V&A Network
V&A Network
Take a look at what goes on behind-the-scenes in the world’s greatest museum of art and design. From bestselling exhibitions to hidden gems in the collections, learn about our latest projects, ideas and discoveries.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - 23:00
The Natural History Museum, our neighbours across the road, have opened their Sensational Butterflies exhibition - an outdoor attraction packed with live butterflies. As I sit here at my desk, I see the NHM flag flying above the roof, fluttering in a brisk wind, and it struck me that we have our own sensational butterflies here, too, captured in drawings and paintings and prints. They may not be...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - 11:33
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By Frances Willis, Acting Frederick Warne Curator of Children’s LiteratureAs this week is National Gardening Week in the UK it seems a good time to consider gardening as an inspirational source of subject matter within the world of illustrated books. More specifically we’ll take a look at the V&A’s rich holdings in Victorian and turn of the century children’s books on...
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 - 08:28
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By Ann Eatwell, Padgett and Braham Curator.Powder Puff Bowl and cover, pierced and engraved silver, designed and made by Fiona McAlear, London hallmarks for 2012. © Fiona McAlearOpening our archive to young designers and makers is an important activity for the V&A. The display Inspirations from the Archive now showing in gallery 68 until June 30th 2013 reveals the results of a fruitful...
Friday, April 12, 2013 - 12:26
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By Kate Bethune, assistant curator, Club to Catwalk: London Fashion in the 1980s.It’s been 27 years since the V&A last displayed the BLITZ designer collection of Levis denim jackets. These unique jackets were commissioned by the 80s style magazine in 1986 and customised by a host of top designers, including John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Bernstock Speirs and Paul Smith. A quirky...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 15:57
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Guest blog entry by Cathrin YarnellJohann Jacob Schübler, born in Nuremberg in 1689, had an extremely varied career as an architect, draughtsman, mathematician, painter, and sculptor.[1] The son of a braid and tassel maker, his prodigious talents were first recognised during his early childhood. In 1696, fire destroyed the Egidienkirche, a Romanesque cathedral in Nuremberg. Aged only seven,...
Thursday, April 11, 2013 - 15:25
Not everything in the Prints, Drawings and Paintings collection is printed, drawn, or painted. This post showcases a few of the exceptions to the rule. One of the most popular alternative image-making techniques was cut-paper work. In the eighteenth century, cut-paper pictures were called “shades”, or “profiles” if they were portraits. Although neither term has endured in...
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 14:06
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By Paula Nuttall, Director of Late Medieval to Early Renaissance Year Course.If you’ve visited the Medieval and Renaissance galleries recently, you may have noticed that a familiar face is missing. The portrait bust of Giovanni Chellini by the Florentine sculptor Antonio Rossellino, usually to be seen in Room 64b at the end of the first floor galleries, is currently away at the exhibition...
Friday, April 5, 2013 - 14:29
Print by unknown artist27879:8Today being the day of the Grand National, I thought I'd like to show you this little series of early engravings of horses. We don't know who created them or quite when they were made (though we think it was around 1600) but to me the artist has given them a certain life and charm.Print by unknown artist27879:19As anyone who has tried will know, horses are...
Thursday, April 4, 2013 - 10:06
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By William Newton, Collections Management Assistant, Clothworkers' Centre for Textiles and Fashion Study and Conservation.If an item of dress is deemed sturdy enough, it is hung. More than four-thousand objects from the V&A’s fashion collection are stored on a hanger, which is essential for the management of our storage space. As the poet Ben Jonson realised, more (person-shaped)...
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 - 11:02
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By Frances Willis, Acting Frederick Warne Curator of Children’s Literature. Since 1967, the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) has chosen Hans Christian Andersen’s birthday, 2 April to call attention to children’s books and to publicise and celebrate a love of reading worldwide. It seems therefore an apt time to consider the value for scholars and those who...