This book is the first complete study of the circumstances which led to the building of Castle Howard, one of the greatest and best-known English country houses. It describes how and why Charles Howard, third earl of Carlisle, decided to build it; how the architect Sir John Vanbrugh received his first commission; how the building was paid for and where the money came from; what the original interiors looked like; how the gardens and park were laid out; and the decision taken to build the first classical mausoleum in England, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. It relates the physical appearance of the architecture to the hopes, desires and personalities of those involved in the building and makes it possible to look at the house in the way that it was intended to be seen by visitors in the eighteenth century. The Building of Castle Howard should appeal to anyone who is interested in eighteenth-century architecture, in the history of gardens, in country houses, and in a historical detective story of a house which Sir John Vanbrugh was determined should be 'the top seat and garden of England.'

The Building of Castle Howard

Arts & Photography

Saumarez Smith, Charles

Architecture

University of Chicago Press

The National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy all saw either radical architectural interventions or rethinks of their mission under Charles Saumarez Smith's leadership, making him uniquely qualified to explore the ways in which art museums have changed over the past century and examine where they might be headed in the future. For this book, Saumarez Smith has undertaken an odyssey to art museums across the globe. From Tate Modern in London to the Benesse House Museum on the Japanese island of Naoshima; from the Getty Center in Los Angeles to the Museum of New and Old Art, a ferry-ride from Hobart in Tasmania; from the Pompidou Centre in Paris to the West Bund Museum in Shanghai - he has visited them all, casting an acute eye on the way the experience of art is shaped by the buildings that house it and the organizing principles by which it is displayed. What has changed over the past century? Where the public once visited museums to be educated in art history, he argues, they are now more likely to be in search of a private, aesthetic experience. Museum displays that were automatically didactic, chronological and either national or Western in viewpoint are now thematic and global. While museums used to be invariably in city centres, they may now be in remote locations, destinations of cultural pilgrimage. And where architects once created neutral spaces in which to display art, they now build spectacular architectural landmarks, stamping an identity on run-down neighbourhoods and sparking regeneration through cultural tourism. With 122 illustrations in colour

The Art Museum in Modern Times

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Thames&Hudson

Charles Saumarez Smith was the director of the National Gallery from 2002 to 2007, a period in which he oversaw the purchase of Raphael's The Madonna of the Pinks for a record £22 million, raised in part by his successful campaign for public contributions. His insider's perspective gives him invaluable insight into the challenges faced by his predecessors as they managed the Gallery's collection from very modest origins to its status as a world-class institution and major tourist destination. This literate yet movingly personal book reveals the contentious issues that surround the way a national collection is acquired, preserved, restored, and displayed; the complex, competitive relationship between director, trustees, and government; architectural and aesthetic controversies; and the future of the Gallery in an increasingly uncertain and overly commercialized art marketplace.

The National Gallery: A Short History

Frances Lincoln

John Wonnacott: A Biographical Study

History & Criticism

Lund Humphries

This engaging biography sets Flitcroft within his social context, providing insights into those for whom he worked as well as his fellow architects and into the Georgian construction industry. It reveals the battles Flitcroft waged to maintain his positions at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul' s. His furniture designs are assessed, along with the designs he undertook for several churches, including St-Giles-in-the Fields, and his notable London buildings. Finally, his last great project - the extensive collaboration with Henry Hoare II on the landscape and buildings at Stourhead - is re-examined.

The Ingenious Mr Flitcroft: Palladian Architect 1697-1769

Hedley, Gill

The National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery's collection of portraits of British men and women constitutes a complete survey of both historical and contemporary personalities. A national pantheon of great figures - from King Henry VIII to David Bowie - portrayed by great artists - from Holbein to Avedon - the Gallery's collection includes likenesses of political, artistic and scientific characters, including Mary, Queen of Scots, William Shakespeare, Lord Byron, James Joyce, Winston Churchill, Laurence Olivier, Barbara Hepworth and Salman Rushdie. The book includes a selection of the finest portraits in the Gallery, ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. It forms a permanent record of the range and diversity of British life over the last 400 years, and provides a view of the faces that created Britain's history and culture. Charles Saumarez Smith is the author of "The Building of Castle Howard" and "Eighteenth Century Decoration".

Smith, Charles Saumarez

Natl Portrait Gallery Pubns

National Portrait Gallery

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Books by Saumarez Smith, Charles