Search Results

(b Holywood, County Down, Ireland, Jan 26, 1922).

Australian painter, printmaker, book designer, lecturer, collector, gallery director and publisher of limited edition artists’ books, of Irish decent. He worked as a draughtsman before entering war service in the British Admiralty from 1940 to 1949, including five years in Colombo, where he made sketching trips to jungle temples with the Buddhist monk and artist Manjsiro Thero. Between 1949 and 1951 Adams worked as an exhibition designer in London and studied wood-engraving with Gertrude Hermes in her evening class at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central St Martin’s College of Art and Design). In 1951, after moving to Melbourne, Adams began a 30-year teaching commitment at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), where he instructed many of the younger generation of Australian printmakers, including George Baldessin and Jan Senbergs. A brief return to Britain and Ireland in 1957–8 provided experience with Dolmen Press, Dublin, which published his first book of engravings, ...

(b New York, Feb 7, 1875; d Monaco, Jan 19, 1968).

British mining consultant and collector of American birth. He was educated at the Columbia School of Mines and at Princeton University; by the age of 28 he was the consulting engineer and assistant general manager of the Guggenheim Exploration Company. In 1913, two years after the death of his first wife, he settled in London and became established as a mining consultant. He married Edith Dunn and bought Baroda House in Kensington Palace Gardens. With one of his associates, Herbert Hoover, later President of the USA (1929–33), he reorganized the Kyshtin mine in the Urals. The Selection Trust Ltd, which he established in 1914 to develop and finance profitable mines throughout the world, made great headway after World War I, and he remained its chairman until 1960. He was naturalized as a British citizen in 1933. In his youth he began collecting a range of items, including Western manuscripts and Chinese snuff bottles, but his main passion was collecting Islamic manuscripts and paintings, early Bibles and rare books, Impressionist paintings, French and Russian gold snuffboxes, 18th-century watches, clocks, and stamps. His interest in the Islamic arts of the book, particularly manuscripts of the Koran, was stimulated by frequent visits to Cairo, where he wintered between the wars. Although he had no knowledge of Arabic, Persian, or Turkish, he was keen to give scholars access to his collection and loaned manuscripts to many exhibitions. In ...

(b London, Nov 14, 1948).

English prince, writer, patron and watercolourist. In the 1980s he became especially interested in the problems of the inner city and the built environment, and out of this came his support for ‘community architecture’, a concept pioneered by Rod(erick Peter) Hackney, in which the social, rather than aesthetic, value of architecture is emphasized. The Prince’s influence was clearly demonstrated when the RIBA subsequently adopted ‘community architecture’ as an official programme. He showed his awareness of environmental issues in a speech marking the 150th anniversary of the RIBA, given at Hampton Court, London, in May 1984. It was not the expected mild encouragement of socially orientated measures but virtually an indictment of the architectural and planning professions as despoilers of the environment, and his comments, notably the description of a proposed extension by Ahrends, Burton & Koralek to the National Gallery, London, as a ‘monstrous carbuncle’, generated much controversy. His argument was put forward in a television documentary, an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and a book published in ...

(b Kingston, Ont., Jan 27, 1871; d New York, Aug 10, 1949).

Canadian engineer, businessman and collector. His interest in Canadian colonial history prompted him to begin collecting Canadiana in the 1920s. He amassed some 500 paintings, watercolours and drawings and nearly 2000 prints. The most intriguing works in the collection are six watercolours (Ottawa, N. Archv) by Robert Hood (c.1797–1821), recording his journey as a midshipman on an Arctic expedition (1819–21). Other artists represented in the collection include George Heriot, James Pattison Cockburn (1778–1847) and James Duncan (1806–81). Although Coverdale assembled these works, they were the property of the Canada Steamships Line, of which he was president and director (1922–49). The collection was displayed at the Manoir Richelieu, a grand summer hotel at Murray Bay (now Pointe-au-Pic), Quebec, owned by the Canada Steamships Line. Coverdale supervised the hanging of the collection, which remained there until the hotel was sold in ...

(b Nassau, May 20, 1846; d Brookline, MA, Sept 22, 1926).

American engineer, patron and collector. He was educated in Providence, RI, in Paris and at the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. He studied engineering and in 1873 became superintendent of the western division of the Boston waterworks, where he was instrumental in bringing about the sanitation of the water supply.

FitzGerald had studied sculpture in Paris as a young boy, and his love of art manifested itself in the creation of a collection of contemporary works by American, Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, and in particular, French artists. He was an early friend of Claude Monet and owned numerous works by him, including Mme Monet and Child (1875), Fishing Boats at Etretat, Hills of Vétheuil on the Seine (1880) and Sunset on the Seine: Winter Effect (1880). Other Impressionist artists whose works appeared in his collection included Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley. FitzGerald was an admirer and friend of the American painter ...

