Early Engraving of Artist's Fund Hall Philadelphia

Pennsylvania

Print Type: Wood Engraving
Date: Circa 1835
Origin: American
Demensions: 8 1/2 x 5 1/2"
Subject: Early American Colleges
Notes & Literature: Artists’ Fund Society records (AO.007)Page 2 Historical noteOn Valentine’s Day, 1835, eleven Philadelphia artists came together at the home of John Neagle to found the Artists' Fund society. The following April the Society was incorporated to "promote the welfare and happiness of themselves and their professional brethren" by creating a fund for their "mutual advancement and relief." In addition to the desire to provide financial assistance to artists and their families in times of adversity, the stated objects of the institution were to promote "the cultivation of skill, the diffusion of taste, and the encouragement of living professional talent in the arts of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, and Engraving, as may best conduce the primary purpose of benevolence."S Guided by this lofty commitment to art, morality, and Philanthropism, the Artists' Fund Society aspired to build and manage their own school and gallery. Beneficence provided the Society with the philosophical justification for its activities and for the leadership role it assumed in the cultural community, but initially, the Artists' Fund Society's importance to Philadelphia artists had little to do with charity. The philanthropic dimension of the Society's plan was not well developed until after 1847. Between 1835 and 1845 the Artists' Fund Society constituted the primary institutional support for contemporary art activity in Philadelphia. During this decade the Pennsylvania Academy faced financial problems and was largely inactive. 9 In the absence of a functioning Academy, the Society assumed much of the responsibility for artists' professional development and encouragement. The Artists' Fund Society was the first art organization in Philadelphia to be managed exclusively by artists; therefore, it reflected the artists' definition of an ideal professional climate. Nationally, the Society was the second American art institution to operate under artists' control, predated by the National Academy of Design which was founded in 1826. Coinciding with the goals of its New York competitor, the Artists' Fund Society aspired to raise the status of the artist "to its merited rank in public estimation," to establish a school and library.
Condition Report: Text on verso. Very good.

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