Victorian Visual Culture

Collage is a fantastic way to get a magnifying glass into Victorian culture, and to understand the potential individual interests of the average Victorian person through their creations. Because collage was such an accessible art form, and was directly connected to tangible reality through the usage of real photos, drawings, and text, we’re able to get a full view of what Victorian collage artists were reading, looking at, and imagining. What media was used within their collages revealed the media that was so available for use that they were even disposable–that is to say, what their equivalent for magazines and newspapers were. The scenes that were chosen to be depicted were scenes so intentionally created that they must reflect the internal thoughts of their creators. As a result, we as viewers of these collages get a view into these home-artists brains and their domestic lives. 

A wonderful example of this phenomenon lies within the works of Victorian women, who were the ones most commonly creating these collages as they were the one most often in the home. I find these pieces in particular to be the most interesting, as I find that within them, women seem to create their own space in a world where they have little chance to do so in reality. This becomes notable in different ways–there are common depictions of a living room with a warm fire, comfortable chairs, and plenty of people, which implies said woman’s ideal homespace which is populated, warm, and restful. This can become clear in other ways too, though, for example the multiple collages of babies within flowers. Although this points to simple maternity, and was potentially created simply because mothers found it to be cure, it also points to the desire for safe and peaceful children, particularly by mothers, and especially during a time where infant mortality rates were so high. These pieces of art create scenes of ideal conditions for the women who made them, a construction of a safe space by those who perhaps could not find them, or who felt unstable within them. Here, women were able to become the creators, the owners of the home they pasted together, rather than simple objects owned by their husbands, sons, and property.

This could be construed as sad–women were forced to paint their own scenes as a result of their lack of peace and security in their reality. However, I can also find it to be quite joyful and optimistic. It was possible that these collage-artists were fairly happy in their situations, likely because most of them were upper to middle class, and that they simply enjoyed daydreaming and working in a creative manner. Even in modern day, I enjoy doodling my ideal bedroom, and spend hours on pinterest scrolling to find the perfect colour palette for my imaginary apartment in London. It is likely that collages were the same for Victorian women my age–daydreaming and creativity, rather than pessimistic escapism and yearning. Regardless, these collages are endlessly fascinating to me, and I enjoy the way they humanize history in a way I can relate to so many years away.