New-York tribune., 1922-12-03
The Adams
mir Works Exhaustively
SURVEYED

MIR Works ExhausuNeiy
Surveyed
th said that among the ehents OF
,-,,;,.n architects working IN the
-, domestic field there is a wide
-..,l enthusiasm for the Adam style
'..,lslly in interiors. II this is the
-. ths clients are in luck. They
~, had access hitherto 20 a very
- nook on the subject, Mr.. Swar-
.,i,p, ouarto, published six or seven
,,,r, ago. but this is now displaced
\. truly monumental work. It is an
.,h,ustive piece Of research. prepared
-, a. tile Of "The Architecture OF
p,ser+ and James Adam" by Mr.. Arthur
p,lton. curator Of the Soane
gs.u.m. The Scribners bring IT out
~, IN two magnificent fOlios, printed
|, lsrr. typs, with q multitude Of half
,.,. Ilustrations and line drawings. a
r,dallion portrait in gold on the cover
ant, N, last touch 20 singularly i'm
so.ins memorial Of q most interesting
,svs Of Easlish architectural history.
There IA 3 sns collection Of Adam
6savings 6. the Soane. Mr.. Bolton has
lived With Il, absorbing its spirit, and
b op.rhssling the buildings he de-
rribes he has obviously been at pains
10 yisi. each one Of them on the spot.
His study has therefore an inspiriting
vitality.
Il Is one which required in the writ
lrR certain vhole-hearted sympathy.
Robert Adam was not one Of those men
q genius whose ideas eonelusiyely en-
force themselves upon posterity. Mr.
Bolton devotes a chapter TO his nero 5
rriHes. I. was inevitable. The fam
Gus architect Of the later eighteenth
century remains to this day more or
less on The defensive. The reasons
A.. Of more concern TO the arehitee-
isrsl student than TO those who want
iasir rooms IN the Adam style Inc
after can easily justify their taste
II. student. looking at the Adams in
he length and breadth Of their
rhisvement. Is bound 20 make reserva-
liens. Mr.. Bolton, enthusiast as ne IS
ssvertheless gives as the clue to THIS
situation, "Robert Adams ideal he
says, "wss 70 replace the massiveness
q The seni-eonstruetional architee-
iurs ef the earlier Georgian interiors
by a system Of low relief ornamenta-
ton devoid Of constructional sig
tiheanse." Il was an innovation car
Ving Its own dangers. For one thing
i lured Adam into thinking too muen
about what ne himself called "the pic
isresque Of the composition" Sat
rated o. he was in the antique tradi-
ton. in the ideas Of Greece and Rome
and given abundant opportunity by his
Tssl,hy Georgian clients to work out
grtndiose conceptions, his failure 70
issign in strictly structural terms
vst him the nobility Of effect whieh
A,hs very life blood Of the idiom he
tajsyed.
Is critics whose judgments Mr.. Boil
Ton q inclined to deprecste are not
After all, too lightly to be dismissed
iAough we are free 70 confess that
"alpols, tor example, was more viva
elous than profound when he paid his
iari compliments 20 Robert Adam. The
ruth is that as an exemplar Of the
grand style the architect was decidedly
uneven. He did not by any means in
'anably secure the weight and unity
tsish mark Landadowne House and
n.ss Il truly impressive. He was more
."N pompous without splendor in his
-aoaasA His interiors. 100, were not
.aiieassftly oyerdonc. The majesty Of
.ae great hall at Kedleston, in Derby
a'lN' Is exceptional. lucky stroke.
o'' Adam detail is another story.
-" " what explains his modern
'Ss0~ II passage Of his essay on
.. '''s af's IN England be speaks Of arehi-
's'''ie oseonirg "more elegant and
.s's On to say: "The parade, the con-
'"''nee and social pleasures Of life
.1ns better understood, are more strict
!. |. a''ended 70 In the arrangement and
''p0'ition Of apartments. Greater
s''iy OF form, greater beauty in de-
'sn' greater gaye,y and elegance Of
'nsnent. are introduced into interior
''otation; while the outside compost
en is more simple, more grand, more
WED IN It's contour, and imposes on
= mind from the superior magnitude
q movement Of its parts AS Mr..
,i'on Is constrained to note. Robert
IAN has been laughed at as a quaek
? this easy justifcstion Of his own
'pethesis Of architectural virtue; but
zen you turn to his works and recall
sir function as backgrounds for the
easl life Of an epoch, you are con-