 Cover of a bound volume ofThe Art Journal from 1858 | |
| Categories | Victorianart |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Hodgson & Graves;Samuel Carter Hall;George Virtue;J. S. Virtue |
| First issue | 15 February 1839 |
| Final issue | 1912 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Based in | London |
| OCLC | 1514293 |
The Art Journal was the most important British 19th-centurymagazine on art. It was founded in 1839[1] by Hodgson & Graves, print publishers, 6 Pall Mall, with the titleArt Union Monthly Journal (orThe Art Union), the first issue of 750 copies appearing 15 February 1839. It was published inLondon but its readership was global in reach.
Hodgson & Graves hiredSamuel Carter Hall as editor ofArt Union Monthly Journal, assisted byJames Dafforne. Hall soon became the principal proprietor, but he was unable to turn a profit on his own. The London publisherGeorge Virtue bought a share of the business in 1848, with Hall remaining as editor, and they renamed the periodicalThe Art Journal in 1849.[2]
In 1851, as part of the "Great Exhibition" of that year,The Art Journal featured Hall's engravings of 150 pictures from the private collections ofQueen Victoria andPrince Albert. Although this project was popular, the publication remained unprofitable, forcing Hall to sell his share of the journal to Virtue, while staying on as editor. In 1852, the journal finally turned a profit.[2][3]
As editor, Hall exposed the profits that custom-houses were earning on the import ofOld Masters, and showed how paintings were manufactured in England.The Art Journal became noted for its honest portrayal of the fine arts, and its opposition to fake and mis-attributed Old Masters, such as many claimed to be byRaphael andTitian, depressed the market in such works.
The early issues of the magazine, published monthly,[1] strongly supported the artists ofThe Clique, and after 1850 it became associated with opposition to the emergingPre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), which Hall considered to be a reactionary movement. Its articles attacked the PRB and its supporterJohn Ruskin.[3][4]
After Hall's retirement in 1880, the journal changed its position, and faced strong competition from theMagazine of Art and the changing public taste influenced byImpressionism. Neither magazine was able to survive: theMagazine of Art ceased publication in 1904, andThe Art Journal in 1912. An American edition ofThe Art Journal was published in New York from 1881 to 1887 by D. Appleton & Co.
The publication has been referred to, at various times, asLondon Art Journal andArt-Journal.
| Editor's name | Years |
|---|---|
| Samuel Carter Hall | 1839–1880 |
| Marcus Bourne Huish | 1881–1892 |
| David Croal Thomson[5] | 1892–1902 |
The Art Journal's most notable essayists includedRalph Nicholson Wornum,Thomas Wright,Frederick William Fairholt,Edward Lewes Cutts, andLlewellynn Jewitt.[3]Richard Austin Artlett supplied a long series of engraved plates of sculpture.[6]