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Robert Adam

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Robert Adam
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(born July 3, 1728, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scot. — died March 3, 1792, London, Eng.) Scottish architect and designer. Son of the architect William Adam, he apprenticed in his father's offices. He traveled in Europe in 1754 – 58, studying architectural theory and Roman ruins. On his return to London, he and his brother James (1732 – 94) developed an essentially decorative style — known as the Adam style — that was marked by a new lightness and freedom in the use of the Classical elements of architecture. This style is most remembered for its application in interiors, which were characterized by contrasting room shapes and delicate Classical ornaments. Robert Adam's executed works, mainly remodeled interiors and exteriors of private houses, include Osterley Park (1761 – 80) in Middlesex and Kedleston Hall (c. 1765 – 70) in Derbyshire. Other works include the Adelphi development in London (1768 – 72) and the University of Edinburgh (1789). He was also a leading furniture designer; his style, popularized by designer George Hepplewhite, was meant to harmonize with his interior architecture down to the last detail.

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Art Encyclopedia: Robert Adam
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(b Kirkcaldy, Fife, 3 July 1728; d London, 3 March 1792). Architect and designer, son of (1) William Adam. He and his rival William Chambers were the leading British architects in the second half of the 18th century. After training under his father, he embarked on a Grand Tour in 1754; this ended early in 1758 when he settled in London rather than Edinburgh. There he established a practice that was transformed into a partnership with his younger brother James after the latter's return in 1763 from his own Grand Tour. By then, however, the Adam style was formed, and Robert remained the partnership's driving force and principal designer until his death. He not only developed a distinctive and highly influential style but further refined it through his large number of commissions, earning fame and a certain amount of fortune along the way. Eminently successful, he left an indelible stamp on British architecture and interior decoration and on international Neo-classicism.

Part of the Adam family

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British History: Robert Adam
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Adam, Robert (1728-92). Scottish architect who, with his brothers John (1721-92) and James (1730-94), trained in the office of their father William Adam (1689-1748). After a spell at Edinburgh University, and a grand tour, Robert Adam started his architectural practice in London in 1758 and soon developed a light and decorative style inspired by his travels in Greece and Italy. His interiors combine domes, columned screens, and apses with classically derived surface patterns in delicate colours. The ‘Adam style’ can be seen in Kedleston (1760-1), Syon (1760-9), Osterley (1761-80), or Kenwood (1767-9), with elegant plasterwork, furnishings, and fabrics. Robert Adam's finest civic work was in Edinburgh, notably Charlotte Square (1791-1807), the Register House (1774-92), and the first stage of the university (1789-93).

Architecture and Landscaping: Robert Adam
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(1728–92)

One of the most celebrated of British architects, decorators, and interior designers in the later part of C18. The second surviving son of William Adam, he matriculated at Edinburgh University, and knew the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. On the death of William, he entered into partnership with his brother John, and by 1754 had enough capital to set out on the Grand Tour. In Italy he employed Clérisseau (who joined him in his travels, instructed the young Scot in draughtsmanship, and influenced him to appreciate the possibilities of Neo-Classicism), studied Classical Antiquities, and met Piranesi (who incorporated a monument to Adam in his Antichità Romane (1756), and later dedicated his Campo Marzio (1762) to ‘Roberto Adam’). In 1755 Adam and Clérisseau visited Naples and Herculaneum to see the excavations, and in 1757 proceeded to Spalato, where they surveyed the huge Roman Palace: their labours appeared as Ruins of the Palace of Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (1764), illustrated with fine engravings.

Adam settled in London in 1758, was joined by his brothers James and William (1738–1822), and set out to establish himself as the leading architect in Great Britain. From that time Robert was the dominant director of the family firm, assisted by James and William, while John helped out with capital. His fellow-Scots the Duke of Argyll and the Earl of Bute supported him, and in 1761 he obtained one of the two posts of Architect of the King's Works. He began to change domestic architecture (dominated then by Burlingtonian Palladianism) by providing a fresh vocabulary of Classicism with elements drawn from a range of sources from Antiquity to the Cinquecento. He advertised himself as an authority on Antique Roman architecture, and in 1773 the first sumptuous volume of the Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam appeared, in which the brothers staked their claim to have ‘brought about … a kind of revolution’ in English architecture. At Kedleston Hall, Derbys., for example, the Adam Brothers took over and completed the house after Matthew Brettingham and James Paine had started the central block and the quadrants: the Adams were responsible for the noble, domed Pantheon-like saloon and the triumphal arch applied to the south front, while the Palladian marble hall was a reworking of Paine's version of Palladio's reconstruction of Vitruvius's Egyptian hall. Indeed, it was in interior design that the Adam Brothers had their greatest influence: essentially, they eschewed a violent change of established canons, but they succeeded in evolving a Neo-Classical style that avoided Greek severity or old-fashioned Palladianism by expanding the available ranges of decorative elements and by inventing a sumptuous and elegant array of details drawn from various sources. Their ceilings were often enriched with painted panels by talented Italian artists, while Joseph Rose sen. (c.1723–80) and jun. (1745–99) realized their designs for plasterwork. The firm employed several draughtsmen to facilitate its enormous practice: among them were George Richardson, Joseph Bonomi, and Antonio Zucchi (1726–96). The Adams juxtaposed room-plans of various shapes and forms that had their origins in Antique interiors from Spalato and from the Roman thermae. Such variations of form and the judicious use of apses, niches, and colonnaded screens created spatial complexities that were a welcome contrast to the older Palladian arrangements.

