Guild of Saint Luke - Decline of The Guilds

Decline of The Guilds

All guild local monopolies came under general economic disapproval from the 17th century onwards; in the particular case of painters there was in many places a tension between the Guilds and artists imported as court painter by a ruler. When Anthony van Dyck was finally enticed to come to England by King Charles I, he was provided with a house at Blackfriars, then just outside the boundary of the City of London to avoid the monopoly of the London guild. The Hague with its Catholic court, split itself in two in 1656 with the Confrerie Pictura. By that time it was clear to all involved that the one-stop-shop concept of a guild was past its prime, and to ensure high quality and high prices, the education of artists needed to be separated from sales venues. Many towns set up academy style schools for education, while sales could be generated from arranged viewings at local inns, estate sales, or open markets. In Antwerp the Habsburg Governors eventually removed the Guild's monopoly, and by the end of the 18th century hardly any guild monopolies survived, even before Napoleon disbanded all guilds in territories he controlled. Guilds survived as societies or charitable organisations, or merged with the newer "Academies" - as happened in Antwerp, but not in London or Paris. Guild monopoly had a brief 20th century revival in Eastern Europe under Communism, where non-members of the official artist's union or guild found it very hard to work as painters - for example the Czech Josef Váchal.