The General Exhibition of Pictures of 1851: National Schools and International Trade in the Mid-Victorian Art Market

This article examines a little-known but important moment in the history of the London art market and exhibition scene, namely, the organization of the General Exhibition of Pictures by the Living Artists of the Schools of All Countries, which was set up in London by Ossian Verdeau and Henry Mogford in 1851, concurrently with the Great Exhibition. It argues that the General Exhibition was not only the first universal art exhibition, but also constituted a major step towards the development of the London art district as a vast universal exhibition in its own right, featuring art from all countries and based on a logic of ‘national branding’ and cosmopolitanism.