At Syon House, Isleworth, Middx., the remodelled interiors (1762–9) demonstrate the exploitation of varied geometrical forms, although the projected central Pantheon-like rotunda was not executed, but the anteroom (which was built) displays an eclectic Neo-Classical polychrome treatment incorporating detached Greek Ionic columns (with capitals based on those of the Athenian Erechtheion) supporting an elegant entablature, over which are gilded statues. To whet the client's appetite for Antique authenticity, the blue-grey marble column-shafts are Roman, rescued from the bed of the River Tiber. Other fine Adam interiors include Osterley Park, Middx. (1763–80), Newby Hall, Yorks. (c.1770–c.1780), Derby House (later 26), Grosvenor Square, London (1773–4—demolished 1861), and the beautiful Library at Kenwood House, Hampstead (1767–9). As far as ingenious planning is concerned, the most intricate examples are at two London houses: 20 St James's Square and 20 Portman Square, although the decorative details are thin and shallow compared with earlier works.

Perhaps because of a frustrated desire to ‘raise a great public building … in the monumental manner’, the brothers in 1768 began their scheme to erect 24 first-rate houses between the north bank of the Thames and The Strand, the whole set on a mighty podium of vaulted areas intended as warehouses. Called The Adelphi, the speculation was ruined by a national credit crisis, and the brothers were forced to stave off bankruptcy by disposing of the property in a lottery. Later, James Adam designed the unified façade of Portland Place incorporating stucco details for the central elements of each block on either side. Other unified terrace-house designs include Charlotte Square, Edinburgh (1791–1807), and the south and east sides of Fitzroy Square, London (1790–4)—the latter with elegant attenuated Grecian detail.

In the last years of his life Robert Adam obtained a number of commissions for large buildings, including the Register House, Edinburgh (1774–92), Edinburgh University (1789–93), and the large Picturesque houses in the Castle style (that is, with elements derived from medieval castle architecture, but with Classical interiors), including Culzean Castle, Ayrshire (1777–92), and Seton Castle, East Lothian (1790–1). Adam also designed distinguished mausolea, among which may be cited the rectangular Templetown mausoleum, capped with an urn and two ash-chests, at Castle Upton, Co. Antrim (1789), and the Doric drum of the Hume monument at Calton Old Burying Ground, Edinburgh (1778).

The Adam firm was wound up in 1794, although William Adam produced unsuccessful designs for the completion of Edinburgh University in 1815. William went bankrupt in 1801, and between 1818 and 1821 sold all his brothers possessions. While the Works … provided a definitive vocabulary of what became known as the ‘Adam style’, details designed by Robert and his brothers were pirated even during their lifetimes, and there was an Adam Revival dating from 1862 which still goes on, though often as a travesty.

Bibliography

  • R. Adam & J. Adam (1975)
  • Bolton (1922)
  • Colvin (1995)
  • J. Fleming (1962)
  • E. Harris (2001)
  • King (1991, 2001)
  • Parissien (1992)
  • P. (1982)
  • Rowan (1985)
  • Rykwert & Rykwert (1985)
  • Stillman (1966, 1988)
  • Summerson or Summerson (ed.) (1993)
  • Tait (1992)
  • Jane Turner (1996)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Robert Adam
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Adam, Robert (ăd'əm), 1728-92, and James Adam, 1730-94, Scottish architects, brothers. They designed important public and private buildings in England and Scotland and numerous interiors, pieces of furniture, and decorative objects. Robert possessed the great creative talents, with his brother James serving chiefly as his assistant. Robert Adam designed his buildings to achieve the most harmonious relation between the exterior, the interior, and the furniture. His light, elegant, and essentially decorative style was a free, personal reconstitution of antique motifs. He drew upon numerous sources including earlier English Palladian architecture, French and Italian Renaissance architecture, and the antique monuments themselves as he knew them through publications and personal investigation. Adam himself contributed an important study, Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia (1764). For decorative painting, Adam employed such artists as Angelica Kauffmann and Antonio Zucchi. The Adam manner gained great favor in his day, and designs in the Adam style have never ceased to appear. Especially interesting examples of Adam planning and decoration are Osterly Park, Middlesex (1761-80); Syon House, Middlesex (1762-69); and Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire (1768-75). The brothers wrote Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (3 vol., 1778-1822). Robert was architect to the king from 1762 until 1768, when he was succeeded by James. Robert Adam was buried in Westminster Abbey.

