Foreword

Soros, Susan Weber

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Foreword

Susan Weber Soros

A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival

~Few figures in the history of decorative arts can compare with Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and his prodigious output as a designer, architect, and theorist. He was singlehandedly responsible for the early nineteenth-century interpretation of medieval art and architectecture that blossomed into the Gothic Revival. His work in this idiom consumed his entire life...

Author

Susan Weber Soros

PublisherBard Graduate Center

PublisherYale University Press

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-21252

Foreword

Few figures in the history of decorative arts can compare with Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and his prodigious output as a designer, architect, and theorist. He was singlehandedly responsible for the early nineteenth-century interpretation of medieval art and architecture that blossomed into the Gothic Revival. His work in this idiom consumed his entire life and left a legacy that was felt internationally.

A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival is the first in a series of Bard Graduate Center exhibitions focusing on individual contributors to the history of decorative arts. Future exhibitions will examine the work of the architect/designers Josef Frank and E. W. Godwin and the artist Alexandre Brongniart. Pugin is indeed a noteworthy beginning. For as significant a figure as he was, he has been studied by only a small coterie of scholars and is surprisingly little known to the general public. Few among the throngs of people who visit the Houses of Parliament in London each year or walk by Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City realize that Pugin made important contributions, direct and indirect, to the creation of these great monuments.

Although this is not the first publication on Pugin, it differs substantially from the others by providing a detailed analysis of 144 selected works that document the formation and flowering of the Puginian Gothic Revival. Thus the reader may glean insight into the intricacies of how, for example, a specific chair, drawing, or wallpaper fits generally into the realization of the Gothic Revival in the early nineteenth century and specifically into Pugin’s unique oeuvre.

The primary objective of the exhibition is to examine Pugin’s role as a designer in the Gothic Revival idiom. The catalogue picks up where the exhibition leaves off. Through a series of essays, it provides an in-depth exploration of the multifaceted nature of Pugin’s career as both architect and designer, of the forces that shaped his remarkable infatuation with the Gothic realm, and of the extent of his influence on the Continent and in North America. The Pugin exhibition and its accompanying catalogue comply with the academic mission of The Bard Graduate Center to enhance scholarship and develop public awareness of the decorative arts.

I am indebted to James Joll who originally introduced me to the idea of an exhibition focusing on Pugin, a subject for which he has a contagious enthusiasm. James acquainted me with Pugin: A Gothic Passion which was held at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1994. This event served as the inspiration for The Bard Graduate Center exhibition and established important contacts for us in London that were crucial to the realization of the project. An undertaking of the magnitude of A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival could only have reached fruition with the assistance and dedication of a large group of people. Paul Atterbury’s curatorial work was integral to its success, and we are thankful for his commitment.

No exhibition is possible without the generosity and commitment of the lenders, and foremost in this regard I am most grateful to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Loans were also solicited from many institutions both in Great Britain and the United States, and I would like to thank all our lenders: The Palace of Westminster, London; The Board of Trustees of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham; Saint George’s Cathedral, Southwark; Erdington Abbey, Birmingham; The Trustees of Ushaw College, Durham; Westminster Cathedral, London; The Minton Museum, Royal Doulton Plc, Stoke-on-Trent; The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University; The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University; The Art Institute of Chicago; The Brooklyn Museum; The Detroit Institute of Arts; The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; and The Philadelphia Museum of Art. The selection of works in the exhibition was greatly enhanced through the generous loan of objects from private collections as well: Dr. Clive Wainwright, James Joll, J. S. M. Scott, Michael Snodin, The Squire de Lisle, The Family of the Late Michael Pugin Purcell, Mrs. David Houle, Geoffrey Munn, Wartski & Company, Mrs. J. E. Franklin, Mrs. J. Sherliker, Mrs. Mark Guiver, Richard Dennis, James Hervey-Bathurst, Eastnor Castle, Rosemary Hill, Paul Atterbury, and Dr. Stephen Parks.

I am most appreciative of the efforts of the many individuals who undertook the burdensome but important task of contending with the administrative and logistical details of the exhibition loans. In Great Britain this includes: The Most Reverend Maurice Couve de Murville, Archbishop of Birmingham; Reverend Canon James Pannett, Saint George’s Cathedral, Southwark; Reverend T. A. Farrell, Diocesan Treasurer, Archdiocese of Birmingham; Father Patrick Daly, Saint Chads’s Cathedral, Birmingham; Father David Oakley, Saint Mary’s College, Oscott; Father Peter Stonier, Our Lady, Blackmore Park; Father Bede Walsh, Saint Giles’s, Cheadle; Father F. J. Dickinson, Erdington Abbey, Birmingham; Father Tim Dean, Westminster Cathedral; Dr. Jan Rhodes, Librarian, Ushaw College; D. J. K. Walters, Saint Edmund’s College, Ware; Mrs. Joan Jones, Curator, The Minton Museum; Ruth Gosling and staff, Archives Department, Birmingham Central Library; Malcolm A. C. Hay, Curator, Works of Art, Palace of Westminster; Sir Geoffrey de Bellaigue, Director, and Miss Caroline Paybody, Loans Officer, the Royal Collection Trust; and Michael Snodin, Susan Lambert, Ann Eatwell, Oliver Watson, Christopher Wilk, and Paul Harrison of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. In the United States loans were prepared by Father Michael Lankford, Diocese of Trenton; Stephen Parks of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University Library; Billie Salter, Librarian, The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University; Ghenetta Zelleke of the Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture, The Art Institute of Chicago; Kevin Stayton of The Brooklyn Museum; Alan P. Darr of The Detroit Institute of Arts; Kathryn B. Hiesinger of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; and Sarah Nichols of The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. I want to thank British Airways for contributing to the cost of bringing the exhibition couriers to The Bard Graduate Center.

The extensive knowledge and insight of the catalogue authors Megan Aldrich, Paul Atterbury, Barry Bergdoll, Margaret Floyd, Malcolm A. C. Hay, Rosemary Hill, David Meara, Roderick O’Donnell, Andrew Saint, and Clive Wainwright have made this a major scholarly effort that contributes greatly to our understanding of Pugin. This is the first catalogue conceived by The Bard Graduate Center to be published outside the institution, and I want to thank our publisher, Yale University Press, especially John Nicoll, managing director, and Sally Salvesen, project editor, for their belief in the project and for the outstanding collaborative effort that resulted in the production of this book. They worked tirelessly and with marvelous success with our production staff: Martina D’Alton, project editor, and Michael Shroyer, designer. We are grateful to Gloria Dougherty, indexer, Roberta Fineman, proofreader, and U.S. Lithograph, typographers. The exhibition department of The Bard Graduate Center administered this collaborative effort. Lisa Arcomano was essential to the production of the catalogue, and Nina Stritzler-Levine was responsible for overseeing the project in New York City. At the Bard Graduate Center, Derek Ostergard provided creative assistance in the conception of the catalogue and the exhibition installation. In addition each of the Center’s departments played an active role in this project. I would like to thank Linda Hartley and Andrea Morgan of the Development Department; Elaine McHugh and her staff in External Affairs; Tim Mulligan in Public Relations; Lisa Podos and her staff in Public Programs; and Bobbie Xuereb and her staff in the library.

Finally, the important job of coordinating the logistics of the exhibition installation was carried out by Steven Waterman, chief preparator, and the registration of objects by Pat Courtney. Richard Domanic and his staff were responsible for the security and maintenance of the galleries during the four-month run of the exhibition. The dedication and professionalism of everyone involved in A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival have made this project not only a success but a great pleasure as well.

Susan Weber Soros
Director, The Bard Graduate Center

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