id: 147950 accession number: 1974.48 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.48 updated: 2024-06-08 12:26:42.898000 Street Life in London: A Convict's Home, 1876. John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921), published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington. Woodburytype; image: 9 x 11.5 cm (3 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.); matted: 30.6 x 35.6 cm (12 1/16 x 14 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund 1974.48 title: A Convict's Home title in original language: series: Street Life in London series in original language: creation date: 1876 creation date earliest: 1876 creation date latest: 1876 current location: creditline: Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund copyright: --- culture: England, 19th century technique: woodburytype department: Photography collection: PH - British 19th Century type: Photograph find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * John Thomson (Scottish, 1837–1921) - artist John Thomson British, b. Scotland, 1837-1921 John Thomson studied chemistry at the University of Edinburgh in his native city. While best known for his views of street life in London, Thomson spent his early photographic career in the Far East. Between 1863-73, based at a studio in Singapore, he photographed India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. He spent two years photographing China, an ambitious project for which he traveled more than 5,500 miles. Returning to England, Thomson used his experiences, and his 2,000 negatives, to write and publish Illustrations of China and Its People (1873-74), a monumental four-volume work containing 200 collotype illustrations with descriptive text. In 1877 he collaborated with journalist Adolph Smith to publish Street Life in London, one of the first books to combine text with photographic illustrations (36 Woodburytype plates of London's poor) to document sociological case histories. In 1886 Thomson was appointed instructor of photography to the Royal Geographic Society, where he was a Fellow until his death. He became official photographer to Queen Victoria in 1881 and in 1910 received the same appointment under King George V. T.W.F. * Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington - publisher --- measurements: Image: 9 x 11.5 cm (3 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.); Matted: 30.6 x 35.6 cm (12 1/16 x 14 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on recto: "300"; in red ink on recto: "A Convict's Home" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1974 opening date: 1975-03-11T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975). title: Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection opening date: 1997-11-16T00:00:00 Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1997-March 1, 1998). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * {'description': 'Cleveland, Ohio: The Cleveland Museum of Art; 11/16/97 - 3/1/98. "Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection."', 'opening_date': '1997-11-16T00:00:00'} --- PROVENANCE Robert Schoelkopf Gallery, New York, NY date: footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: May 21, 1974 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 358 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.48/1974.48_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.48/1974.48_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.48/1974.48_full.tif