Robert Adam Artist And Architect

Excerpt from Robert Adam, Artist and Architect: His Works and His System It will be seen from the list of societies to whom I retailed my Adam story, that I went pretty far afield, and brought the subject before a fairly representative audience. These were The Society of Arts-who gave me the silver medal for my performance - The Society for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts; The London Society of Architects; The Architectural Societies of, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Glasgow, Newcastle, Carlisle, Birmingham, Dublin, Hull, York, Bath, Sheffield. These visits were exceedingly interesting. I was always cordially received, and I could see that the hearers were much interested in a subject to which hitherto but little attention had been paid. It was a difficult and even awkward situation to be speaking in presence of experts. I found the best way was to say out plainly what I thought on the matter, and say it boldly, without showing hesitation, or the fear of falling into mistakes or of displaying one's ignorance. My preservation was an unaffected enthusiasm for Adam and all his work, with a native instinct for what was artistic. At these lectures of mine, sometimes the attendance was large, at other times rather moderate; but the students were always attracted; I calculate that on the whole I must have brought the subject within the knowledge of some thousands, and many of these must have worked on, or have been led to take up the matter, to apply it and study it seriously. Nor was I slack in the direction of writing. From the earliest days, old buildings having grace and beauty had always' the most extraordinary attraction for me. I am ashamed to say none of the boasted scenes of nature - the mountains, lakes and plains - appealed to me in the way that a small ancient town did. In a building - particularly of the renaissance type - there seemed to be something more living and suggestive. A well-designed building was company - it seemed to speak. I had a particular delight in the renaissance buildings, on account, I believe, of the sincerity and unobtrusiveness of their ornamentation, with a sort of general delicacy of treat ment. The old classical or Greek elements seemed to me to be a little obtrusive and coarse, also a little uninteresting. The cornices and pediments stood out and claimed attention noisily. To see a picture even of one of these palaces affects one, their ornamentation is so telling, and yet so retiring. Adam's work always offered much of this charm and feeling, its detail invariably interested and attracted the eye, or set the mind in motion. There was always some striking or graceful little arrangement that repaid inspection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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One of the most celebrated books in architectural history, this volume consists of 106 illustrated plates that influenced generations of British and American architectural and furniture designs.

Robert Adam is perhaps the best known of all British architects, the only one whose name denotes both a style and an era. The new decorative language he introduced at Kedleston and Syon around 1760 put him at the forefront of dynamic changes taking place in 18th-century British architecture. His later claim that his practice with his brother James had effected 'a kind of revolution' in design was no idle boast. Their style dominated the later Georgian period and their influence was widespread, not only in Western Europe but in Russia and North America. But for such a well-known figure, much of Robert Adam's art still remains poorly understood. This new study, based on papers given at a Georgian Group symposium in 2015, looks afresh at many aspects of the Adam brothers' oeuvre, such as interior planning, their use of colour, the influence of classical sources, their involvement in the art market, town planning and building speculation, and Robert Adam's late picturesque drawings and castle designs - all within the context of the Adam family background and their personal and working relationships. The Scottish architecture of Robert and James's older brother, John, is also assessed. There are essays by established Adam experts as well as contributions from a younger generation of historians and postdoctoral scholars, one of the book's aims being to stimulate further research on the Adams' contribution to British architecture, art and design.

"This book, a visual survey of much of Adam's work, provides ample material for a critical appraisal of the development of Adam as architect and designer."--Book jacket.

A dandelion in the garden of an autocratic rose-fancier triumphs over the threat of extinction.