Place where works of art are displayed. In a commercial gallery, works of art are displayed for the purposes of sale (for information on non-commercial art galleries see Display of art and Museum, §I). Historically, artworks were commissioned by patrons directly from an artist and produced in his workshop. In the Netherlands, the economic boom following the conclusion of the Eighty Years’ War with Spain (1648) led to rising demand for art. Patrons began buying from dealers, some of whom produced illustrated catalogues. Antwerp became the centre of the art world. Galleries for the display and viewing of art appeared in paintings by Teniers family, §2 and Bruegel family, §3, although these were private not commercial spaces, or imaginary constructions.

The Paris Salon, which had been organized by the Académie Royale de Peinture et Sculpture since 1667, was opened to the public for the first time in ...

(b Vienna, May 12, 1839; d Baden-Baden, Dec 19, 1909).

Austrian architect, engineer, architectural historian and writer. He studied engineering in Paris and in 1860 entered the Bauakademie, Berlin, where he was a pupil of Friedrich Adler. He made two study trips to Italy in his youth. He devoted himself mainly to historical research, renouncing his practical activities as an architect. Many of his numerous studies are still invaluable reference works for scholars of French and German architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries. Geymueller was profoundly influenced by the Swiss art historian Jacob Burckhardt. His Les Projets primitifs pour la basilique de Saint-Pierre de Rome (1875) was based on the discovery and study of previously unpublished drawings by Bramante and Raphael for St Peter’s in Rome. He collaborated with Karl Martin von Stegmann in writing, and then edited, Die Architektur der Renaissance in Toscana (1885–1907), a comprehensive work that had originally been the idea of four young German artists who had joined together to form the ...

(b Göttingen, June 26, 1848; d Berlin, May 11, 1904).

German architect. He started his architectural training at the Polytechnikum in Hannover in 1868. After the interruption of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) he completed his studies under the prominent Gothic Revival architects Conrad Wilhelm Hase in Hannover and Friedrich von Schmidt in Vienna before working (1876–9) under Johannes Otzen, another Gothic Revivalist, on his Bergkirche at Wiesbaden. In 1879 Grisebach embarked on tours of France, Spain and Italy, and on his return to Germany he settled in Berlin and set up his own practice, designing mainly private houses and commercial buildings. He received a number of commissions from the newly rich industrialists, for whom he designed large houses, for example the Villa Springmann (1890–91; destr.) at Elberfeld and the Villa Levin (1899–1900) at Michelstrasse 4, Göttingen. In these buildings he was influenced by English domestic design, the plan of Villa Springmann, for example, being an almost exact copy of an English country-house plan published in ...

(b Istanbul, March 23, 1869; d Lisbon, July 20, 1955).

Iranian oil magnate and collector of Armenian descent. He studied at King’s College, London, where he gained a diploma in engineering in 1887. He then embarked on travels that led to the publication of La Transcaucasie et la Péninsule d’Apcheron—Souvenirs de voyage (Paris, 1891), a work that showed his considerable interest in economics and his passion for art, which were also apparent in his diaries and letters. He was a pioneer in the development of the Middle Eastern oil fields as an energy source, and from the end of the 19th century he was closely involved in the growth of the oil industry, beginning with the formation of Royal Dutch Shell and the Turkish Petroleum Co. The income derived from these sources enabled him to become a collector of art. In 1902 he became a British citizen and in 1926 Persian.

Gulbenkian was a true connoisseur, highly knowledgeable and perceptive, and carried out extensive research in his own library and in museums before acquiring a work. The collection he formed is considered one of the most remarkable made in the 20th century. It comprises European paintings, Italian medals and coins, Egyptian sculpture, Islamic, Persian and Indian art, East Asian ceramics, illuminated manuscripts, book bindings, French furniture, sculpture, bronzes, silver, textiles, Roman glass, Greek coins and jewellery. The only contemporary artist he commissioned was ...

English collectors, writers and art historians. Charles Handley-Read (b 1916; d 15 Oct 1971) studied architecture at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge, and also became associated with the circle around the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. As a pacifist during World War II he was sent to Lingfield Epileptic Colony for children, where he introduced art therapy. He exhibited the results of this scheme in various places, including London and Paris, where the show particularly impressed Picasso. After the war he became a friend of Wyndham Lewis and wrote the first important study of the artist. In 1953 he married Lavinia Stainton (d 9 Dec 1971), who had studied at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, specializing in 19th-century art. Both developed a keen interest in the art and design of the Victorian era, Charles favouring architecture, paintings and furniture and other decorative arts, while Lavinia specialized in Victorian sculpture. Their collection of paintings included works by ...