Bibliography

See J. Fleming, Robert Adam and His Circle (1962) and D. Stillman, The Decorative Work of Robert Adam (1966); D. Yarwood, Robert Adam (1970).

Dictionary: Adam, Robert
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1728-1792.

British architect who led the neoclassical movement in England and is noted for his elegant interior designs and for collaborations with his brother James (1730-1794).


Wikipedia: Robert Adam
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Robert Adam
Robert-adam.jpg
Portrait attributed to George Willison, c. 1770-75
Personal information
Name Robert Adam
Nationality Scottish
Birth date 3 July 1728
Birth place Kirkcaldy, Fife [1]
Date of death 3 March 1792 (Aged 63)
Place of death London
Work
Buildings Syon House
Culzean Castle
Kedleston Hall
Pulteney Bridge
Harewood House

Robert Adam (3 July 1728 – 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his older brother John, Robert took on the family business, which included lucrative work for the Board of Ordnance, after William's death.

In 1754 he left for Rome, spending nearly five years on the continent studying architecture under Charles-Louis Clérisseau and Giovanni Battista Piranesi. On his return to Britain he established a practice in London, where he was joined by his younger brother James. Here he developed the "Adam Style", and his theory of "movement" in architecture, based on his studies of antiquity and became one of the most successful and fashionable architects in the country.

Robert Adam was leader of the first phase of the classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death.[2] He influenced the development of Western architecture, both in Europe and in North America. Adam was not content with providing houses for his clients but very ready to design the fittings and accessories as well.[3]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Blackfriars Monastery, Edinburgh, site of the Edinburgh High School until 1777

Adam was born at Gladney House in Kirkcaldy, Fife, although the family moved to Edinburgh later that same year. [1] As a child he was noted as having a "feeble constitution".[4] From the age of six Adam attended Edinburgh High School, where he learned Latin until he was fifteen. In autumn 1743 he matriculated at Edinburgh University, and attended classes including mathematics, taught by Colin Maclaurin, and anatomy, taught by Alexander Monro primus. His studies were interrupted by the arrival of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Highlanders, who occupied Edinburgh during the 1745 Jacobite rising. At the end of the year, Robert fell seriously ill for some months, and it seems unlikely that he returned to university, having completed only two years of study.[5]

On his recovery from illness in 1746, he joined his elder brother John as apprentice to his father. He assisted William Adam on projects such as the building of Inveraray Castle and the continuing extensions of Hopetoun House. William's position as Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance also began to generate much work, as the Highlands were fortified following the failed Jacobite revolt. Robert's early ambition was to be an artist rather than architect, and the style of his early sketches in the manner of Salvator Rosa are reflected in his earliest surviving architectural drawings, which show picturesque gothic follies.[6] William Adam died in June 1748, and left Dowhill, a part of the Blair Adam estate which included a tower house, to Robert.

Architectural practice in Edinburgh

Entrance front of Hopetoun House, designed by William Adam and modified by the Adam Brothers

On William Adam's death, John Adam inherited both the family business and the position of Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance. He immediately took Robert into partnership, later to be joined by James Adam. The Adam Brothers' first major commission was the decoration of the grand state apartments on the first floor at Hopetoun House, followed by their first "new build" at Dumfries House. For the Board of Ordnance, the brothers were the main contractor at Fort George, a large modern fort near Inverness designed by military engineer Colonel Skinner. Visits to this project, begun in 1750, would occupy the brothers every summer for the next ten years, and, along with works at many other barracks and forts, provided Robert with a solid foundation in practical building.[7]

In the winter of 1749–1750, Adam travelled to London with his friend, the poet John Home. He took the opportunity for architectural study, visiting Wilton, designed by Inigo Jones, and the Queens Hermitage in Richmond by Roger Morris. His sketchbook of the trip also shows a continuing interest in gothic architecture.[8]

Among his friends at Edinburgh were the philosopher Adam Ferguson and the artist Paul Sandby whom he met in the Highlands. Other Edinburgh acquaintances included Gilbert Elliot, William Wilkie, John Home and Alexander Wedderburn.[6]

Kedleston Hall. The South front by Robert Adam, based on the Arch of Constantine in Rome

Grand Tour

In 1754, Robert Adam set off for Europe on the Grand Tour of France and Italy, in the company of Charles Hope-Weir, brother of the Earl of Hopetoun. Hope agreed to take Adam on the tour at the suggestion of his uncle, the Marquess of Annandale, who had undertaken the Grand Tour himself. Adam met Hope-Weir in France, and they travelled on to Italy together, before falling out in Rome over travelling expenses and accommodation. Robert Adam stayed on in Rome until 1757, studying classical architecture and honing his drawing skills. His tutors included the French architect and artist Charles-Louis Clérisseau, and the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Here, he became acquainted with the work of the pioneering classical archaeologist and art historian, theorist Johann Joachim Winckelmann. On his return journey, Adam and Clerisseau spent time intensively studying the ruins of Diocletian's Palace at Spalato in Dalmatia (now known as Split, in modern Croatia).[9] These studies were later published as Ruins of the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian at Spalatro in Dalmatia in 1764.

