Ten Key Facets of Victorian Era Art and Culture
The Victorian period, spanning from 1837 to 1901, was characterized by significant advancements and cultural shifts. Notable developments included the advent of steam travel, highlighted by the launch of the Stockton and Darlington Railway in 1825 and Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain (1847), which made transatlantic voyages. In literature, Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (1865) emerged as a classic in children's fiction. The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, established in 1848 by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais, played a crucial role in shaping the Aesthetic movement. Additionally, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, featured in The Strand Magazine, brought detective stories into the limelight. The Whitechapel Murders (1888-1891) captured public fascination, while photography, advanced by Henry Fox Talbot, became increasingly popular. The Victoria and Albert Museum, inaugurated in 1852, boasts a collection of over 2 million items.
Key facts
- The Stockton and Darlington Railway opened the world's first public railway in 1925.
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain (1847) was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic.
- Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' was published in 1865 with illustrations by Sir John Tenniel.
- The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in 1848 by Rossetti, Hunt, and Millais.
- Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle were serialized in The Strand Magazine.
- The Whitechapel Murders occurred between 1888 and 1891, with five 'Canonical Five' attributed to Jack the Ripper.
- Henry Fox Talbot created the oldest known photographic negative in 1835.
- The Victoria and Albert Museum was founded in 1852 and renamed in 1899.
- London Zoo opened in 1828 to fellows of the Zoological Society and to the public in 1847.
- The V&A was the first museum to collect photographs as art.
Entities
Artists
- William Powell Frith
- J.M.W. Turner
- Lewis Carroll
- Sir John Tenniel
- Peter Graham
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti
- William Holman Hunt
- John Everett Millais
- Jane Morris
- William Morris
- Oscar Wilde
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Sidney Edward Paget
- John Atkinson Grimshaw
- Henry Fuseli
- Henry Fox Talbot
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel
- Richard Trevithick
- John Laird
- Sir Francis Pettit Smith
- John Ericsson
- Queen Victoria
- Prince Albert
Institutions
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- National Gallery, London
- Mercer Art Gallery
- National Galleries of Scotland
- Tate
- Royal Collection
- The Strand Magazine
- Punch Magazine
- Metropolitan Police Force
- Zoological Society of London
- London Zoo
- Natural History Museum, London
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Detroit Institute of Arts
- British Library
- National Portrait Gallery, London
- Stockton and Darlington Railway Company
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom
- Cornwall
- Scotland
- Edinburgh
- Harrogate
- Wiltshire
- Lacock Abbey
- Whitechapel
- Regent's Park
- South Kensington
- Marlborough House
- Pall Mall
- Versailles
- France
- Oxfordshire
- Woodstock
- Detroit
- USA
- England
- India