1754年3月22日於倫敦成立的藝術、製造業、商業勵進會,旨在透過獎勵方式推動農、工、商等各種實業的改進與發展。從一開始,該會亦積極獎勵素描,成為英格蘭境内首先公開獎勵素描的組織,隨後亦擴增版畫、油畫等其他文雅藝術獎項,並於1760年舉辦首屆英國當代藝術展覽。和今日更富盛名的皇家藝術學院不同,藝術、製造業、商業勵進會會員來自社會各界認同公益精神的人士(包括藝術家),透過會費與捐款提供獎賞資金:然而由於藝術世界的變化以及後世藝術史主流書寫的偏重,勵進會對文雅藝術的提倡,長久以來未受重視。本文透過分析勵進會相關文獻資料、現存檔案以及當時出版的報導與評述,廣泛考察該會在十八世紀下半葉對文雅藝術的各種獎勵,藉此開展新視角,透視當時英國在素描、版畫、油畫領域的發展。並且指出,勵進會文雅藝術獎項的消長,除了反映藝術世界的態勢,實則透露出十八世紀下半葉英國社會藝術觀的發展以及藝術體系的變動。

On the 22nd of March, 1754, the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce was founded in London, aiming to promote and improve agriculture, manufacturing and commerce by giving premiums, that is, pecuniary rewards to the prize winners. From the start, the Society also provided premiums for drawing, and was thus the first institution in England to publicly promote drawing by holding competitions. The premiums were soon expanded to include other polite arts such as printmaking and oil painting. In 1760, the Society even held the first exhibition of contemporary English art. Unlike the more prestigious Royal Academy of Arts, members of the Society of Arts came from various walks of life, whose subscriptions and donations provided the funds for premiums. However, due to changes in the art world and certain trends in mainstream art historiography, the Society’s promotion of the arts has long been undervalued.

By investigating contemporary publications and the Society’s archives, this article gives a comprehensive analysis of the Society’s polite art premiums, thus opening up a new perspective on the development of drawing, printmaking and oil painting in England in the second half of the eighteenth century. It also highlights how the growth and decline of the Society’s polite art premiums reveals the development of artistic ideas and the changing system of the arts in English society during the period.