(Percy)

(b London, Feb 18, 1864; d Florence, April 14, 1916).

English collector, art historian, designer and architect. He joined the architectural practice of A(rthur) H(eygate) Mackmurdo as an associate in 1883 and was a partner from 1885 to 1890. Together they were leading members of the Century Guild of Artists (c. 1883–92). At this time he developed his skills as a graphic artist, creating designs for textiles, furniture and objects (e.g. London, William Morris Gal.), as well as decorative initial letters and elegant foliar and zoomorphic motifs that appeared in the Century Guild Hobby Horse magazine. The Horne–Mackmurdo partnership produced plans for Brewhouse Yard at Eton College and also for a series of houses in Uxbridge Road, London (both unexecuted). In 1889 Mrs Russell Gurney commissioned Horne to design the Chapel of the Ascension in Bayswater Road, London, decorated by Frederic Shields (destr. World War II).

The turning-point in Horne’s life and artistic development came when he was commissioned by the London publisher George Bell to write a monograph on Botticelli; for this reason he began making sporadic visits to Florence in ...

(Cortelyou)

(b Cleveland, OH, July 8, 1906; d New Canaan, CT, Jan 25, 2005).

American architect, critic, and collector. The son of a well-to-do lawyer, he early displayed a keen natural intelligence that was diligently cultivated by his mother. He enrolled as an undergraduate at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, in 1923. A restless nature drew him successively to disciplines as diverse as music, the classics, and philosophy, while emotional turmoil led to several breakdowns that delayed his graduation until 1930. By then, however, he had developed a close friendship with the young art historian Alfred H. Barr jr, who in 1929 assumed the directorship of the new Museum of Modern Art in New York. At about the same time Johnson met another art historian, Henry-Russell Hitchcock, whose article on J(acobus) J(ohannes) P(ieter) Oud (‘The Architectural Work of J. J. P. Oud’, The Arts, xiii/2 (Feb 1928), pp. 97–103) had suddenly focused Johnson’s scattered mental energies on architecture and, more specifically, on modern European architecture of the 1920s....

(b 1879; d Sept 20, 1967).

Swedish collector and art historian. After graduating as a civil engineer in 1904 from the Royal College of Engineering in Stockholm, he travelled to China in 1906, where he worked first as a superintendent of reinforced concrete construction and then, from 1908, as a section engineer for the Tientsin–Pukow (Tianjin–Pukou) Railway Company. As objects of art were frequently discovered during the construction of railways, Karlbeck soon became interested in Chinese archaeology and art and formed an important collection of early Chinese bronzes. When the Swedish Crown Prince, later King Gustav VI Adolf, who was himself a collector and connoisseur of Chinese art, visited Pukow in 1926, he was greatly impressed by the collection, which was purchased and brought to Sweden. This began Karlbeck’s new career as a buyer of Chinese art for museums and private collectors. In 1927 he gave up his railway work because of political disturbances in China and returned to Sweden. The following year, however, he returned to China to acquire Chinese art objects. The visit was so successful that he made a further three journeys to China on behalf of museums and private collectors. The objects he acquired included a large number of bronzes of the Shang (...

(b Amsterdam, Oct 15, 1877; d Amsterdam, April 3, 1941).

Dutch administrator and urban planner. He studied civil engineering at the Polytechnic School (now the Technical University) in Delft and in 1905 began working on a voluntary basis for the Building and Housing Control Service (Bouw en Woningtoezicht) in Amsterdam, later becoming head of department. In 1915 he became the first director of the Amsterdam Housing Department, where he devoted his energies to the construction of council houses and became closely involved with local housing associations. A member of the Social Democratic Workers’ Party, he was strongly supportive, along with his brother-in-law F. M. Wibaut (1856–1936) of the party’s council housing. Under his leadership, numerous housing estates, all of outstanding quality, were built. Such notable architects as H. P. Berlage and K. P. C. de Bazel were brought in to work for the Department, as well as other architects who were already known for their work in this area, such as ...

(b 1849; d 1927).

German industrialist, collector and patron. He owned a light engineering company in Berlin. In the 1890s he started buying work of the modern Munich school. However, his most active period as a collector occurred between 1907 and 1914, when he played a key role in the promotion of avant-garde art in Germany. This was partly due to a family connection: his niece Elizabeth Gerhardt was married to August Macke. In 1907 Macke came to Berlin and introduced Koehler to modern ideas about painting, including those of Julius Meier-Graefe. Koehler now bought work by the French Impressionists and their German admirers such as Max Liebermann and Max Slevogt. In July 1910, shortly after meeting him, he offered Franz Marc a monthly stipend in return for pictures. This arrangement lasted until Marc’s death in 1914 and led to the acquisition of at least 36 paintings. Koehler was the only buyer at the first ...