Architectural practice in London

Mistley Towers, Essex

He returned to Great Britain in 1758 and set up in business in London with his brother James Adam. They focused on designing complete schemes for the decoration and furnishing of houses. Palladian design was popular, and Robert designed a number of country houses in this style,[10] but Robert evolved a new, more flexible style incorporating elements of classical Roman design alongside influences from Greek, Byzantine and Baroque styles.[11] The Adam brothers' success can also be attributed to a desire to design everything down to the smallest detail, ensuring a sense of unity in their design.

Public life

One of Adam's masterpieces: Pulteney Bridge, Bath

Adam was elected a member of the Royal Society of Arts in 1758 and of the Society of Antiquaries in 1761, the same year he was appointed Architect of the King’s Works (jointly with Sir William Chambers). His younger brother James succeeded him in this post when he relinquished the role in 1768 in order to devote more time to his elected office as Member of Parliament for Kinross-shire.

Robert Adam died suddenly at his home, 11 Albermarle Street, London, after a blood vessel in his stomach burst. He was 64. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. He left nearly 9,000 drawings, most of which were purchased by the architect John Soane and are now at the Soane Museum in London.

Architectural style

Robert Adam rejected the Palladian style, as introduced to England by Inigo Jones, and advocated by Lord Burlington, as "ponderous" and "disgustful".[12] However, he continued their tradition of drawing inspiration directly from classical antiquity, during his four-year stay in Europe.[12] Through the adoption of classical motifs, Adam developed a new style of architectural decoration.

The Adam brothers' principle of "movement" was largely Robert's conception, although the theory was first written down by James. "Movement" relied on dramatic contrasts and diversity of form, and drew on the picturesque aesthetic. The first volume of the Adam brother's Works (1773) cited Kedleston Hall, designed by Robert in 1761, as an outstanding example of movement in architecture.

By contrasting room sizes and decorative schemes, Adam applied the concept of movement to his interiors also. His style of decoration, described by Pevsner as "Classical Rococo", drew on Roman "grotesque" stucco decoration.[12][13]

Influence

Robert Adam's work had influenced the direction of architecture across the western world. In North America, the Federal style owes much to neoclassicism as practised by Adam. In Europe, Adam notably influenced Charles Cameron, the Scotsman who designed Tsarskoye Selo and other Russian palaces for Catherine the Great.[14] However, by the time of his death, Adam's neoclassicism was being superseded in Britain by a more severe, Greek phase of the classical revival, as practiced by James "Athenian" Stuart. The Adam brothers employed several draughtsmen who would go on to establish themselves as architects, including George Richardson, and the Italian Joseph Bonomi, who Robert originally hired in Rome.

Written works

During their lifetime Robert and James Adam published two volumes of their designs, Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (in 1773-78 and 1779; a third volume was published posthumously, in 1822).

Projects

Osterley Park, London
Details for Derby House in Grosvenor Square, an example of the Adam Brothers' decorative designs.
Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by
James Abercromby		 Member for Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire
1768–1774		 Succeeded by
Ralph Abercromby
Government offices
Preceded by
New appointment		 Architect of the King's Works
1761–1769
Served alongside: Sir William Chambers		 Succeeded by
Sir Robert Taylor and James Adam

See also

References

  1. ^ a b James, Jude (2005). Kirkcaldy: a History & Celebration of the Town. p. 60. ISBN 1845677498. 
  2. ^ Pevsner, p. 237
  3. ^ Adam silver (1953). Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Her Majesty's stationery Office, p. 1.
  4. ^ Fleming, p. 76
  5. ^ Fleming, pp. 79-80
  6. ^ a b Fleming, p. 81
  7. ^ Fleming, pp. 85-86
  8. ^ Fleming, p. 85
  9. ^ C.M. Hogan, "Diocletian's Palace", The Megalithic Portal, A. Burnham ed, Oct 6, 2007
  10. ^ Roth, p. 397
  11. ^ Roth, p. 402
  12. ^ a b c Glendinning and McKechnie, p. 106
  13. ^ Pevsner, p. 238
  14. ^ Glendinning & McKechnie, p. 108

Bibliography

External links

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