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Robert Adam

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Robert Adam

Robert Adam (3 July 1728 – 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer.

Biography

Adam was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, the second son of William Adam (1689–1748), a stonemason and architect who was Scotland's foremost designer of country houses at the time. His younger brother and business partner James Adam was also an architect of some note, as was his older brother John Adam, although both were overshadowed by Robert.

He is considered by many to be the greatest architect of the late 18th century, and a leader of the neo-classical revival in England and Scotland from around 1760 until his death. Sir William Chambers was the leading British official architect of the era, but Adam received many important commissions from private clients and had a more lasting stylistic influence, termed the Adam style.

Training

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

Robert studied at the Royal High School, Edinburgh, then entered the University of Edinburgh in 1743 only for his studies to be interrupted by illness and the Jacobite Rising of 1745. In 1746, he joined his elder brother, John Adam, as an assistant to his father, and after their father's death in 1748, the two brothers became partners in the family business, now known as 'Adam Brothers'.

Their first major commission was the decoration of the grand state apartments on the first floor at Hopetoun House, near South Queensferry west of Edinburgh, followed by projects at Fort George, Dumfries House and Inveraray. In 1754, Robert Adam set off for Europe on the Grand Tour of France and Italy, studying classical architecture and honing his drawing skills (his art tutors included French architect Charles-Louis Clérisseau and architect and archaeologist Giovanni Battista Piranesi). During this journey, he studied intensively the ruins of Diocletian's palace at Split in Dalmatia, later publishing The Ruins of the Palace of Diocletian in 1764.

Business

Mistley Towers, Essex

He returned to Great Britain in 1758 and set up in business in London with his brothers James and William, 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 [1], but Robert evolved a new, more flexible style incorporating elements of classic Roman design alongside influences from Greek, Byzantine and Baroque styles.[2] 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 designs.

Projects

Osterley Park, London
Details for Derby House in Grosvenor Square, an example of the Adam Brothers' decorative designs.

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.

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.

Further reading

  • 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).
  • A comprehensive account of Robert’s furniture work is given in The Furniture of Robert Adam by Eileen Harris (published by Alec Tiranti, London, 1963) ISBN 0-85458-929-5. Harris later published The Genius of Robert Adam: His Interiors (2001) ISBN 0-300-08129-4
  • John Fleming, Robert Adam and his Circle (1962) ISBN 0-7195-0000-1
  • Doreen Yarwood, Robert Adam (1970) ISBN 0-460-03824-9 and ISBN 0-460-02130-3 (1973 paperback)
  • Damie Stillman, The Decorative Work of Robert Adam (1966) ISBN 0-85458-160-X
  • Arthur T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert & James Adam, 1785–1794, 2 volumes (1922, reprinted 1984) ISBN 0-907462-49-9 (1984 edition)
  • James Lees-Milne's The Age of Adam (1947) is aimed at the general reader.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert and James Adam.

References

  1. ^ Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 397. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.
  2. ^ Roth, Leland M. (1993). Understanding Architecture: Its Elements, History and Meaning (First ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. p. 402. ISBN 0-06-430158-3.
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