[Krichevsky, Vasily]

(b Vorozhba, Kharkiv province, Jan 12, 1873; d Caracas, Venezuela, Nov 15, 1952).

Ukrainian architect, painter, illustrator and collector. He received no systematic artistic education and first became known because of his interest in Ukrainian folklore. His prizewinning design for the City Council building in Poltava (1900) formed the basis of a new style, founded on traditions of Ukrainian folk art, and initiated a movement in Ukrainian architecture. Among his other buildings are the People’s House in Lokhvitsa (1904) and the Shevchenko Memorial Museum in Kaniv (1931–4). As a painter, he was influenced by the French Impressionists. The pure, harmonious colours of his southern Ukrainian landscapes convey the lyrical atmosphere of his native land, and he took part in the annual exhibitions of the Union of Russian Watercolourists in St Petersburg (1899–1902) and in the exhibitions of Kiev painters (1910–13). Krychevsky was one of the founders of contemporary Ukrainian book design, reviving the technique of the woodcut and producing over 80 cover designs. He produced set and costume designs for 15 plays and operas in the Sadovs’ky Theatre in Kiev (...

[Karl Anton Leo Ludwig]

(b Vienna, Nov 4, 1848; d Vienna, July 15, 1933).

Polish archaeologist, writer, collector and patron, active in Austria. As an archaeologist his main interest lay in the architectural ruins of the late Roman Empire in Anatolia. In 1884 he organized an expedition of which he later published an account, Stadt Pamphyliens und Pisidiens. Sketches made by Jacek Malczewski (e.g. Warsaw, Royal Castle; mainly watercolours) are also records of the expedition. Lanckoroński and Malczewski later toured Italy and travelled to Munich together. Other artists patronized by Lanckoroński included Antoni Madeyski (1862–1939), Henryk Rodakowski and Hans Makart. During 1888 and 1889 Lanckoroński made a round-the-world voyage and subsequently published a diary of this trip, entitled Rund um die Erde. He brought back to Vienna various works of art, mainly sculptures and textiles. Between 1890 and 1895 a Baroque Revival palace was built for him in Vienna to designs by Ferdinand Fellner and Hermann Hellmer (1849–1919). In it Lanckoroński installed paintings, mainly Dutch and French, that he had inherited and Italian paintings he had purchased (e.g. Masaccio’s ...

(b Santiago, 1905; d 1999).

Chilean architect, collector, and teacher. His family, in which he was the youngest of fourteen children, moved from Chile to Europe in 1919 in anticipation of Chilean political and social unrest. He had no formal training but learned much from traveling around Europe, attending some private classes and being in the company of adults. He knew the works of Proust, Apollinaire, Gide, and Picasso, and became interested in the arts and avant-garde thought, familiarizing himself with the Bauhaus, Gropius, Le Corbusier, and others. He decided to become an architect, and on returning to Chile studied architecture at the Universidad Católica de Valparaíso (qualified 1928), where teaching still followed Beaux-Arts methods. His first work was done in the practice of his cousin Jorge Arteaga, who passed on a commission to design the Edificio Oberpaur, Santiago (1929), reputedly the first work of contemporary architecture in Chile. The six-story department store and office space was influenced by Erich Mendelsohn’s expressionistic style. Characterized by its continuous “wrap-around” windows, the Oberpaur building was also the first in Chile to have ...

[Frederik] (Johannes)

(b Amsterdam, May 4, 1884; d Paris, July 15, 1970).

Dutch collector, connoisseur and art historian. He was the son of Frederik Johannes Lugt, an engineer, and Jeanette Petronella Verschuur, who was related to the horse painter Wouterus Verschuur. By the age of eight, Frits had compiled a catalogue of his ‘rarities’ (including a shell collection) entitled Museum Lugtius. He attended Hendrik de Keyser’s drawing school in Amsterdam and, from the age of ten, regularly visited the Rijksmuseum, especially the museum’s print room, where, owing to the lack of a printed catalogue of the Dutch drawings, he began to describe the sheets himself (by late 1899 he had completed 955 entries, with biographies, and had reached Jordaens). At the time of the 1898 Rembrandt exhibition, he produced an illustrated biography of the artist; the manuscript was seen by the director of the Amsterdam auction-house Frederik Muller for whom Lugt went to work after a visit to London in 1901, when he learnt about English museums and art dealers. Between ...