The Great Exhibition "Wot is to Be", Probable Results of The Industry of All Nations in The Year '51, Showing What is to be Exhibited, Who is To Exhibit, in Short How Its All Going to Be Done
Medium
Wood engraving
Dimensions
sheet: 5 1/16 x 9 5/16 in. (12.8 x 23.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1963
Accession Number
63.698.6(14)
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling anticipation of mid-19th-century London with *The Great Exhibition "Wot to Be"*, a witty 1850 wood engraving by George Augustus Sala, attributed alongside the fictional "Committee of the Society for Keeping Things Their Places." Created just a year before the historic Great Exhibition of 185—the world's first international fair held in the glittering Crystal Palace print satirizes the feverish hype surrounding the event. Organized by Prince Albert, the exhibition promised to showcase the "industry of all nations," but Sala's exaggerated vision pokes fun at the chaos of p...
About the Artist
George Augustus Sala|Committee of the Society for Keeping Things in Their Places (British|British) · 1828 |1840 –1895 |1860
British, London 1828–1895 Hove|London