Showcase the art of engineering
The Brunel Museum needs your help to showcase the art of engineering - and bring the Thames Tunnel watercolours home, to the site of the engineering triumph they depict.
In 2017, we were fortunate enough to acquire the Thames Tunnel watercolours - a series of images, hand drawn and coloured by Marc Brunel, his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and their assistant engineers.
For the past five years, these amazing watercolours have been in storage. Buried in a family album for decades, these watercolours have never been on display before. They show how the idea of the Thames Tunnel didn’t just fall out of Marc’s head fully formed - but how he tested and redrafted his ideas on paper before any construction work began. They are striking artworks in their own right, full of humanity, showing that innovative technical drawings can also be beautiful. Often, we talk about technical and scientific and artistic expertise as if they’re unrelated - but the Brunels show the extraordinary strides that come from uniting these aspects.
And with your help, we’ll be able to bring these unique artworks out of the archives and display these incredible illustrations at the Brunel Museum in London.
We're raising £18,500 to commission a bespoke, safe, archive-quality case to allow us to display these delicate objects onsite at the Brunel Museum. It’ll make it possible for every visitor to our museum to see these beautiful works up close, and it will mean we can keep them protected for future generations to enjoy.
The Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe sits on the site of the Thames Tunnel, the first successful underwater tunnel anywhere in the world.
It was Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s very first engineering project, alongside his father Marc Brunel. But what most people don’t know is the surprising artistic skill, alongside the Brunels’ unparalleled technical expertise, that went into the Tunnel’s creation. Being able to display these watercolours on site will change that for ever.
Last year, we asked our audiences what improvements they'd most like to see us make. 82% told us they'd be excited to see us make improvements to our displays, and in post-visit surveys we also heard loud and clear that they'd love to see more of the original engineers' drawings. So we're delighted to be able to plan something that fulfils our visitors' needs so directly.
What's more, we're also working on a wider fundraising project via the generous support of the Heritage Lottery Fund. No matter what happens, if our Art Happens campaign is successful, we'll start the process of commissioning the bespoke display case. But we're also hoping that the case itself will be housed in a freshly refurbished and expanded museum, as part of our Brunel Museum Reinvented project.
Thank you for your support.
Latest updates (11)
September 2023
Your opportunity to see the Thames Tunnel watercolours up close!
We're ever so grateful to everyone who contributed to helping us bring the Thames Tunnel watercolours back to Rotherhithe to be displayed in the Brunel Museum for the very first time!
We're really excited to be starting work on the project to refurbish the Brunel Museum site soon, in order to create a brand new home for the watercolours.
In the meantime, we're excited to offer all our supporters the opportunity to see the watercolours themselves up close!
This Friday 6 October, we're running a special event at the London Metropolitan Archives to see the watercolours up close, before they go on public display.
Supporters can get 50% off tickets with code ARCHTALK50.
Hopefully see some of you there!
The Brunel Museum team.
January 2023
Join us at the Brunel Museum for updates about the Brunel Museum Reinvented Project
Brunel Museum Community Open Evening
Wednesday 15 March | 6pm to 8pm | Free
We’re delighted to welcome back members of the local community and supporters of the museum to hear about updates from the Brunel Museum Reinvented Project.
Book your free ticket here: Community Open Evening - The Brunel Museum - Art Tickets
With thanks to...
A big thank you to all project backers. You made art happen.