The Glasgow Art Union, or The Art Union (Art-Union) of Glasgow
The nineteenth-century art-world witnessed the establishment of a wide range of organisations which sought to
encourage a taste for modern art, and enable the public to own prints, paintings, and other works of art by means
of subscriptions and lottery. Subscribers and prize-winners were located across the world, as indicated by surviving
ephemera, published lists of names, towns, cities, and countries, etc.
The Glasgow Art Union, also known as The Art Union of Glasgow/ The Art-Union of Glasgow, was one of the most
successful. However, like so many of the city’s great cultural institutions, many of its achievements have been
forgotten, or overlooked.
George Fairfull-Smith, August 2023.