Great Exhibition, 1851. The British Department, Viewed from the Transept.

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

Watercolourist and painter William Simpson was born in Glasgow, the son of a marine engineer and mechanic. He trained as a lithographer under David Macfarlane and later Allan and Ferguson, and also studied at the Glasgow School of Design. In 1851 he moved to London to work for the lithographers Day & Son. He was sent to cover the Crimean War in 1854, after which he became known as ‘Crimean Simpson’. In 1866 he became an artist for the ‘Illustrated London News’, travelling in India, Russia and Afghanistan, and covering several major military campaigns of the 19th century. In 1874 he became a member of the Institute of Painters in Watercolour. He was also an amateur archaeologist and a prolific writer. Simpson died in London, aged 75.

Places

Subjects

statue (as Subject), sculpture (as Subject), topography, boy, man, woman, girl, 19th century costume, chandelier, clock, coat of arms, Great Exhibition, signage, balcony, curtain, carpet, gallery space, sailboat

Materials & Techniques

colour lithograph

Artist

William Simpson (1823 - 1899)
Day and Son

Title

Great Exhibition, 1851. The British Department, Viewed from the Transept.

Date

published 31 December 1851

Medium

Colour lithograph

Dimensions

height: 44.00 cm, width: 57.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Grosvenor Prints, March 2001

Inscription

below image: GREAT EXHIBITION 1851 / THE BRITISH DEPARTMENT, VIEWED FROM THE TRANSEPT. / [left] CHROMOGRAPHED BY W.SIMPSON ; [right] DAY & SON, LITH.RS TO THE QUEEN / [left] NO.2 / [centre] LONDON, PUBLISHED DEC.R 31.ST 1851, BY ACKERMANN & CO. 96 STRAND

Provenance

Grosvenor Prints, London

GAC number

17598