Westminster Bridge, the Surrey side

Westminster Bridge, the Surrey side

Samuel Scott

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Scott specialized in marines and views of the Thames, and this panoramic wash drawing offers fascinating insights into his working process. Executed on several joined sheets of paper, it approximates the scale of many of the artist's paintings and depicts London's Westminster Bridge shortly before its November 1750 opening. Scott drew and painted the bridge from many vantage points during its eleven-year construction and kept the drawings for reference. To make the present work he positioned himself near the Southwark bank, looking upriver. Carefully observed details were combined with subtle washes applied to record light and shade. A ramshackle timber yard at left was one of many along the river. Busy ferrymen in the foreground use a new landing beyond the bridge, but will lose much of their trade once the span opens.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Westminster Bridge, the Surrey sideWestminster Bridge, the Surrey sideWestminster Bridge, the Surrey sideWestminster Bridge, the Surrey sideWestminster Bridge, the Surrey side

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.