English

Noun

art union ‎(plural art unions)

1. An organisation formed for the purpose of educating the general public about art and supporting artists.
   • 1974, Thomas Osborne Davis, Essays of Thomas Davis, page 140,

     Art Unions are a substitute for State patronage.

   • 1997, Robin Lenman, Artists and society in Germany, 1850-1914, page 151,

     Art unions often made lottery purchases at academy salons as well as at their own exhibitions; Friedrich's Evening on the Baltic, bought in Dresden by the Saxon Art Union in 1831, was an early example.

   • 2008, April F. Masten, Art Work: Women Artists and Democracy in Mid-Nineteenth-Century New York, page 26,

     Art unions, on the other hand, bought paintings directly from the artists in their studios, exhibited and sold them at their galleries, and distributed them by lottery.

2. (Australia, New Zealand) A raffle run to raise money for a charity.
   • 1923 April 5, in the Barrier Miner of Broken Hill, NSW:

     New bookkeeping regulations have been framed by the New South Wales Auditor-General's Department, at the request of the Attorney-General, to control the present loose state of affairs in regard to art unions.

   • 1932 March 19, in The Brisbane Courier:

     The Attorney-General (Mr. N F Macgroarty) yesterday described as absolutely inaccurate a statement that the Art Union Regulations provided for the Justice Department collecting a fee of 21 per cent of the gross receipts of art unions in excess of £100, this amount being allowed is an exemption...

   • 1956, New Zealand House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, page 278,

     The result was that the Government of the day had a spate of applications for permits to hold art unions.

   • 1992, the ART UNIONS AND PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS REGULATION 1992, promulgated by the government of Queensland:

     A person who conducts a trade promotion art union must ensure that a prize in the art union is delivered to the winner of the prize within 1 month of the drawing of the art union.

   • 2011, Mater Prize Homes Website:

     What exactly is an art union I hear you ask? Well it is simply an official term used by regulation boards such as the Queensland Office of Gaming Regulation that describes a lottery where the total value of the prizes exceeds $20,000 and the game is operated by a non profit organisation.

   • 2011, Sporting Wheelies Organisation website:

     Annually the Association conducts 10 major art unions with prizes from $80,000 - $120,000 each art union. Tickets are only $2 (AUS) each and the winner can choose any combination of prizes.

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