The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-04-26 00:00:00

ART-UNION OF LONDON.

On Tuesday morning the annual meeting of the sub-
, scribers of this institution took place in the New Adelphi
Theatre ; Lord Monteagle in the chair.
Mr. George Godwin, the secretary, read the report, of
which the following are the principal portions :
" The Art-Union of London has now been established
twenty-four years. Exclusive of the current year's
subscription, and of the thousands added by prize-
holders, it has raised and distributed the sum of
£254,143, of which £138,662 have been paid to
artists, and for the production of statuettes, bronzes,
and other prizes; and £64,623 to engravers and
for the supply of impressions to the subscribers. • It has
sent some hundreds of thousands of engravings over the
world—to the gold• diggers of Australia, the back-
woodsmen of Canada, to New Zealand, China, the
Indies, Egypt, the United States; in fact, to nearly
every corner of the globe where there is an English
settlement, as well as to every city, town, and village of
the United Kingdom ; and-it finds itself, on the present
occasion, with a subscription of £14,138.
The total sum which has been expended by the Art-
Union of London on paintings, exclusive of the further
large amount added by the prizeholders themselves, is
£118,765, while for bronze and porcelain statuettes,
medals, works in iron, enamels, lithographS, and other
productions given as, prizes, the sum of £19,897 has
been paid.
It may be interesting to state the number of, bronze
and other statuettes which have been distributed.
Bronze statuettes and busts . . 313
Porcelain and other statuettes and busts 2,553
Tazzas and vases in iron 230
Subscribers of the current year have mostly received
the volume of wood engravings, prepared for them from
pictures by thirty deceased British artists, and an
engraving by Mr. F. Hull, from the picture by Mr.
J. J. Jenkins, called " Come Along."
For the ensuing year every subscriber will receive for
each guinea paid, an impression of Mr. Wilimore's
engraving, after Turner's exquisite picture, " Childe
Harold's Pilgrimage," described in last year's report,
and which engraving is now at press.
Mr. Absolon's water-colour drawing, " Boulogne, in
1857," has been reproduce'd in chromolithography by
Mr. Vincent Brookes. Framed copies have been dis
tributed

The council have recently offered a premium of one
hundrPd guineas for a series of designs in outline, or
outline slightly shaded, illustrative of Tennyson's poem,
"The Idylls of the King." They have further offered
a premium of seventy guineas for a group or statuette
in plaster, representing some subject from English
history, to be subsequently executed in bronze or Parian,
and thirty guineas for the work selected as second in
merit. They propose hereafter to invite designs for a
vase, a tazza, or other similar art-work.
The Lawrence medal has been completed very satis-
factorily by Mr. G. G. Adams, and will form part of the
works to be now distributed. By the course pursued in
the selection of a work by the artist commemorated for
the reverse of the medal,—a second worthy to whom
the country is indebted,—is, in some cases, honoured.
Thus the Chantrey medal records Watt; the Bacon
medal, now in the hands of Mr. Joseph Wyon, Johnson;
and the Lawrence medal, Wellington.
A medal in commemoration of Wilkie, confided to
Mr. Leonard Wyon, is being proceeded with.
_

In respect of bronzes, the council have arranged with
Mr. Foley, R.A., to make a reduced copy of his flue
statue, " Caractacus," executed by him for the corpora-
tion of London, and now in the Egyptian Hall at the
Mansion House.

Vacancies in the council have been caused by the
regretted death of Jacob Bell, Esq., to whom the
country is indebted for a munificent bequest of pictures,
and by the retirement of Dr. Mortimer, Alderman
Salomons, and Alderman Wire. These have been filled
by the election of the Dean of St. Paul's, Monckton
Milnes, Esq., M.P., and J. B. Bunning, Esq.
The following is a condensed statement of receipts
and disbursements :
Subscriptions received £14,138 15 6
Printing, advertising, salaries, and other
expenses, including reserve of 21 per
cent.
Amount set apart for .printing and
volume of wood engravings ..
Amount allotted for prizes . . . .
The reserve fund now amounts to the
sum of .. . . . . . . 9,383 0 0
The following is the allotment of the sum set apart
for prizes to be selected by the prizeholders themselves ;
viz.:---

