The American Art-Union (1839–1851) was a subscription-based organization founded in 1840, whose goal was to enlighten and educate an American public to a national art, while providing a support system for the viewing and sales of art “executed by (A)rtists in the United States or by American (A)rtists abroad." The idea of an art union had been a popular one since the early 19th century in Europe. They first appeared in Switzerland, gaining great popularity in both Germany and the United Kingdom in the 1830s. It was the UK's version — Art-Union of London (AUL) — that was used as a model for the American Art-Union (AAU).
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“During the late war [the American Revolution] I had an infallible rule for deciding what [Great Britain] would do on every occasion. It was, to consider what they ought to do, and to take the reverse of that as what they would assuredly do, and I can say with truth that I was never deceived.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)