Document Type
Article
Keywords
Robert Vernon, John Sheepshanks, Art--Collectors and collecting, Tate Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, England, 19th century, British art
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities
Abstract
Robert Vernon (1774–1849) and John Sheepshanks (1787–1863) were middle-class English tradesmen Who became major partrons of contemporary British art in the middle years of the nineteenth century. They both donated their substantial collections to the nation with the intention of forming a National Gallery of British Art. Yet today the collections are in two different museums; the Vernon collection can be found primarily in the Tate Gallery and the Sheepshanks collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum. In addition to edamining the ‘nationalistic’ commentary that accompanied the Vernon and Sheepshanks gifts, this article will discuss why these rival collections were dispersed to two different sites in London and why, as a result, a true ‘National Gallery of British Art’ was never formed in the nineteenth century as a results of these generous donations.
Publication Title
Journal of the History of Collections 12, no. 1 (2000)
Article Number
1001
Publication status
Published; SherpaRomeo status: Yellow
Publication Date
2000
Recommended Citation
Heleniak, Kathryn Moore. "Victorian collections and British nationalism: Vernon, Sheepshanks and the National Gallery of British Art." Journal of the History of Collections 12, no. 1 (2000): 91-107. https://doi.org/10.1093/jhc/12.1.91
