The Victoria And Albert Museum: The Making Of The Collection
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Few institutions in the world embody the ambition and aesthetic vision of Victorian Britain quite like the Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Victoria and Albert Museum: The Making of the Collection chronicles the remarkable story of how one of the world's greatest decorative arts repositories came to be. Anna Somers Cocks traces the museum's origins from the aftermath of the Great Exhibition of 1851, detailing how Prince Albert's grand vision for a museum of applied arts gradually took shape through decades of acquisition, philanthropy, and curatorial ingenuity. The narrative presents a vivid portrait of the collectors, curators, and controversies that shaped the institution's extraordinary holdings — from Renaissance masterworks to Mughal treasures, from medieval textiles to modernist design. Somers Cocks writes with the authority of a seasoned art historian, illuminating the political and cultural forces that drove Victorian Britain's hunger for objects of beauty and craftsmanship from around the globe. Her account is as much a social history as an institutional one, arguing that the V&A's collection reflects the complex power dynamics of empire, trade, and taste. Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, this volume is an indispensable companion for anyone seeking to understand not just a museum, but an entire era — leaving the reader to wonder how many more untold stories still lie behind the V&A's celebrated walls.
Author: Anna Somers Cocks
Format: Hardback
Genre: History of arts
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Chipped and worn with some minor damage
Pages: Tanning and foxing
Few institutions in the world embody the ambition and aesthetic vision of Victorian Britain quite like the Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Victoria and Albert Museum: The Making of the Collection chronicles the remarkable story of how one of the world's greatest decorative arts repositories came to be. Anna Somers Cocks traces the museum's origins from the aftermath of the Great Exhibition of 1851, detailing how Prince Albert's grand vision for a museum of applied arts gradually took shape through decades of acquisition, philanthropy, and curatorial ingenuity. The narrative presents a vivid portrait of the collectors, curators, and controversies that shaped the institution's extraordinary holdings — from Renaissance masterworks to Mughal treasures, from medieval textiles to modernist design. Somers Cocks writes with the authority of a seasoned art historian, illuminating the political and cultural forces that drove Victorian Britain's hunger for objects of beauty and craftsmanship from around the globe. Her account is as much a social history as an institutional one, arguing that the V&A's collection reflects the complex power dynamics of empire, trade, and taste. Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, this volume is an indispensable companion for anyone seeking to understand not just a museum, but an entire era — leaving the reader to wonder how many more untold stories still lie behind the V&A's celebrated walls.