by the sociery as a fine

example of the highest style in art, this somewhat unappealinig image was

distributed in 1844.

Village Festival, after Sir David Wilkie and Irish Courtship, after

Frederick Goodall." Blacker, indefatigable as ever and on behalf

of the society, ended a busy year by organising an exhibition of Irish sculpture at the RDS, in conjunction with Constantine Panormo, master of the RDS modelling school.54 The show, which opened on 17 September and ran until after mid

November, contained a hundred and thirty-seven works by sculptors such as Christopher Foley, John Hogan, Patrick

MacDowell and Panormo himself.55 (The plan had modest beginnings; Panormo approached the RIAU for support in dis

playing his large group, The Liberation of Caractacus. Blacker, however, hit upon the idea of an extensive group exhibition and

the project grew thereafter). In comparison with the activity of 1847, 1848 and 1849 were

years of decline, with the income for both being a mere ?1,462.56

The ballot for 1848 was held on 7 April.5 Among the prizes

given out were three hundred lithographs of The Limerick Piper by Joseph Patrick Haverty, one of which was won by the Lord

Lieutenant, the Earl of Clarendon."' There was no prize distribu tion whatsoever for 1849. However, the society still maintained

its distribution of engravings to members; by April a print of

Corbould's The Travellers was available, engraved by Saunders

and published by Thomas Cranfield of Dublin.5" Members were

also given engravings of Ancient Italy and Modern Italy, after

Turner and free issues of The Amateur Monthly Illustrated Journal

of Fine Arts and Literature.' The most noteworthy event of the

year was the donation of Raphael's cartoons of St Peter and St

John healing the lame man at the beautiful Gate of the Temple and

Elymas the Sorcerer Struck Blind.6' Given by a Mrs Nicolay of

London for the proposed National Gallery of Ireland, they are

now thought to be Flemish copies after Raphael.62

Between 1850 and 1852, the RIAU appears to have virtually ceased operations, to the extent that its income for 1850 and

1851 was a mere ?92.65 This sorry state of affairs was commented

upon by Blacker in a brief account of the society in The Art

Joumal of February 1853: 'in consequence of the general depres sion and distress which have prevailed in Ireland during the last

two or three years ... the committee ... have been compelled

considerably to reduce their staff of officers etc., so that the busi

ness has got somewhat into arrears ... Matters improved in

1854, when a ballot and prize distribution was held on 12 June at the RDS and a statement of accounts placed before the mem

bers.65 In its resume, the society laid the blame for the failure in

1848 on the effects of the Famine and the resultant shortage of

funds and not on inefficiency by the committee. At this junc

ture, however, it had managed to meet all liabilities and looked

forward to a rosier future. The ballot and prize distribution was a

low-key event compared with former years; only twelve paint

ings, worth ?215, were balloted for, all that the society could

afford during the second half of 1848, when funds dwindled.

This 1854 distribution was therefore in lieu of that of 1849. The

prizes, which ranged from ?30 to ?2, included paintings by Edwin Hayes, Henry Jutsum and Richard Rothwell.

The rosier future never materialised (for reasons unknown to

144

IRISH ARTS REVIEW




the author) and the society wound up its affairs at a meeting on

12 September 1859.6b It was decided to transfer all remaining

funds to the Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery

of Ireland (established in 1854), who also accepted the plates

and other remaining property, to be sold for the benefit of the

Gallery. Prior to handing over the assets, full series of the soci

ety's engravings were made up and offered to reading-rooms,

mechanics' institutes and literary institutions, with the proviso that they be framed and displayed. (The gesture appears to have

had a positive response as there are no RIAU engravings in the

National Gallery of Ireland). An additional amount of ?224

later came to light; of this, I100 was given to the Gallery, ?100

was presented to Richard Golding for dealings relating to The

Peep into Futurity and the remainder was used to defray expenses

incurred in closing down.6 The society closed its deliberations with a glowing tribute to Blacker.

