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Copyright © 2008-2011 Hargrave Fine Art, Geddington, Northants

The Painting

A watercolour measuring 6½" x 9½".

Monogrammed ‘G.L.B.’ and dated 1850.

The Subject

The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park. This famous glass building was erected in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851 – the world’s first international exhibition. Joseph Paxton’s initial design for the building appeared in the Illustrated London News on 6 July 1850. It was subsequently revised to incorporate a barrel-vaulted transept, a brilliant solution to the problem of housing the elms growing in the park. The semi-circular shape of the transept captured the public imagination and became one of the enduring symbols of the Victorian age.

This watercolour of a view from the north-east is based on Paxton’s revised plans of October 1850, on the basis of which the building was constructed. The revised design was published in Punch on 2 November 1850, when the building was christened ‘the Crystal Palace’.

British School

The Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London