FINE ARTS.
THE Art-Union schemes are beginning to show what they really are,—namely, lotteries tempting the cupidity of subscribers, not joint- stock funds for the promotion of fine art: and the mass of mediocre artists, who look eagerly to an increased demand for their productions, will perhaps discover that persons who would otherwise lay out a few pounds on a picture will now wait till a turn of the wheel places a sum at their disposal for this purpose. A correspondent informs us that the rules of the ""West of England Art-Union " allow any prizeholder to expend the amount of the prize upon a portrait of any of his family ! And the same correspondent mentions one instance among many, of a prizeholder selling for money his right to choose a picture, and of persons subscribing with this view ; thus proving his remark that the Art-Unions "are really gambling speculations."
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