Photograph of an Art Loan Exhibition at the Guildhall, Winchester
Taken in 1875
In the summer of 1875 an ambitious art exhibition was mounted at Winchester Guildhall, work being lent by members of the Hampshire aristocracy, the Bishop of Winchester, the Headmaster of Winchester College and many other individuals as well as London's South Kensington Museum. Exhibits included oil paintings (with works by Van Dyck, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Watteau and Romney), watercolours, engravings, bronzes, china and jewellery.
According to the catalogue, in the Sessions Hall (seen here) was exhibited a series of watercolour paintings illustrative of the rise and progress of the art in England from 1710.
The Victorian Guildhall had been completed two years earlier, and housed the Magistrates' Court in the Sessions Hall.
The photograph was taken by Winchester photographer William Savage (1817-87) and is found in an album entitled 'Winchester Views of Modern Buildings'.