3,393 16 0

4,489 19 6
6,255 18 6

30 works, at £lO each. 6 works, at £6O each.
26 „ 15 „ 6 „ 76 „
26 „ 20 „ 3 „ 100 „
20 „ 25 „ 1 „ 150 „
18 „ 30 „ 2 „ 200 „
8 ~ 40 »
To these are added :-
30 Porcelain Groups of "Venus and Cupid."
30 Silver Medals of Lawrence.
600 Chromolithographs.
300 Sets of Photographs.
Making- in ail 1,012 prizes.
Porcelain statuettes and medals will be allotted to the
first 60 names drawn consecutively, at the close of the
general distribution. The chromolithographs, medals,
and photographs will be allotted to' the names standing
one hundredth and two hundredth in the list preceding
and succeeding that of each of the first 200 prizeholders,
determined as above stated, with a proviso that a prize
has not fallen to that number to-day ; in that case the
prize will pass to the next succeeding number.
The prizeholders of last year purchased from the
various exhibitions of the season 105 works of art to the
following amounts, viz.:—
From the Royal Academy . . £B4B 10 0
The Institution of Fine Arts . . 583 0 0
Society of British Artists: . . 789 5 0
British Institution , . . 243 6 0
Royal Scottish Academy , . 20 0 0
Water-colour Society . . , 103 5 0
New Water-colour Society . . 307 18 0
The prizes were exhibited as usual in the galleries in
Suffolk-street.

Lord Mouteagle, in moving the adoption of the report,
said, that he never did so with greater satisfaction than
at that moment. It spoke well for the past, and augured
well for the future. His lordship went into the details
connected with the laws and management of the Art
Union, and referred to Mr. Labouchere having sug-
gested a kind of National Gallery for themselves. He
congratulated the members on having such distinguished
men as the Dean of St. Paul's, Mr. M. Milnes, and others
of like eminence, added to their council. He felt pecu-
liarly happy in seeing that the Art Union was able to illus-
trate that finest production of our greatest modern poet,
Tennyson's " Idylls of the King." Although he did
not look upon such undertakings as props to the fine
arts, for they wanted no props, he thought they were
wings to carry out abroad to the farthest corners of the
earth. (Cheers.) His lordship commented in severe
terms upon the attempts now being made to start a rival
society, having nothing in common with them except
unfairly appropriating their name. He would conclude
by moving the adoption of the report.
Carried unanimously.
Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P., addressed the meeting
on the prosperous condition of the society, and after
alluding to the antiquity of the lottery system, con-
cluded by moving a' vote of thanks to the council and
the honorary secretaries for their services during the
past year.
Mr. George Godwin returned thanks, and proposed
a similar vote to Mr. Webster for the use of the theatre.
Carried unanimously.
Mr. Webster stood forwird on his own stage in an
entirely new character there. He thanked the meeting
sincerely, and said that he always looked upon painting,
sculpture, and the drama as the graces of civilisation.
(Cheers.) He should be very happy to meet them on
similar occasions.
Mr. Webster retired amidst the hearty plaudits of the
meeting,
Tlie drawing was then proceeded with, the first prize
of consequence being one of £lOO drawn for Miss E.
Dunn, of Bedale, Yorkshire; Commodore Hopkins, of
Merthyr Tydvil, £200; Mr. Thomas Gallop, 4thert.
road, Regent's-park, the remaining £2OO prize.
The other prizes occupied about an hour and a half in
drawing from the wheel, after which the proceedings
were concluded.

Cardinal Szitowski, the Prince Primate of Hungary,
intends to do honour to the memory of Count Stephen
Szechenyi by means of a Trauer-feier (mourning cere-
mony) .on the Rakosch plain, on which has been shed
the blood of many of the most worthy descendants of
Arpad.
MUNIFICENT BEQIIESTS.—The late George Nicholl,
Esq., of 99, Piccadilly, by. his will lately proved by his
executor, Francis Wigg. jun., Esq., at under £60,000
personalty, directs the immediate payment to relatives
of legacies amounting to £12,000, and bequeaths the
whole of the residue and the whole of his freehold
estates to a relation, at whose decease the slim of £5OO
is to be paid to each of the following institutions :-.7,T11e
Royal Naval Female School, Richmond ; the Metropo-
litan Convalescent Hospital, 'Walton ; the Margate
Infirmary ; and the Sussex County Asylum, Brighton.
Thee residue of the personalty is to be divided equally
between the undermentioned hospitals :—St. George's,
Westminster • University, Royal Free, King's College,
St. Mary's, Charing-cross. The freehold estates are to
bceDme the property of the Middlesex County Hospital.
IPSWICH PENNY READINGS.—At the close of the
second session of the Ipswich Penny Readings, the
managers rejoice to be able to report the continued suc-
cess of this new attempt at rational recreation. The
managers have had the pleasure of hearing that, where-
ever the scheme has been fairly worked, success has been
the result. They cannot too often repeat, that its
essential feature is to furnish a variety readings; and,
where possible, readers on the same evening. Besidea
the payment 9f rent, printing, and other incidental
eensee, the readings have realised, during the last
Shipwrecked
three months, for the Suffolk Hospital, £6 16s. ; the
rascarhpoWoglre:Cked Seamen's Society, 4f s. g 4 ; the Ragged
oast?,
toof
,fel4ln. ses.
the Penny
peTimhye
rs44heipse. imnakthinegaautut
readings with increased efficiency aid ItseAbineas.--7'
Ipswich Pprqs