William Burges (architect)

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William Burges. Painting by Henry van der Weyde, 1881

William Burges (born December 2, 1827 in London , † April 20, 1881 in Kensington ) was a British architect and designer. He developed neo-Gothic to his own richly decorated style and is considered one of the most important architects of Victorian architecture . Burges not only worked as an architect, but also designed the entire interior of his buildings and is therefore considered a forerunner of aestheticism .

Origin and youth

Burges came from a family that included successful architects, engineers and contractors. Burges was the eldest son of the engineer Alfred Burges and his wife Elizabeth Green . His father was a partner in the construction company Walker and Burgess , his uncle, the building contractor John Leschallas died in 1877 a rich man. Burges attended King's College School in London from 1839 , where his drawing teacher was probably the painter John Sell Cotman . After school, Burges continued to study engineering at King's College, but after a year he left college without a degree and in 1844 took a job in the office of architect Edward Blore .

St Mary's Church in Studley Royal

First work as an architect

After five years he moved to the architect Matthew Digby Wyatt in 1849 and worked on the preparations for the Great Exhibition of 1851, in addition he created drawings of medieval ironwork for Wyatt's book Metalwork , published in 1852 . He then worked for the architect Henry Clutton until 1856. Her design for the new construction of Lille Cathedral was awarded, but not carried out, as was the design for the Crimean Memorial Church in Constantinople, which was ultimately built to a design by its competitor George Edmund Street . Burges became Clutton's partner in 1855, but their collaboration ended in 1856.

Burges was strongly influenced in his work by the work of Pugins . In addition, the young architect made several trips to Europe from 1849, during which he visited northern and southern France, Italy, Sicily, Greece, the Ottoman Empire, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany and Spain, where he visited and studied Gothic buildings. In addition, he dealt with Japanese, Indian, Scandinavian and North African art. His focus was on the architecture of the 13th century, and his drawing was mainly influenced by Villard de Honnecourt's medieval sketchbook and Albrecht Dürer . In the 1850s and 1860s he gained international recognition as an expert on medieval buildings, although he lacked the systematic approach of Viollet-le-Duc . During the same period, up to the mid-1860s, he developed a very personal neo-Gothic style, which was less influenced by the English than by the French Gothic, but was mainly an eclectic mix of French, Italian, Arabic, Japanese and Pompeian influences and was at times Burges style was called.

Tower House in Kensington, Burges residence in London

Burges style architect

Burge's short career was varied. He received his first major contract, the construction of St Finbarre's Cathedral in Cork , at the age of 35 in 1863. Other sacred buildings he designed include All Saints Church in Fleet in Hampshire, the extension of St Michael's Church in Brighton , Christ the Consoler Church in Skelton-on-Ure in Yorkshire and St Mary's Church in Studley Royal .

In 1865 Burges met the young Marquess of Bute . As the owner of the port of Cardiff, the young nobleman was considered the richest man in the world and was enthusiastic about the Middle Ages. Burges realized that he could implement his own architectural ideas for the wealthy marquess. After first building a new chapel for Bute's ancestral home, Mount Stuart , he was commissioned to convert Cardiff Castle into a residence for the Marquess. Bute created a richly designed fairytale castle, which he designed lavishly and imaginatively on the inside, with the deeply religious Bute setting the themes. In 1872 the construction of the Castells Coch , not far from Cardiff, followed , which externally is a reconstruction of a medieval castle, but inside is also richly decorated in parts.

Design for the Summer Smoking Room in Cardiff Castle

His other buildings include Park House in Cardiff, the mansion Knightshayes Court near Tiverton in Devon and his own London residence Tower House . In addition, he made designs for numerous other buildings, which were not executed, such as for the Cathedral of Truro , an art school in Bombay , a conversion of St Paul's Cathedral and for the new building of the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

After Burges had acquired his own style by the mid-1860s, he only developed it little further, only refined it. Towards the end of his life, he focused on design and creating an architectural fantasy world.

Work as a designer

Burges not only limited his work to architecture, but also included carvings, paintings, metal and stone carvings, and stained glass windows in his design. The interiors he designed had lavish, colored carvings, wall paneling and ceiling paintings. His designs are characterized by an enormous wealth of ornaments and decorations, whereby he was influenced by John Ruskin . He had already met Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his brother William Michael at school. Besides them, Burges was friends with most of the leading Pre-Raphaelite artists . For Burges, the neo-Gothic exterior architecture and the Pre-Raphaelite style painting went hand in hand in his buildings. In his work, he employed several Pre-Raphaelites as wall painters, stained glass manufacturers and furniture painters. For William Morris , the leading artist of the Arts and Crafts Movement , he was more of a rival than a friend, but with Edward William Godwin he was especially close at first. He worked for a time with Edward Burne-Jones , John Everett Millais , Simeon Solomon , Albert Moore , Thomas Morten , Charles Rossiter , Frederick Smallfield , John Anster Fitzgerald , Edward Poynter , Stacy Marks and numerous other artists. Burne-Jones, Poynter and Marks in particular owe him jobs at the beginning of their careers.

Sideboard made according to Burge's design, 1859

Burges designed outstanding pieces of furniture art such as the Yatman Cabinet , stained glass windows of the highest quality and also excellent jewelry and ironwork. In contrast to the work of Pugin and Morris, his designs for furniture, stained glass, and ironwork were never intended for mass production. Much of his work is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Higgins Art Gallery in Bedford .

Others

Burges never held an official position. He was a leading member of the Hogarth Club and other artist associations such as the Medieval Society and the Arts Club , as well as a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects , the Royal Archaeological Institute , the Architectural Museum and Architectural Exhibition Society , the Architectural Association and the Ecclesiological Society . Presumably his bohemian lifestyle prevented him from being accepted into the Royal Academy until shortly before his death , and he was never a member of the Society of Antiquaries .

His work influenced Josiah Conder , who worked in Japan, William Emerson in India and the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson . Burges was an enthusiastic Freemason and certainly also a Rosicrucian . He led an elaborate lifestyle, consumed alcohol and opium, and remained unmarried for life. He died three weeks after getting severely hypothermic during a long carriage ride after visiting his construction site in Cardiff. He was buried in Norwood Cemetery under a tombstone he designed for his mother. He left a large part of his extensive collection of weapons, ivory carvings and book illuminations to the British Museum . Most of his drawings are in Cardiff Castle, in the RIBA collection and in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Publications

He published numerous articles and essays as well as the books

literature

  • The strange genius of William Burges: "art-architect", 1827-1881 . A catalog to a centenary exhibition at the Amgueddfa Genedlaethol Cymru - National Museum of Wales; Cardiff, 1981. National Museum of Wales, Cardiff 1981. ISBN 978-0-7200-0259-1
  • J. Mordaunt Crook: William Burges and the High Victorian dream . University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1981. ISBN 978-0-226-12117-8

Web links

Commons : William Burges  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Victoria and Albert Museum: Style Guide: Gothic Revival. Retrieved October 2, 2014 .
personal data
SURNAME Burges, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British architect (neo-Gothic) and designer
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1827
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 20, 1881
Place of death Kensington