Art Journal

This was arguably the longest-running and possibly the most important of the Victorian art journals. It originated as the Art Union Monthly Journal in 1839 and was renamed in 1849 following its acquisition by the publisher George Virtue (1794-1868). The editor of the journal for the first forty years of its history was Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1889). For much of that time, he was also its proprietor. Hall was succeeded as editor by Marcus Bourne Huish (1843-1921), who ran the journal until 1892. Huish did much to widen the range of subject matter covered, allowing etchings and photographically reproduce illustrations to displace steel engraving.

Huish, in turn, was replaced by David Croal Thompson (1855-1930) who was the editor from 1893 to 1902. Under Thompson, the Journal showed greater interest in the decorative arts fostered by the Arts and Crafts movement. By the end of the nineteenth century, the Journal was facing fierce competition from numerous other art periodicals, notably the Magazine of Art (founded 1878), Studio Magazine (founded 1893), the Connoisseur (founded 1901), and Burlington Magazine (founded 1903). The Art Journal which was a monthly publication eventually closed in 1912.