'...then
came the painter '
Historical Reflections on the Paint Schemes
of Robert Adam
He came, at the head of a regiment of artificers,
an hour after the time promised, the bricklayer talked about
the alterations to be made in a wall, the stonemason was as
eloquent about the coping of the said wall ...then came
the painter, who is painting my ceilings in various
colours, according to the present fashion.
So
wrote Mrs Elizabeth Montague to the Duchess of Portland, on
the arrival of Robert Adam and his workmen at Montague (Portman)
House, London, 20 July 1779. To coincide with the symposium
The Redecoration of Adam Interiors, to be held at Syon
House on November 7-8, 1997, the following is a collection of
quotes arranged as a lighthearted account of Adam's thoughts
on colour and architecture, how he worked with his entourage
of craftsmen, and how the Adam style was viewed by his contemporaries
and succeeding generations.
The
eminent architect-designer often articulated his intentions
through numerous drawings and correspondence but our understanding
of his colour schemes remains problematic. He wrote:
The
grounds of the panels and frieze are coloured with light tints
of pink and green, so as to take off the glare of white, so
common in every ceiling till of late. This always appeared to
some so cold and unfinished, that I ventured to introduce this
variety of grounds, at once to relieve the ornaments, remove
the crudeness of the whites, and create a harmony between the
ceiling and the side walls, with their hangings, pictures and
other decorations. 1
Expression
of these intentions, through the hands of the craftsman, required
the architect's influence, as Adam described:
It
gives me great pleasure to hear that Gravesnor (the carver)
has done the Alabaster Capitals so well. I hope if he is now
convinced of his former erroneous ways he will improve every
day when he sees the difference between the simplicity &
Elegance of the Ancient Manner from the Confusion & littleness
of the present stiles.2
Like
all architects, he was besieged by the problems of keeping his
craftsmen on schedule:
I
hope this month we shall nearly finish your room in Hill Street,
the gilders are at Work, and I am doing all I can to push them
on; My long absence from Town has made them more Dilatory than
they otherways would have been ...
3
Once
the painters left the scene, in came the critics. Horace Walpole
wrote:
I
dined with the Harcourts at Mrs Montagu's new palace, and was
much surprised. Instead of vagaries, it is a noble simple edifice.
When I came home, I recollected that though I had thought it
so magnificent a house, there was not a morsel of gilding. It
is grand, not tawdry, nor embroidered and pomponned with shreds
and remnants, and clinquant like all the harlequinades of Adam,
which never let the eye repose a moment.
4
One
writer admired the new painted interiors of Saltram, which may
have been influenced by Adam, as he was working in the house
at the time:
...in
the first place we all agree that you have seen nothing at Saltram,
the house & place are so much improved... the house is painted
inside & out, ... the hall the lightest green that ever
was the ornaments white, ... The Red Velvet Room the ground
of the ceiling lightest of Greens & the Cornice Pink but
not liking that they turned it to white & Therese with her
usual taste ordered all the moulding, & parts of the Capitals
of the Columns to be Gilt, which makes the Room much chearfuller
& handsomer... 5
Samuel
Johnson was less flattering of Kedleston:
It
would do excellently for a town hall. The large room with the
pillars would do for the judges to sit in at the assizes: the
circular room for Jury Chamber; and the room above for prisoners.
6
Such
criticism did not necessarily constitute Adam's legacy. Sir
John Soane spoke eloquently of the architecture of the great
Derbyshire hall:
I
cannot, however, pass by Kedleston, which although begun by
Mr Paine, may, notwithstanding be considered as one of the great
works of my late friend Mr. Robert Adam. In this superb structure
he has united in no inconsiderable degree the taste and magnificence
of a Roman villa with all the comforts and conveniences of an
English Nobleman's residence, and though some hyperfastidious
critics may endeavour to wrest from the great artist his well
earned fame... I can only regret that more such happy attempts
were not made to display the powers of pure architecture. 7
Indeed,
within half a century of Soane's speech, an Adam decorative
arts revival was underway. At a time of enhanced appreciation
of the Adam style, Mrs D'Oyly Carte commissioned the American
painter Whistler to decorate her Adam London residence. Her
words imply Whistler's deference to Adam:
It
would not be quite correct to say that Mr Whistler designed
the decorations of my house, because it is one of the old Adam
houses in Adelphi Terrace, and it contained the original Adam
ceiling in the drawing-room and a number of old Adam mantelpieces,
which Mr Whistler much admired, as he did also some of the cornices,
doors and other things. What he did do was to design a colourscheme
for the house, and he mixed the colours for distempering the
walls in each case, leaving only the painters to apply them.
In this way he got the exact shade he wanted...
8
The
aesthetic intent of Whistler's colour scheme can only be conjectured.
His own perceptions of Adam's original colours are also unknown.
In the least, the artist had turned his mind to representing
an Adam interior which much impressed him.
In
the middle of this century, many Adam interiors were reinterpreted
by the fashionable interior decorator, John Fowler. These programmes
were not based on research, but rather on an intuitive design
sensibility:
The
hall at Syon is one of Adam's noblest Roman works, but on many
days in the year it could look coldly Roman when painted in
a single dead white, and when the Duke of Northumberland asked
John Fowler to paint it, he decided not only to give greater
articulation to the architecture but to introduce a degree of
warmth as well. 9
At
the forthcoming symposium, a number of speakers will be addressing
the issue of how Adam's colour schemes are perceived and presented
at the end of the 20th century. Unlike previous generations,
we have the advantage of scientific analysis as a tool in deciphering
his architectural palette and this, combined with extensive
archival research provides a basis for our present interpretations.
However, even this wealth of information is subject to differing
approaches by individuals and institutions.
The
authors express thanks to Eileen Harris, and to National Trust
colleagues Ceri Johnson, Tim Knox and Jill Banks for their assistance.
CHRISTINE SITWELL AND JOHN STEWART (The National Trust), October
1997
1
Arthur Bolton, The architecture of Robert and James Adam
-1758- 1794, 2 vols, London, Country Life, 1922.
2 Kedleston Archives, courtesy of Jill Banks, Archives Researcher,
Kedleston.
3 Bolton, op cit. Letter from Robert Adam to Mrs Montagu,
October 11, 1766.
4 Bolton, op cit. Horace Walpole, February 14, 1782.
5 Letter to Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham, from his brother
Frederick, headed Saltram 11, 1770 (Courtesy of Eileen Harris).
6 Bolton, op cit. Samuel Johnson on Kedleston, August
1777.
7 Bolton, op cit. Sir John Soane, March 2, 1815, lectures at
the Royal Academy.
8 Charlotte Gere, Nineteenth century decoration; the
art of the interior. London, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1989,
328-29.
9 John Cornforth, The inspiration of the past. Harmondsworth,
Viking, 1985,185.
THE
TRADITIONAL PAINT FORUM
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Note: SMUDGE is a regular news and information supplement to
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