Though the RIAU had an undistinguished end, at its peak it

was a dynamic and ambitious organisation, deeply committed to

the improvement of Irish art and to the raising of artistic aware

ness in Ireland. To that end, it spent ?14,575 on works of art for

its prize distributions between 1840 and 1854, a not inconsider

able sum given its various setbacks."" Naturally it was not with

out its detractors; a rival organisation, the National Art Union

for Ireland (founded in 1845), whilst applauding its efforts,

claimed that it failed to advance the medium of engraving in

Ireland (and consequently made this one of its own prime con

cerns)."' Among other criticisms, a hard-hitting article by an

anonymous author in The Irish Quarterly Review of March 1851

stated that the society was mismanaged and was antagonistic

towards artists, of whom there were none on its committee at

any time. Whatever the cause of its decline, the RIAU never

theless deserves due recognition as the first, and for long the

most important, of the several art unions to be established in

Ireland between the 1840s and the 1860s.7' As for Stewart

8. William MULREADY (1786-1863): The Fight Interrupted Oil on canvas, 72.4 x 94 cm. (The Victoria and Albert Museum). An engraving by Charles Fox (1794-1849)

after this picture was planned for 1845 but its production was prevented by Fox's illness and death.

145

IRISH ARTS REVIEW



PRACTI(AIJ PATRIOTS AND TRUE IRISHMEN THE ROYAI IRIStI ART UNION 1839-59

Blacker, rather surprisingly he played no part in the formation of

the Irish Institution in 1853, established to bring about a

National Gallery of Ireland; perhaps he disagreed with its main

aim, which was to acquire a building rather than a collection

(the antithesis of his own plan of some ten years earlier)."2 His

artistic activities were not confined solely to the RIAU; he pub

lished articles on Irish art and on the organisation of the RDS

Schools and in 1855, acted as honorary secretary of the Patriotic

Fund Exhibition, a large display of amateur art and Crimean

curiosities held in the Royal Irish Institution.7" In 1862 he with

drew from Dublin life and settled on his estate at

Carrickblacker, Portadown. A forgotten figure in the Irish art world of the mid-nineteenth century, he too deserves the hon our of recognition.

EILEEN BLACK is Curator of Fine Art in the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Sincere thanks to the following for their assistance: Bamaby Blacker, Cork; Marie Bourke, National Gallery of Ireland; the Trustees of the British Museum; Mary Kelleher, Royal Dublin Society; Elizabeth Kirwan, National Library of Ireland; Catherine McCullough, Armagh County Museum; Dr Joy Sperling, Denison University, Ohio, USA; the Board of Trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum; Philip Wilson, Craigavon Museum Project.

1. Anthony King 'George Godwin and the Art

Union of London 1837-1911,' Victorian

Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, December 1964, p. 101.

2. Lyndel Saunders King, The Industrialization of Taste: Victorian England and the Art Union of London , Michigan, 1985, pp.27-28.

3. For information on Schools of Design, see

Quentin Bell, The Schools of Design, London, 1963.

4. Saunders King (as note 2) pp.29-30. 5. Joy Sperling 'The Anglo-American Art

Unions: Competing Conceptions of National

Art,' paper presented at the College Art

Association Annual Conference, 4'6 February

1992, Seattle, USA, p.2. 6. King (as note 1) p. 101.

7. ibid., p. 102.

8. Saunders King (as note 2) p. 179. Figures on

the number of art unions vary; King (as note

1) p. 124, states that fifty-four were founded

1846-66. 9. King (as note 1) p. 102.

10 Saunders King (as note 2) p.2. 11. ibid., p.3. 12. Figures supplied by Stewart Blacker to the

Select Committee on Art Unions in 1844. See

Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

together with the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index, 1845, pp. 344, 355.

13. S B Kennedy, 'Introduction' in Ann M.

Stewart, Irish Art Loan Exhibitions 1765-1927,

Dublin, 1990, p.ix. 14. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, pp.79,94. 15. Saunders's News-Utter (SNL), 30 March 1839.

16. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, pp.340-42. 17. Blacker, of Carrickblacker, Portadown, Co.

Armagh, resided in Dublin until c.1862, when

he retired to his family estate at

Carrickblacker. An assistant magistrate and

Justice of the Peace of Armagh, he was also

Deputy Lieutenant of the county and a promi nent member of the Orange Order (Belfast News-Letter, 17 and 23 December 1881).

18. John Turpin, A School of Art in Dublin since the

Eighteenth Century Dublin, 1995, pp.96, 125.

19. Report of the Royal Irish Art Union, 1839-40,

pp.3, 9.

