Victoria & Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), London, is the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The V&A is located in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area that has become known as “Albertopolis” because of its association with Prince Albert, the Albert Memorial and the major cultural institutions with which he was associated. These include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. We happened to approach the museum from the science wing (brick) side.

 

Then we discovered the much more imposing entrance in the building housing design and decorative arts.

We felt at least a bit connected to the museum when we discovered the Chihuly glass sculpture hanging in the main lobby.  He’s the best known of a large group of NW glass artists and has been featured internationally.

The ‘collection’ of 4.5 million objects owes its size to that period of time in which International powers like Great Britain tried to collect one of everything they could find in their far-flung empires.  So there are one or two things here that we won’t try to show.  On the other hand, the museum has continued to collect objects in the areas it began so that there is a definite sense of continuity in the materials presented.  In addition, and not often seen in museums, there are displays of the techniques by which the various items have been designed and fabricated.

And in case you’ve forgotten who built the museum, the designers included a marble logo to help remind you.

So – a brief look around.

Top-lighted galleries like this really show off the three dimensional qualities of sculpture.  I should mention that the V&A is NOT air conditioned so the temperature on the day we visited was easily in the 80’s and higher on some of the upper floors.  A challenge to museum-going patience.

The museum features an extensive collection of ceramics, perhaps because ceramics from the orient were so novel but also likely because they were so collectible.  This view is admittedly a bit confusing because I’m looking the long way through a series of reflective glass display cases; but I like the way it gives the sense of a collection as more than individual objects.  It also gives an accurate sense of the place as being ‘stuffed’ with things to look at.

Here are a couple more contemporary examples.  The tea set is from Japan.

 

And to show that the collection is not just about tableware, this bust:

Here’s an example of the educational approach, in this case about ceramic glazing.

It was also fun to see some terracotta similar to the work Jack Mackie included in a Seattle Bus Tunnel Station.

For those who haven’t worked with it, terracotta came into popular use as a less expensive substitute for carved and painted stone. As a clay-based material it can be molded in a wide variety of shapes and glazed in exotic ways.  Very popular in the US in the early 20th century.  The collection of glass was also extensive – almost overbearing, especially the glass railing.

The design of the building also featured glass, especially in the architectural additions made in modern times to aid circulation.

Of course, the architecture hadn’t shaded the glass much, so it was a very warm elevator ride.  And speaking of architecture, the museum also included a somewhat casual collection of models and drawings about buildings.  This was not nearly as international nor as broadly cast as the other collections and so felt weak by comparison.  Here’s a display panel explaining improvements to one of the city’s train stations.  While it provides a good general picture, it doesn’t convey the kind of conceptual underpinning that one might expect for a museum level presentation.

Here’s an earlier hand drawing ‘shewing’ the construction of St Paul’s Cathedral. While I think the drawing is terrific and fascinating to architects, it needed to have more of the story of the cathedral accompanying it.

Finally, on our way back to the main level, we passed through an area featuring jewelry – very delicate silver here.

Just in the last few years, the museum has developed the courtyard that sits between the two large wings of the V&A.

Part of it has been dedicated to a cafe – well used on this warm day.  And the rest has been set aside as open lawn area with a large reflecting pool.

It appears that, with the shallow steps designed in around the edge of the pool, the intention was to allow wading – or at least not to prevent it with a railing or barrier.  On this day, young Londoners with families were putting it to good use.

Royal Albert Hall

One day we spent a good part of the day with “the Royals”. On our walk across Hyde Park we encountered the Albert Memorial. This was constructed in his honor by Queen Victoria when Prince Albert passed away in his early 40’s. It’s totally over the top but expressive of Britain in most expansionist global empire moment.

So I guess if you’re loved madly by the queen of a global empire, you get to sit on your throne forever, in gold leaf.

And displayed around you will be important people (at your feet, above) and signs of your empire (below) such as Europe.

But then, to show that there was also concern for citizens of London, a great entertainment venue, The Royal Albert Hall, was commissioned across the street.

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941. It has a capacity (depending on configuration of the event) of up to 5,272 seats; standing areas and stage specifications can change this. The Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or central and local government funding.

Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world’s leading artists from several performance genres have appeared on its stage and it has become one of the UK’s most  treasured and distinctive buildings. Each year it hosts more than 350 events including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and banquets.

