Watercolours

What is a watercolour?

Watercolour paint is made by mixing pigments with a binder, usually gum arabic, and then applying it with water to …

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Watercolours of the Great Exhibition

These eleven watercolourswere made just before the Great Exhibition opened and are part of a larger group of images…

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Night scenes from the V&A's watercolour collection

Dreams and nightmares, lovers' trysts and erotic encounters, the supernatural and the magical, the Romantic landsca…

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Watercolour painting: materials & techniques

Watercolour paint is a combination of a pigment and a water-soluble binder, usually gum arabic. The pigments may be…

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Three watercolours from the ‘Paper Museum’ of Cassiano dal Pozzo

Three watercolours from the ‘Paper Museum’ of Cassiano dal Pozzo.

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'Recording Britain' collection at the V&A

Recording Britain was the brainchild of Sir Kenneth Clark, who saw it as an extension of the Official War Artist sc…

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British watercolours 1750-1900: the watercolour societies of the 19th century

The establishment of exhibition societies was one of the great innovations in artistic life in 18th-century Britain…

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Victorian sentimental prints, drawings & watercolours

Scenes of tender feeling were popular during the Victorian period. They became associated with the home as they wer…

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Master drawings, watercolours and prints from the Ionides Bequest

Constantine Alexander Ionides (1833–1900) was an intimate of fashionable artistic circles in London and an enthusia…

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14 April – 21 October 2012. The ‘Recording Britain’ collection of watercolours and drawings gives a fascinating account of the country in the early years of the Second World War when lives, landscapes and precious buildings were under threat , not only from bombs but also from the effects of ‘progress’ and development

Indian Life and Landscape - taking a travelling exhbition of paintings to India

The V& A has a renowned collection of Indian pictorial art; less well known are the substantial number of watercolours by British artists who visited India and faithfully recorded the landscape and the peoples they encountered.

Portrait miniatures: Common susceptibilities

Eighteenth and nineteenth century miniatures are usually painted in watercolour on ivory. Ivory is susceptible to changes in humidity and can warp or crack when restrained in a tightly fitting locket.

Obituary of Carl Winter

Carl Winter (1906–66) was an art historian who specialised in the study of English watercolours and portrait miniatures. He joined the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1931 as Assistant Keeper in the Departments of Engraving, Illustration and Design, and of Paintings, becoming Deputy Keeper in 1945.