The Great Exhibition "Wot is to Be", Probable Results of The Industry of All Nations in The Year '51, Showing What is to be Exhibited, Who is To Exhibit, in Short How Its All Going to Be Done

Art Historical Context

Step into the whimsical world of 19th-century satire with *The Great Exhibition "Wot to Be"*, a wood engraving created in 1850 by George Sala, in collaboration with the fictional "Committee of the Society for Things in Their Places." compact print, measuring just 5 1/16 x 9 5/16 inches, captures the buzz surrounding London's Great Exhibition of 1851 world's first industrial fair, held in the revolutionary Crystal Palace. Sala, a prolific journalist and illustrator, skewers the era's industrial optimism with a playful title that promises to reveal "wot is to be" exhibited by all nations. The artwork's humorous vision blends men and dragons in a fantastical tableau, likely exaggerating the "probable results" of global industry into absurd, mythical proportions. Wood engraving, a precise technique using end-grain wood blocks for fine lines and mass reproduction, was ideal for satirical broadsheets and periodicals, making such commentary accessible to the public. Produced on the eve of the Exhibition—which drew over six million visitors and symbolized Britain's industrial might—this print reflects Victorian anxieties and excitement about progress. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1963), it reminds us how art poked fun at grand ambitions, inviting us to chuckle at humanity's bold dreams.

About the Artist

George Augustus Sala|Committee of the Society for Keeping Things in Their Places (British|British) · 1828 |1840 –1895 |1860

British, London 1828–1895 Hove|London