Ocean Liners at the V&A Museum explores the history of transatlantic seafaring design
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Welcome to a huge, overbearing concoction of glittering surfaces, richly embellished craft and careful attention to everything from the biggest object right down to the tiniest detail. This is the V&A’s new blockbuster, ‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’, a suitably grand evocation of the golden age of one of history’s most venerated forms of transport.
‘Ocean Liners’ taps into many of our contemporary fascinations and obsessions, including glamour, nationalism, class, art, design, sex and death. The liner represented the apogee of the first industrial age, a floating city of unparalleled sophistication built on the raw power of shipbuilding and steam. The very best artists, designers, architects, craftspeople and stylists were employed to shape these vessels, pouring themselves into every last conceivable detail, from curtains to cutlery, while the industrial might of nations ground out the iron, steel and millions of rivets that shaped each boat.
Model of a quadruple expansion tandem engine, designed by Walter Brock and made by David Carlaw, for William Denny Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland, 1887. © CSG CIC Glasgow Museums
The V&A’s new show, curated by Ghislaine Wood and Daniel Finamore, tracks the origins of the transatlantic crossing from the early days of mail ships and mass immigration, when the cargo and the destination mattered far, far more than the cramped, uncomfortable journey. But as the moneyed, leisured upper classes started to spread their wings, the ocean liner came into its own, a grand hotel at sea offering glamorous social interaction and company, entertainment and dining of the very highest quality. Class mattered more at sea than on land, and different levels of social status were conveyed unambiguously through design.
Governments started to see their liner fleets as floating embassies for national identity and strength, and the Blue Riband – awarded to the fastest Atlantic crossing – changed hands several times in the 1920s and 30s. There were other factors at play; the big liners had an essential role in carrying troops and equipment during the war, so it made sense for governments to bankroll their construction in times of peace. The boats provided the capacity, but the shipping companies – Cunard, White Star, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, United States Lines and so on – provided the glitz, as liners evolved from the cluttered Edwardian splendour seen in White Star’s Titanic and Olympic to the sleek, populist modernity of the art deco era.
Detail of ‘Riveters’ from the series ‘Shipbuilding on the Clyde’, by Stanley Spencer, United Kingdom, 1941.
The exhibition emphasises the theatrical, from the room-sets containing reclaimed artwork and furniture to the large-scale recreation of a grand salon, all mannequins and mirrors and wall-to-wall projections of the Atlantic horizon. The ocean liner inspired some of the most evocative and beautiful posters ever printed, but the total design approach extended to all areas, from menu cards to the corporate architecture of their head offices. The most splendid era of all – the late 1920s and 30s – was of course curtailed by war, and the sheer scale of the waste is still staggering; the Normandie, perhaps the ultimate art deco object, only sailed for four years from 1935–39, before catching fire and sinking as it was being converted to a troop carrier.
Titanic in dry dock, c.1911.
The post-war era was more populist, and the strict social stratification of the ocean liner started to become a little more relaxed. Names like Marion Dorn, Edward Ardizzone, the Cassons, Edward Bawden, Gio Ponti, David Hicks, Ernest Race, Robert Heritage and more, turned their hand to the interiors of the new-era liners, fighting an unwinnable war against commercial aviation. The exhibition captures these dying days of unassailable style, and the 250 objects take the visitor on an intriguing and bittersweet voyage, the extremes of which will probably never be seen again. Cruise ships are still a thing, of course (the exhibition is sponsored by culture specialist Viking Cruises), but the scale and drama of the big ocean liner remains a potent symbol of our vision of luxury travel.
Left, Paquebot ‘Paris’, by Charles Demuth, United States, 1921–22. © Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio. Right, Empress of Britain colour lithograph poster for Canadian Pacific Railways, by JR Tooby, Canada (possibly), 1920–31.
Silk georgette and glass beaded ‘Salambo’
dress, Jeanne Lanvin, Paris, 1925. Previously owned by Miss Emilie Grigsby. Donated by Lord Southborough.
Left, luggage previously belonging to the Duke of Windsor, Maison Goyard, 1940s. Right, children’s chair from the first class playroom on Normandie, by Marc Simon and Jacqueline Dutch, France, 1934. California
Left, painted earthenware tile panel for the saloon on Sutlej, by William de Morgan, United Kingdom, c.1882.© Victoria and Albert Museum. Right, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and the launching chains of the Great Eastern, by Robert Howlett, United Kingdom, 1857.
Panel from The Rape of Europa for the first-class grand salon on Normandie, by Jean Dupas, made for Jacques-Charles Champigneulle, France, 1934. California
Wooden wall panel from the Beauvais deluxe suite on Île-de-France, by Marc Simon, France, 1927.
INFORMATION
‘Ocean Liners: Speed and Style’ is on view until 17 June. For more information, visit the V&A Museum website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
Victoria & Albert Museum
Cromwell Road
London
SW7 2RL
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.
-
Lucas Ossendrijver continues his fashion return with Theory collection inspired by New Yorkers
Lucas Ossendrijver looks to the brand’s home city of New York for his second ‘Theory Project’ collection (released 31 March 2023) melding function and elegance in his signature style
By Jack Moss • Published
-
Bosco Sodi’s monumental new Mexico City studio is a multifunctional feat
As Bosco Sodi unveils his new Studio CMDX in Atlampa, Mexico City, we speak to the artist about how the vast Alberto Kalach-designed former warehouse is a feat in multitasking
By Juliana Piskorz • Published
-
Saltviga House is an architectural celebration of leftovers
Saltviga House by Kolman Boye Architects ingeniously uses offcuts from Dinesen planks to create a timber retreat on the south coast of Norway
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Will this UK company secure the future of classic cars?
Everrati, a specialist UK engineering firm hailing from the rolling hills of the Cotswolds in the UK, thinks it holds the key to classic car electrification
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated
-
NAIC's architectural facility in England’s car-making heartland
Designed by Cullinan Studio, the centre sits at the entrance to the University of Warwick campus
By Guy Bird • Last updated
-
Striking footbridge reconnects Tintagel Castle to the Cornish cliffs
Separated over 500 years ago by a dramatic gorge, Tintagel Castle has been reconnected to the mainland with a red steel footbridge. Paved with slate and quartzite tiles, it slices through the Cornish coastal landscape, unexpectedly – yet successfully – connecting history and legend to the present
By Giovanna Dunmall • Last updated
-
Brutalist icon Preston Bus Station gets facelift by John Puttick Associates
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
The fastest electric bike on earth is a tech toy for thrill-seekers
By Simon Mills • Last updated
-
The Volvo Cross Country V90 puts driver engagement front and centre
By Rory FH Smith • Last updated
-
Dynamic and practical? The Porsche Macan GTS deals with both hands
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated
-
Tough on the outside and tenderly designed on the inside, meet the Range Rover Velar
By Jonathan Bell • Last updated