The original building fronts onto
Cromwell Road with the Henry Cole Wind being in Exhibition Road. The experience
of the V&A starts outside with the main building and the Henry Cole wing both
being magnificent buildings.
The Victoria and Albert Museum is the world's greatest museum of art and design,
representing over three thousand years of human creativity, with collections
unrivalled in their scope and diversity.
Situated in South Kensington, in recent years the V&A has undergone a dramatic
programme of renewal and restoration. Highlights include the Medieval
Renaissance galleries containing some of the greatest surviving treasures from
the period, the breathtaking William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery and
the stunning British Galleries, illustrating the history of Britain through the
nation’s art and design. In addition to its outstanding free permanent
collection, the V&A offers an internationally – acclaimed programme of temporary
exhibitions and an extensive events programme.
"A grand design reveals the way in
which a great museum came into being and has grown over almost one hundred and
fifty years. It is a fascinating story, full of extraordinary characters, great
works of art, many triumphs, and some disasters. No institution stands still,
and the history of the Victoria and Albert Museum reflects the ways in which
society, taste, perception, and scholarship have changed over the years.
This microsite has been adapted from the book 'A Grand Design - The Art of the
Victoria and Albert Museum' which was published to support the exhibition of the
same name. To reflect the structure of the book the site is divided into essays,
listed in the navigation to the left of the screen. Each essay contains the
relevant illustrations and is followed by the images of objects and their
catalogue entries from the book. Footnotes follow at the end of each essay.
Authors of essays and catalogue entries are credited with each piece."
Source: A
Grand Design - A History of the Victoria & Albert Museum.
"The Victoria and Albert Museum (often
abbreviated as the V&A), set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of
decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million
objects. Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852,
and has since grown to cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Its
collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in
virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and
North Africa. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork,
jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking,
drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the
world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical
sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside
Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea
and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe,
with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic
collection, alongside the British Museum, Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the largest in the western world.
Alongside other neighbouring institutions, including the Natural History Museum
and Science Museum, the V&A is located in what is termed London's "Albertopolis",
an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance. Since 2001,
the Museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation programme, which has seen a
major overhaul of the departments, including the introduction of newer
galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities. Following in similar vein to
other national UK museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001."
Source:
Wikipedia.