Biography
The National Maritime Museum (NMM) and the Queen's House are part of Royal Museums Greenwich network located in Greenwich, in a designated a world heritage site, near the Thames in London. The NMM was formally opened in 1937 by King George VI having been created by its own Act of Parliament with donations from Sir James Caird (1864-1954). It holds items from 17th century Dutch and British painted seascapes and naval portraits to items such as maps, manuscripts including official public records, ship models and plans, scientific and navigational instruments and instruments for time-keeping and astronomy (based at the Observatory).
The museum aims to achieve a greater understanding of British economic, cultural, social, political and maritime history and its consequences in the world today and it plays host to various exhibitions. NMM has been a member of the Contemporary Art Society since 2015 who helped the museum to acquire the gelatin silverprint: Moonrise Over the End of the World-Furthest West-The Mid North Atlantic Ocean-Faro Orchillo, Punta Orchillo. The Isle of El Hierro, The Canary Islands, Spain, The West-most point of the Canary Islands, and, the original site of the 0º Meridian Longitude (2002) by Thomas Cooper, the renowned fine art photographer and Head of the Photography department at Glasgow School of Art, which he founded in 1982. The tapestry Feeling Blue was commissioned by RMG from Alberta Whittle and woven by Naomi Robertson at Dovecoat Studios, Edinburgh in 2023 and the acquisition was supported by the CAS in 2024.
