Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Photography Centre, Room 100, The Bern and Ronny Schwartz Gallery

1862 International Exhibition, South Kensington, Progress of buildings, looking east

Photograph
27 April 1862 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Title1862 International Exhibition, South Kensington, Progress of buildings, looking east (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Photograph, 1862 International Exhibition, South Kensington, Progress of buildings, looking east, albumen print, 27 April 1861
Physical description
A mounted sepia-coloured photograph of a construction site with laborers and wheel barrows and buckets.
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'A.b. LONDON: / 1862 Exhibition' (Museum classification label, lower right recto.)
  • 'Exhibitions. Exhibition of 1862 / Progress of buildings, looking east' (ink, lower left mount, recto)
Gallery label
The success of the 1851 Great Exhibition inspired plans for a second world fair in London. The 1862 International Exhibition was held in South Kensington, where the Natural History Museum and Science Museum now stand. This photograph, which documents preparation for the fair, shows a formally dressed site manager overseeing labourers toiling on the building’s construction. In the distance, a horse and cart transport materials to the site.(May 2023)
Credit line
Presented by F. Fowkes, 5 September 1905
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Association
Summary
Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.
Collection
Accession number
PH.2209-1905

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
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