Roger FentonBritish, 1819–1869Derwentwater
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Derwentwater” now? Collection: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Washington, D.C., United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1997.97.2
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- National Gallery of Art
- Image: National Gallery of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Roger Fenton
The whole life1861
The death of his son Anthony
In 1861 Anthony dies, the third of the three children Fenton loses in these years. All three are buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery, in a plot adjoining the grave of Christina Rossetti and Elizabeth Siddal.
1862
Abandoning photography for the law
In 1862 Fenton sells his equipment and abandons the profession entirely, returning to the practice of law as a barrister: his photographic career has lasted little more than a decade. He is almost forgotten by the time of his death seven years later.
1862
Photography is classed as a craft
The organising committee for the International Exhibition in London announces plans to place photography not with the fine arts, as at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition only five years earlier, but in the section reserved for machinery, tools and instruments — classing it as a craft for tradesmen. For Fenton and many of his colleagues this is conclusive proof of photography's diminished status, and the pioneers drift away.
![Ginevra de' Benci [obverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/8f29e3c9-a289-4d53-abf0-31a66e9e98fa/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
![Wreath of Laurel, Palm, and Juniper with a Scroll inscribed Virtutem Forma Decorat [reverse], Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1474/1478](https://api.nga.gov/iiif/ff62e8d0-45c4-498f-ad36-6358de827e04/full/!2400,2400/0/default.jpg)