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone, as a dedication to her deceased husband and consort Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort – the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the road. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world’s leading artists from several performance genres have appeared on its stage and it has become one of the UK’s most treasured and distinctive buildings. Each year it hosts more than 350 events including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and banquets.
The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone, as a dedication to her deceased husband and consort Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort – the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the road Kensington Gore.

The Hall, a Grade Iisted building, is an ellipse in plan, with major and minor axes of 272 ft and 236 ft. We quickly realized that we would need a tour here to really see anything.

The galleries were quietly elegant. The great glass and wrought-iron dome roofing the Hall is 135 ft high. It was originally designed with a capacity for 8,000 people and has accommodated as many as 9,000 (although modern safety restrictions mean that the maximum permitted capacity is now 5,544 including standing in the Gallery).

The Hall has been affectionately titled “The Nation’s Village Hall”.  The first concert was Arthur Sullivan’s cantata,On Shore and Sea, performed on 1 May 1871. Many events are promoted by the Hall, while since the early 1970s Raymond Gubbay has brought a range of events to the Hall including opera, ballet and classical music. Some events include classical and rock concerts, conferences, ballroom dancing, poetry recitals, education, motor shows, marathons, ballet, opera and circus shows. It has hosted many sporting events, including boxing, squash, table tennis, basketball, wrestling, including the first Sumo wrestling tournament to be held in London, as well as tennis.

The BBC Promenade Concerts, known as “The Proms”, is a popular annual eight-week summer season of daily classical music concerts and other events at the Hall. The event was founded in 1895, and now each season consists of over 70 concerts, in addition to a series of events at other venues across the United Kingdom on the last night. In 2009, the total number of concerts reached 100 for the first time. We were also shown the Queen’s box and its waiting room across the gallery.

I was struck by how non-Royal it seemed in spirit – perhaps in character with the populist nature of the building.

Oxford Stroll

After spending a good part of the day and our energy at Blenheim Palace, we opted for a stroll through a portion of the City of Oxford. To see everything in this densely packed University of Oxford collection of 38 colleges would take a week.

One famous feature, the Radcliffe Camera commanded our attention.

As would be the case with much of our trip, summer is the time to fix up historic buildings; so we didn’t get to go inside.  Originally built in the mid 1700’s to house the Radcliffe science library – donated and funded by John Radcliffe – it actually served as a general purpose library for 50 years before being focused on the sciences.  As such it quickly outgrew the building; and when the science materials were moved to the adjacent Bodleian Library, it was re-purposed as the Bodleian Reading Room – or ‘camera’.

To get a feel for college life, we simply selected one that was open at a reasonable price.  (Some of the colleges were not open to the public.  Others had limited or scheduled visiting times or required pre-arranged visits).

Many of the colleges used what we now call a ‘collegiate gothic’ style often exported later to the US.

Buildings typically clustered around sheltered open spaces, though these “quadrangles” were not necessarily rectangular and rarely had openings between the buildings.  The layouts emphasized the individuality – and separation – of the colleges for security, competitiveness, and a sense of family for the students.

As would be expected, the colleges grew over time, so the character changed as each piece was added.

This sense of family found its major expression in the refectory, a dining hall used for meals but also for meetings, performances, all-school announcements and religious events.  This view is from the headmaster’s table – note the portraits of headmasters and other important college alumni prominently displayed.  You must have been constantly aware of where your connection with the college could take you later in life.

We did discover an occasional attempt to modernize the collegiate Gothic style.  Tough design to pull off.

 

After leaving the college we did get a look at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

Nice contrast between the light colored stone and the dark wood ceiling construction.

We wandered away from the colleges area a bit towards the River Cherwell.  Here we discovered that pleasure, that the British seem intent on maintaining, of keeping the green countryside at hand, even in urban areas.

Hard to believe, looking out into this pastoral landscape, that all that collegiate Gothic architecture is sitting a couple hundred yards to the left of the photo.  This direction led easily to the river.

Though quiet here, this waterway was busy with houseboats, day tours, and college party boats.

Developers have recognized the picturesque quality of the river and built housing to take advantage of the views.

But the feature we saw everywhere we went in England was the use of the riverbanks for socializing.  In London, of course, the experience was dense and intense; but here it was more social and pleasurable.

Finally, as we worked our way back into town towards the train station, we came across this lovely building that seemed to express the way urban buildings can sit in the landscape in a town.

Nice way to finish up the day.