Valley of Vardan, Caucasus

William Simpson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

One of Britain’s most intrepid artist-travelers, Simpson was commissioned in 1854 by Colnaghi & Company to cover the Crimean War. Once on site, he sent drawings back to London in the army mail bag to be reproduced as lithographs. After the fall of Sevastopol in 1855, the artist joined a group led by Henry Pelham, 5th duke of Newcastle, and explored Caucasia, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Simpson’s inscriptions on this view of a strikingly steep river valley indicate that he began it on October 19, 1855, but did not finish until 1858, presumably once back in London. In addition to recording the distinctive geography, the artist included details of the local architecture and the dress of Islamic residents.

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