The Great Exhibition Building Signed and dated 1851
Oil on canvas | 56.0 x 101.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 407157
-
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October 1851. It was the first in a series of World's Fair exhibitions of culture and industry that became popular during the 19th century. The Great Exhibition was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole. A special building, nicknamed the Crystal Palace, was designed by Joseph Paxton to house the exhibition. It took the form of a massive glass house that encompassed several trees in the park. The building took only nine months to complete, from 30 July 1850 to the opening of the exhibition on 1 May 1851. It was 1,848 feet (563 metres) long and 408 feet (124 metres) wide. In 1852 it was dismantled and re-erected in Sydenham, south London, but burnt to the ground in a fire in 1936.
This is a view of the building in Hyde Park, seen from the south west. A group of visitors in a variety of clothing is depicted in the foreground, showing the interest taken in the exhibition from all over the world. A statue of Richard the Lion Heart by Baron Marochetti, a favourite sculptor of the Queen and Prince Albert, can be seen in the distance towards the left of the painting. It is now outside the House of Lords in Westminster. The Queen was not entirely happy with the painting as she would apparently have preferred to see more of the elevation of the building itself.
The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852.
Signed and dated: JD Harding / 1851.Provenance
Painted for Queen Victoria
-
Creator(s)
(framemaker) -
Medium and techniques
Oil on canvas
Measurements
56.0 x 101.8 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external)
83.0 x 128.6 x 7.4 cm (frame, external)
Category
Object type(s)
Subject(s)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
International Exhibition, 1851. View in Hyde Park during the Exhibition, previously entitled