The Old Print Shop

Dover Plains. [Dutchess County].

  • ARTIST: Asher Durand

  • PUBLISHER: Published by the American Art Union for the Members of 1850.

  • MEDIUM: Steel engraving,

    DATE: 1851.

  • EDITION SIZE: Image size 6 3/4 x 10 1/4" (17.5 x 26.5 cm).

  • DESCRIPTION: Painted by A. B. Durand. Engraved by James Smillie. The American Art Union, a member-supported art publisher, annually produced and issued contemporary prints to its subscribers between 1840 and 1851. Originally called the Apollo Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in the United States, the organization was founded by James Herring, a New York businessman and art patron. Herring hoped to support and promote American painters of the popular themes of the day - American history and genre. Although Herring soon broke with the renamed American Art-Union, it continued to thrive as a popular source of American themes in fine art prints. By the end of the decade, the union was so successful that subscribers were treated to additional prints and illustrated books. Original paintings by artists such as Thomas Cole could be won through subscriber lotteries. Demand finally overwhelmed supply and by 1852 the American Art-Union folded under the weight of postage costs and legal restrictions.

  • ADDITIONAL INFO:

  • CONDITION: Good condition save for minor spotting in the margins.

  • REFERENCE: