How did the average American learn about art in the
mid-nineteenth century? With public art museums still in their
infancy, and few cities and towns large enough to support art
galleries or print shops, Americans relied on mass-circulated
illustrated magazines. One group of magazines in particular, known
collectively as the Philadelphia pictorials, circulated fine art
engravings of paintings, some produced exclusively for circulation
in these monthlies, to an eager middle-class reading audience.
These magazines achieved print circulations far exceeding those of
other print media (such as illustrated gift books, or catalogs from
art-union membership organizations).
"Godey's," "Graham's," "Peterson's," "Miss Leslie's," and
"Sartain's Union Magazine" included two to three fine art
engravings monthly, "tipped in" to the fronts of the magazines, and
designed for pull-out and display. Featuring the work of a
fledgling group of American artists who chose American rather than
European themes for their paintings, these magazines were crucial
to the distribution of American art beyond the purview of the East
Coast elite to a widespread middle-class audience. Contributions to
these magazines enabled many an American artist and engraver to
earn, for the first time in the young nation's history, a modest
living through art.
Author Cynthia Lee Patterson examines the economics of artistic
production, innovative engraving techniques, regional imitators,
the textual "illustrations" accompanying engravings, and the
principal artists and engravers contributing to these
magazines.
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