Charles Thurston Thompson

Venetian mirror c. 1700, by Charles Thurston Thompson.

Charles Thurston Thompson (1816–1868) was an early British photographer.

Thompson is credited with having taken the first ever photograph of a photographic exhibition, in his capacity as the official photographer of the South Kensington Museum, now known as the Victoria and Albert Museum,[1] appointed to the role in 1856.[2] In 1858, he photographed the Raphael Cartoons of the Royal Collection, which in 1865 were moved from Hampton Court to be exhibited at the museum, where they remain in a special gallery.[3][4]

Thompson went on a tour of Spain and Portugal in 1866 to photograph works of art and architecture. He died in Paris, France, in 1868.[2]

His work is included in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum,[1][5] the Museum of Modern Art, New York,[6] the Getty Museum,[7] the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC,[8] and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "1858 Exhibition of the Photographic Society of London". www.vam.ac.uk. 12 April 2011.
  2. ^ a b "Photograph | Artist/Maker | Charles Thurston Thompson". V&A – Collections. 12 October 1860.
  3. ^ Lambert, Susan (1987). The Image Multiplied; Five centuries of printed reproductions of paintings and drawings. London: Trefoil Publications. ISBN 0-86294-096-6, p. 112.
  4. ^ "V&A · The story of the Raphael Cartoons". Victoria and Albert Museum.
  5. ^ Victoria and Albert Museum (12 October 2023). "Exhibition of the Photographic Society of London and the Societe Francaise de Photographie at the South Kensington Museum | Thompson, Charles Thurston | V&A Explore The Collections". Victoria and Albert Museum.
  6. ^ "Charles Thurston Thompson | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art.
  7. ^ "The West Front of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain (Getty Museum)". Getty Museum Collection.
  8. ^ "Charles Thurston Thompson". www.nga.gov. National Gallery of Art.
  9. ^ "Charles Thurston Thompson: French Machinery". www.metmuseum.org. The Met.


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