20. ibid., p. 8.

21. See Saunders King (as note 2) pp.115-16. 22. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, p.78.


p.6. 24. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, p.355. 25. Although each member received an engrav

ing, the quality varied; persons with three

shares or more received an India proof, those

with two shares were given a proof before let

ters, whilst subscribers with one share received a plain impression.


p.6. 27. ibid., p.l. 28. ibid., pp. 14-19. 29. ibid., p.10-11. 30. ibid., p.13. 31. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, p.344 gives a figure of ?3,903.7s.3d.; the

Belfast Commercial Chronicle, 24 August 1842

and the Northern Whig, 25 August 1842,

quote ?3,600. The author has not found an

annual report for this year. 32. Northern Whig (NW), 25 August 1842.

33. Dublin Evening Mad (DEM), 22 August 1842.

34. ibid.

35. Report of the Royal Irish Art Union, 1843,

pp.9-10. 36. ibid., Appendix, pp.56-58. 37. ibid., p. 11.

38. Report from the Select Committee on Art Unions,

1845, pp. 344, 355.

39. See Marie Bourke, The Aran Fisherman's

Drowned Child by Frederic William Burton

R.H.A., National Gallery of Ireland Painting in Focus, 1987

40. See Saunders King (as note 2) pp.97-116 for

fuller details.

41. Report of the Royal Irish Art Union, 1844, pp. 6

7; also Report from the Select Committee on Art

Unions, 1845, p.354. 42. Report of the Royal Irish Art Union, 1844, p. 11.

43. The original is in a private collection in

England; engraved by C W Sharpe. 44. Belfast Commercial Chronicle (BCC), 9 June

1845.

45. NW, 24 June 1845.

46. BCC, 3 June 1846.

47. ibid., 6 February 1847.

48. BCC, 25 January 1847. The idea for the exhi

bition came from a Mr. Meadows, of 10, Braithwaite Street, Liberty.

49. ibid.

50. Royal Irish Art Union, 1847, Exhibition of the

Paintings of Ancient and Celebrated Masters,

708.15, University of Dublin; also The Art

Union, May and June 1847. The exhibition

closed on 18 May 1847 (SNL, 3 May 1847). 51. BCC, 21 June 1847. Additional expenses,

which amounted to roughly ?250, were paid for by R1AU members.

52. BCC, 20 September 1847. 53. ibid., 21 June 1847.

54. ibid., 20 September 1847. 55. SNL, 16 September, 22 September and 13

November 1847. 56. ibid., 13 June 1854.

57. BCC, 8 April 1848. 58. The lithograph was proposed as a prize in

January 1847; see BCC, 25 January 1847. 59. DEM, 27 April 1849. 60. NW, 20 December 1849. 61. BNL, 17 April 1849; also The Art-Journal,

May 1849, p. 163.

62. NGI nos. 171 and 172, tempera on paper. 63. SNL, 13 June 1854.

64. p.54. 65. SNL, 13 June 1854; also Evening Mail, 14 June

1854. 66. SNL, 12 October 1859.

67. The plate of The Peep into Futurity was offered

to the National Gallery of Ireland when the

society wound up its affairs in 1859.

68. This figure is quoted in SNL, 13 June 1854.

69. See SNL, 8 September 1847. The National

Art Union for Ireland failed in 1851 due to

lack of funds.

70. 'Irish Art, Artists and Art Unions,' The Irish

Quarterly Review, vol. 1, March 1851, pp. 106

30.

71. Others included the Northern Irish Art

Union, established 1842; the Irish Art Union, founded 1853; the Dublin Art Union, estab

lished 1856 and closed by 1860; the Art Union of Ireland, set up in 1858; the Shilling Art Union of Dublin, founded 1860; the Art

Union of Dublin, still functioning in 1862.

72. See Catherine de Courcy, The Foundation of the National Gallery of Ireland, National

Gallery of Ireland, 1985.

73. Stewart Blacker, Irish Art and Irish Artists

(Dublin, 1845), text of an address delivered to

the RDS on 18 December 1844; Turpin (as

notel8) pp.90-91; SNL, 20 March 1855; The

Art-Journal, May 1855, p. 165.

146

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Practical Patriots and True Irishmen the Royal Irish Art Union 1839-59

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