Main entry:

Boucher, Bruce, author.

Title & Author:

John Soane's cabinet of curiosities : reflections on an architect and his collection / Bruce Boucher.

Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2024]
©2024

Description:

224 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color plans ; 28 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 187-197) and index.
Prologue: becoming John Soan(e) -- A maze without a plan? John Soane's display of antiquities -- Soane's 'Etruscan' vases -- A life in ruins -- The monk's parlour: gothic architecture or a gothic novel? -- A temple of British worthies: Shakespeare and Hogarth -- The Tivoli Recess: Soane and modern British sculpture -- A migration of paintings: the old and new picture rooms -- Epilogue: becoming a museum.

Summary:

An in-depth study that sheds a fascinating new light on Sir John Soane (1753-1837) and his world-renowned collection. Sir John Soane's architecture has enjoyed a revival of interest over the last seventy years, yet Soane as a collector, the strategy behind and motivation for Soane's bequest to the nation has remained largely unexplored. While Soane referred to the display of objects in his house and museum as "studies for my own mind," he never explained what he meant by this, and the ambiguity surrounding his motivation remains perennially fascinating. This book illuminates a side of Soane's personality unfamiliar to most students of his life and work by examining key strands in his collection and what they reveal about Soane and the psychology of collecting. Topics include the display of antiquities; his fascination with ruins, both literal and figurative; his singular response to Gothic architecture; and his investment in modern British painting and sculpture. These aspects are bookended by an introductory biographical chapter that highlights the ways in which his family and career informed his collecting habits as well as an epilogue that analyzes the challenges of turning a private house and collection into a public museum.

ISBN:

9780300275698 hardcover
0300275692 hardcover

Subject:

Soane, John, 1753-1837 Art collections.
Sir John Soane's Museum.
Art Private collections England London.
Art Collections privées Angleterre Londres.

Form/genre:

Biographies.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 319826
Call No.: 319826
Copy: 1
Status: Available