Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects.[3] It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
"V&A" redirects here. For the Canadian television show, see Video & Arcade Top 10.
Former name
Museum of Manufactures, South Kensington Museum
1852
2,278,183 items in 145 galleries
3,110,000 (2023)[1]
Non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
The V&A is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in an area 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, the Royal Albert Hall and Imperial College London. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. As with other national British museums, entrance is free.
The V&A covers 12.5 acres (5.1 ha)[4] and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient history to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. However, the art of antiquity in most areas is not collected. The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
The museum owns the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world.
Since 2001 the museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation programme. The new European galleries for the 17th century and the 18th century were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815.[5][6] The Young V&A in east London is a branch of the museum, and a new branch in London – V&A East – is being planned.[7] The first V&A museum outside London, V&A Dundee opened on 15 September 2018.[8]
North side of Garden, by Captain Francis Fowke, Royal Engineers, 1864–1869
Western Cast Court, by Henry Young Darracott Scott, 1870–1873
The Art Library, by Scott and other designers, 1877–1883
Main Entrance, by Aston Webb, 1899–1909
Bodhisattva Maitreya, Gandhara, Pakistan, Kusana Dynasty, 2nd-4th century AD
10th-century, Rock crystal ewer
Japanese Incense Burner, Signed 'Dai Nippon, Koko Sei', Patinated bronze inlaid with gilt bronze and other soft metal alloys c. 1877
Betel container, 19th century, Filigree work in gold on a gold ground, outlined with bands of rubies and imitation emeralds, Mandalay, Burma
Departments[edit]
Education[edit]
The education department[173] has wide-ranging responsibilities. It provides information for the casual visitor as well as for school groups, including integrating learning in the museum with the National Curriculum; it provides research facilities for students at degree level and beyond, with information and access to the collections. It also oversees the content of the museum's website in addition to publishing books and papers on the collections, research and other aspects of the museum.
Several areas of the collection have dedicated study rooms, these allow access to items in the collection that are not currently on display, but in some cases require an appointment to be made.[174]
The new Sackler education suite, occupying the two lower floors of the Henry Cole Wing opened in September 2008. This includes lecture rooms and areas for use by schools, which will be available during school holidays for use by families, and will enable direct handling of items from the collection.
The V&A has large galleries devoted to temporary exhibitions. A typical year will see more than a dozen different exhibitions being staged, covering all areas of the collections. Notable exhibitions of recent years have been:
The V&A came second in London's top paid exhibitions in 2015 with the record-breaking Alexander McQueen show (3,472 a day).[196]
Controversies[edit]
In November 2019 the art photographer Nan Goldin led a "die-in" in the Sackler courtyard entrance of the museum, in protest against the V&A's acceptance of donations from the Sackler family, which owned Purdue Pharma, makers of the addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin.[197] The museum's director, Tristram Hunt, defended the museum's relationship with the Sacklers, saying it was proud to have received support from the family over a number of years.[198]
Also in 2019 the V&A received sponsorship for an exhibition on cars from Bosch, which had been fined 90 million euro over its part in the diesel emissions scandal. A V&A spokeswoman said: "Bosch is at the forefront of innovation, with a focus on delivering sustainable solutions for the mobility of the future."[199]
Extinction Rebellion staged a dirty protest outside the V&A Dundee, in protest against Barclays Bank's sponsorship of the museum's Mary Quant exhibition.[200]
In 2021 plans to cut the museum's costs by reorganising its collections by date rather than by material were abandoned after critics said it would lead to staff cuts and thereby a loss of expertise.[201]