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Victoria and Albert Museum,Source: wikipedia.org The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. Founded in 1852 as the South Kensington Museum, the V&A has since grown to now cover some 12.5 acres[2] and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, alongside the Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is amongst the largest in the world.
Alongside other neighbouring institutions, including the Natural History Museum and Science Museum, the V&A is located in what is termed London's "Albertopolis", an area of immense cultural, scientific and educational importance. Since 2001, the Museum has embarked on a major £150m renovation program[3] which has seen a major overhaul of the departments including the introduction of newer galleries, gardens, shops and visitor facilities. Following in similar vein to other national UK museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001.

image source:wikipedia.org Established 1852
Location Cromwell Gardens, South Kensington, London
Collection size 4.6 million objects Museum area 12.5 acres / 145 galleries Visitor figures 2,400,000 (2006) [1] Director Mark Jones Nearest tube station(s) South Kensington Foundation The V&A has its origins in The Great Exhibition of 1851, with which Henry Cole the museum's first director was involved in planning; initially it was known as The Museum of Manufactures, first opening in May 1852 at Marlborough House, but by September had been transferred to Somerset House. At this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection.[6] By February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site[7] and it was renamed as the South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive.
The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the museum being the first in the world to provide such a facility.The official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting. This was to enable in the words of Cole "to ascertain practically what hours are most convenient to the working classes" — this was linked to the use of the collections of both applied art and science as educational resources to help boost productive industry. In these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of "High Art" at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum. This led to the transfer to the museum of The School of Design that had been founded in 1837 at Somerset House, after the transfer it was referred to as the Art School or Art Training School, later to become the Royal College of Art which finally achieved full independence in 1949. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the main museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road.[14] In 1893 the "Science Museum" had effectively come into existence when a separate director was appointed.
The laying of the foundation stone to the left of the main entrance of the Aston Webb building, on 17 May 1899[16] was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria and Albert Museum was made public.
The exhibition which the Museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, "A Grand Design," first toured in North America from 1997 (Baltimore Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), returning to London in 1999. To accompany and support the exhibition, the Museum published a book, Grand Design, which it has made available for reading online on its website. 1900–1950 Victoria and Albert Museum — Front ElevationThe opening ceremony for the Aston Webb building by King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra took place on 26 June 1909.[19] In 1914 the construction commenced of the Science Museum signalling the final split of the science and art collections,[20] since then the museum has maintained its role of one of the world's greatest decorative arts collections. At the outbreak of World War II most of the collection was packed away and sent either to an underground quarry in Wiltshire, Montacute House in Somerset, or to a disused tunnel near Aldwych tube station with larger items remaining in situ being sand bagged and bricked in.[21] During the war some of the galleries were used between 1941 and 1944 as a school for children evacuated from Gibraltar.[22] The South Court became a canteen, first for the Royal Air Force and later for Bomb Damage Repair Squads.[23] Prior to the return of the collections after the war, the "Britain Can Make It" exhibition was held between September and November 1946,[24] attracting nearly a million and a half visitors.[25] This was organised and held under the auspices of the Council of Industrial Design which had been established by central government in 1944 "to promote by all practicable means the improvement of design in the products of British industry";[26] the success of this exhibition led to the planning of the Festival of Britain. By 1948 most of the collections had been returned to the museum.