Tag Archives: Sir John Soane Museum

Sir John Soane – an exhibition

Death and Memory: Soane and the Architecture of Legacy, Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2, until 26th March 2016

Soane Office, Three alternative designs for the tomb of Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg RA

Soane Office,
Three alternative designs for the tomb of Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg RA

This two-part exhibition looks at the theme of mortality in both Soane’s personal and professional lives.

William or Nathaniel Dance, Portrait miniature of Mrs Eliza Soane

William or Nathaniel Dance,
Portrait miniature of Mrs Eliza Soane

Death and Memory looks at the death of his wife Eliza in November 1815 and the profound effect that it had on Soane for the remaining twenty-two years of his life.  There is the design for his family tomb in the churchyard at St Pancras Old Church – and yes you would be correct in assuming this was an inspiration for the red telephone boxes still in use.  There are also ‘sealed receptacles’ on show which are somewhat like time capsules.  They were sealed up before Soane’s death with the instructions that there were to be opened on the 50th, 70th and 80th anniversaries of Eliza’s death.  I shall leave you to discover for yourselves what they contained.  Also there is the text – Crude hints towards a history of my house in Lincoln’s Inn Fields (1812) in which he imagines his house as a ruin to which visitors come and try and work out its original purpose.

John Soane, Early design for the Soane Family Tomb

John Soane,
Early design for the Soane Family Tomb

The second part the Architecture of Legacy considers Soane’s professional role as an architect, including some of his own designs and those by architects such as William Chambers, John Flaxman, Piranesi and George Dance.  The drawing by Soane for a proposed monument for the Duke of Wellington was executed just a month before the architect’s own death.

Soane Office, Design for a monument to the Duke of Wellington

Soane Office,
Design for a monument to the Duke of Wellington

http://www.soane.org.uk

James Adams, Preliminary design for the Museum

James Adams,
Preliminary design for the Museum

Sir John Soane and others

Building a Dialogue: the Architect and the Client, Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2, until 9th May 2015

Joseph Michael Gandy Perspective of eight designs for churches, with plan 1834, Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour, 745 x 1320mm Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Joseph Michael Gandy
Perspective of eight designs for churches, with plan
1834, Pencil, pen and ink and watercolour, 745 x 1320mm
Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

As the title suggests this exhibition examines the relationship between client (state or private) and architect over several centuries, although as one would expect it concentrates on some of Soane’s commissions including the Dulwich Picture Gallery and Marylebone’s Holy Trinity Church, which is now known as the venue One Marylebone.

Sir John Soane Perspective of the East Front of Dulwich Picture Gallery 1812, Pen and ink, and wash, 278 x 440mm Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Sir John Soane
Perspective of the East Front of Dulwich Picture Gallery
1812, Pen and ink, and wash, 278 x 440mm
Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

While not all relationships were fraught the visitor learns how Sir Christopher Wren’s original plans for the Royal Naval Hospital were vetoed by the King as it would have meant the loss of Inigo Jones’ Queens House and of the problems Soane faced with his plans for Holy Trinity Church from both the Commissioners and the Parish.

Joseph Michael Gandy RA Lecture Drawing, Privy Council Chamber c. 1827, Pencil, pen and ink, and watercolour, 950 x 720mm Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

Joseph Michael Gandy
RA Lecture Drawing, Privy Council Chamber
c. 1827, Pencil, pen and ink, and watercolour, 950 x 720mm
Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

The exhibition also looks at how architects could “promote” their ability though published works such as The Thorpe Album from the late 16th century or The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam (1778). The Museum’s director Abraham Thomas says of this enjoyable show: “Architectural drawings have a profound ability to record and articulate the various design discussions that occur within an office or between an architect and a client. I’m delighted that this exhibition not only draws upon gems from the Museum’s collection of over 30,000 architectural drawings, but also reminds us that Sir John Soane’s home was the site of a busy architectural practice, embedded in the heart of the building, where such conversations happened every day. The exhibition also makes a connection between historical and contemporary contexts, by exploring the multi-faceted ways in which architects, especially Soane himself, have always engaged with, and re-defined, the notion of a ‘client’ – showing us how design ideas have continued to express themselves through the drawing process, from Soane’s time through to the present day.”

John Thorpe ‘IT’ House from the Thorpe Album c. 1580, Pen and ink, 4310 x 280mm Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

John Thorpe
‘IT’ House from the Thorpe Album
c. 1580, Pen and ink, 4310 x 280mm
Courtesy of Sir John Soane’s Museum

http://www.soane.org

Daniela Gullotta

Daniela Gullotta: London Known and Unknown, Marlborough Fine Art, 6 Albemarle Street, London W1, until 28th February 2015

The Chapter House, Westminster Abbey 2014 80 x 55 cm./31 ½ x 21 ½ in Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

The Chapter House,
Westminster Abbey 2014
80 x 55 cm./31 ½ x 21 ½ in
Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

I am somewhat at a loss to describe just how appealing I find these mixed media works by the Bolognese artist Daniela Gullotta. Her move to this city to study has resulted in these evocative, elegant, timeless images that gives us a new perspectives on familiar buildings and those less well-known. A true delight!

