Eastward Ho! August 1857, from "Illustrated London News"

William Luson Thomas

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Published in the "Illustrated London News," this wood engraving shows British soldiers bidding farewell to family, sweethearts and friends as their ship departs for Calcutta—headed towards the Indian "Mutiny" (or Indian First War of Independence, 1857–59). Thomas's wood engraving reproduces an 1858 painting (now at Elton Hall) that propelled O'Neil to public prominence--after being shown at the Royal Academy in 1858, the work toured Britain and was seen by over half a million people. The interwoven bodies and linked hands suggest a range of relationships and anticipate the pending separation as visitors move down the steep steps.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art