Kensett, John F. "Mount Washington. From the Valley of Conway."

John F. Kensett. "Mount Washington. From the Valley of Conway." New York: American Art-Union, 1851. Engraved by James Smillie. 7 x 10 3/8. Repaired tear (1 3/4 long diagonal tear in lower margin, to the left of the title.). Overall, very good condition.   The American Art Union (1839-1851) was an organization created to support contemporary American art and to develop a popular appreciation of it.  The AAU was organized, by James Herring, in 1839 as the “Apollo Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts in the United States,” a name it kept for the first five years.  An individual would join the AAU for a small fee, and the funds were used to purchase original paintings and to produce engravings from these, though some of the first prints were from borrowed paintings.  The engravings were distributed to the members of the union, and the original art was then raffled off.  The association also held a continuing exhibit of American art at its “perpetual free gallery.”  While the uni