Title: Gottfried Semper : architect of the nineteenth century /
Authors: Mallgrave, Harry Francis.; Semper, Gottfried, 1803-1879.
Publisher: Yale University Press,
Year: 1996
Subjects: Semper, Gottfried,; Architects Germany Biography; Architects Switzerland Biography
Abstract: During an adventurous life, the German architect, scholar, and political revolutionary Gottfried Semper (1803-79) experienced early fame, political exile from his homeland, international prominence, and the exhilaration of seeing European architecture transformed by his influential body of ideas. In this engrossing biography of Semper - the first written on this architect - Harry Mallgrave presents a comprehensive account of the life, buildings, and writings of the man.
Contents: 1. The Despondent Years: 1803-1834. Gottingen, Munich, Regensburg. Paris, Bremerhaven, Paris. The Debate on Polychromy. Italy, Sicily, Greece. Return to Rome. Preliminary Remarks ... -- 2. Royal Success in Dresden: 1834-1849. Artistic Life in "Florence on the Elbe" The Crisis of Architectural Historicism in Germany. The Making of an Architect. The Dresden Hoftheater. Setbacks in Hamburg. Assyrian Alabaster -- 3. Refugee in Paris and London: 1849-1855. The "Semper Barricade" The Four Elements of Architecture. The "Great University of 1851" The Future of Art in the Industrial Age. Professor at the Department of Practical Art. Greek Tectonics and Ancient Missiles -- 4. The Zurich Years: 1855-1869. A New Start in Switzerland. Richard Wagner and the Munich "Episode" Prolegomena to a Theory of Style. Theory of Artistic Forms. The Masking of Reality in the Arts. The Third Volume of Der Stil -- 5. The Monumental Builder: 1869-1879. Overtures from Vienna. The Ringstrasse Monuments. Semper and the Birth of Tragedy.