The New Scholar
As a mother delivers her son to school for the first time, the boy's apprehension is mirrored by the family dog sniffing the teacher's leg. The latter appears genial, but a switch partly hidden behind his back points to a strict disciplinarian. The print was published by the American Art-Union, a New York institution that boasted nearly nineteen thousand subscribers at its height in 1849–50. For an annual fee of five dollars, each member received a large, finely engraved, print and was entered in a lottery to win original artworks which were exhibited at the Art-Union's Free Gallery. Aimed at educating the public about contemporary American art, the group's distribution network reached every state. This contributed to the creation of a national market for landscapes, genre paintings, and small bronze sculptures. The system flourished for a limited period, however, with no lottery taking place in 1851, the year that the Art-Union issued this work as part of a set of small engravings titled "Gallery of American Art," No. I. In 1852–53, the institution was forced to dissolve.
Artwork Details
- Title: The New Scholar
- Series/Portfolio: Gallery of American Art, No. I
- Engraver: Alfred Jones (American, Liverpool, England 1819–1900 New York)
- Artist: After Francis William Edmonds (American, Hudson, New York 1806–1863 Bronxville, New York)
- Publisher: American Art-Union, New York (1838–51)
- Date: 1851
- Medium: Etching and engraving on steel
- Dimensions: image: 7 3/8 x 9 5/16 in. (18.7 x 23.7 cm)
sheet: 14 3/8 x 18 7/16 in. (36.5 x 46.8 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1993
- Object Number: 1993.1083(5)
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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Multiple artists/makers
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Multiple artists/makers
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Alfred Jones
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