Robert Adam and his brothers : new light on Britain's leading architectural family / edited by Colin Thom.

Format:

Book

Conference/Event

Contributor:

Thom, Colin, editor.

Conference Name:

Georgian Group (Symposium) (2015), creator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Adam, Robert, 1728-1792--Congresses.

Adam, Robert.

Adam, James, 1732-1794--Congresses.

Adam, James.

Adam, John (Architect)--Congresses.

Adam, John.

Architecture--Great Britain--History--18th century--Congresses.

Architecture.

Neoclassicism (Architecture)--Great Britain--Congresses.

Neoclassicism (Architecture).

Physical Description:

ix, 269 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Swindon : Historic England, 2019.

Summary:

"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 post-doctoral scholars"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: ‘‘Some promising young men’: Robert Adam and his brothers / Colin Thom

Johnnie, the eldest Adam Brother / Alistair Rowan

'Antique Mad': the Adams as dealers and their stock of Antiquities / Jonathan Yarker

Context and Attribution: Antonio Zucchi's Portrait of James Adam (1763) / Jerzy J. Kierkuc-Bielinski

'The true style of antique decoration': Agostino Brunias and the birth of the Adam style at Kedleston Hall and Syon House / Adriano Aymonino

Robert Adam's Scenographic Interiors / Miranda Hausberg

Design by Correspondence: Robert Adam and Headfort House / Conor Lucey

A 'Classical Goth': Robert Adam's engagement with medieval architecture / Peter N. Lindfield

The Ingenious Mr Adam / David King

The Adam Brothers and Portland Place: A reassessment / Colin Thom

Temporal sublime: Robert Adam's castle style and geology in the Scottish Enlightenment / Marrikka Trotter

'The Parent Style or the Original Sin': The Adam revival in America / Eileen Harris.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 252-256) and index.

Local Notes:

Athenaeum copy: Albert M. Greenfield Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9781848023598

1848023596

OCLC:

1088917250