Trellick Tower 2014 130 x 65 cm 51 x 25 ½ in. Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Trellick Tower 2014
130 x 65 cm 51 x 25 ½ in.
Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Millenium Mills 2014 100 x 150 cm 39 ¼ x 59 in. Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Millenium Mills 2014
100 x 150 cm 39 ¼ x 59 in.
Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Sir John Soane’s Museum 2014 130 x 90 cm 51 x 35 ½ in. Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

Sir John Soane’s Museum 2014
130 x 90 cm 51 x 35 ½ in.
Courtesy of Marlborough Fine Art

 

 

http://www.marlboroughfineart.com

Sir John Soane’s Museum

Face to Face: British Portraits from the Clifford Chance Art Collection, Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2, until 24thJanuary 2015

Tim Noble and Sue Webster ‘Double Double Vision Vision’ 2013 ©

Tim Noble and Sue Webster ‘Double Double Vision Vision’ 2013
©

The Sir John Soane Museum has good collection of portraits in its permanent collection and so it is fitting that this celebration of portraiture and self-portraiture by British printmakers should be held here.

Tom Phillips ‘Dante’s Inferno: Dante in his Study’ 1983 ©

Tom Phillips ‘Dante’s Inferno: Dante in his Study’ 1983
©

The forty prints on view date from the mid-20th century onwards and provide a rare chance for the wider public to see works from the noted Clifford Chance art collection. Among the artists represented are Gary Hume, Patrick Caulfield, Paula Rego and David Hockney as well as younger printmakers such as Alessandro Raho and Nicola Thomas.

Gary Hume ‘The Cleric’, 2000 ©

Gary Hume ‘The Cleric’, 2000
©

These portraits reflect themes of abstraction, realism, social commentary and caricature –what more can one ask for?

http://www.soane.org

Diverse Maniere: Piranesi, Fantasy and Excess, Sir John Soane’s Museum

Diverse Maniere: Piranesi, Fantasy and Excess, Sir John Soane’s Museum, until 31st May 2014

Chair Factum - Back © factumArte

Chair Factum – Back
© factumArte

Chair Factum - Engraving © Diverse Maniere

Chair Factum – Engraving
© Diverse Maniere

Do try and get along to this very intriguing exhibition that brings to life some of Piranesi’s designs, using his 1769 Diverse Maniere d’Adornare i Cammini… and the Vasi, Candelabri, Cippi, Sarcofagi… of 1778 as its inspiration. Thanks are due to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, and the renowned design studio Factum Arte, Madrid, who using state-of-the-art 3D modelling and printing technologies bring Piranesi’s imagery into physical form for the first time.

 

Helix Tripod © factumArte

Helix Tripod
© factumArte

Helix Tripod - Engraving © Diverse Maniere

Helix Tripod – Engraving
© Diverse Maniere

Soane, who is thought to have met Piranesi in Rome in 1778, was influenced by his designs in the arrangement of his own objects so it is entirely fitting that the bronze tripods, ‘porphyry’ altars, gilt chairs, shell-shaped silver coffee pots and extravagant candelabra should be brought to life within the museum.

 

Silver Coffee Pot © factumArte

Silver Coffee Pot
© factumArte

Silver Coffee Pot - Engraving © Diverse Maniere

Silver Coffee Pot –
Engraving
© Diverse Maniere

Address:
Sir John Soane’s Museum: 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP
Opening hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 10am-5pm. Last entry 4:30pm

Antique Vase with Three Griffin Heads - Engraving © Diverse Maniere

Antique Vase with Three Griffin Heads – Engraving
© Diverse Maniere

http://www.soane.org

Antique Vase with Three Griffin Heads © factumArte

Antique Vase with Three Griffin Heads
© factumArte

Alan Sorrell: A Life Reconstructed, until 25th January

Alan Sorrell: A Life Reconstructed, until 25th January, Sir John Soane’s Museum: 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A 3BP

 

It is surprising that the artistic output of Alan Sorrell (1904 – 1974) has not been celebrated before this exhibition in which many of the works on show come from the collection held by Sorrell’s son.

 The exhibition traces his artistic career, including his two-year scholarship at the British School in Rome (1928-1930).  He was a member of the Neo-Romantic school between the wars and went on to create scenes of RAF life while serving during the Second World War. Also on view are three panels from his mural Working Boats from Around the British Coast which was commissioned for the Festival of Britain in 1951.  It decorated the Nelson Bar of the HMS Campania, an aircraft carrier used as an exhibition space during the Festival.

AlanSorrell - Working Boats from Around the British Coast, HMS Campania, 1951, detail Image is copyright

AlanSorrell – Working Boats from Around the British Coast, HMS Campania, 1951, detail
Image is copyright

A great lover of archaeology, particularly Roman Britain, he is well-known for his reconstructions of historical monuments and sites and tableaux of ancient life and examples on view will bring back memories to those of us who remember seeing them at Ministry of Works run ancient monuments.  Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski, Curator of Sir John Soane’s Museum, says: “Sorrell did so much through his work to bring life to the lost archaeological sites of Roman and Norman Britain. I hope that this exhibition will bring to life the important legacy of Sorrell’s work”.

 

Alan Sorrell - Roman Silchester copyright Sir John Soane's Museum

Alan Sorrell – Roman Silchester
copyright Sir John Soane’s Museum

There is also a book: Alan Sorrell: The Life and Works of an English Neo-Romantic Artist is sponsored by Liss Fine Arts and is published by Sansom & Company Ltd in September 2013. It has 208 pages and over 150 illustrations. The book is priced £25 soft back. SBN: 978-1-908326-37-9

 

 

http://www.soane.org