William Kent

William Kent (born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, c. 1685 - April 12, 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century. Image File history File links William_Kent. ... Image File history File links William_Kent. ... Bridlington beach, from the North Pier Map sources for Bridlington at grid reference TA178669 Bridlington is a town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. ... The White Yorkshire rose. ... Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... April 12 is the 102nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (103rd in leap years). ... Events April 24 - A congress assembles at Aix-la-Chapelle with the intent to conclude the struggle known as the War of Austrian Succession - at October 18 - The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle is signed to end the war Adam Smith begins to deliver public lectures in Edinburgh Building of... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... A landscape architect is primarily a designer of spaces, mostly landscapes, and sometimes gardens, in the field of landscape architecture. ... Furniture is the collective term for the movable objects which support the human body (seating furniture and beds), provide storage, and hold objects on horizontal surfaces above the ground. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ...

Education

Kent's career began as a sign and coach painter who was encouraged to study art, design and architecture by his employer. A group of Yorkshire gentlemen sent Kent for a period of study in Rome, where he met Thomas Coke, later 1st Earl of Leicester, with whom he toured Northern Italy in the summer of 1714 (a tour that led Kent to an appreciation of the architectural style of Andrea Palladio's palaces in Vicenza), and Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, who took him back to England in 1719. As a painter, he displaced Sir James Thornhill in decorating the new state rooms at Kensington Palace, London; for Burlington, he decorated Chiswick House and Burlington House. City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697–1759) was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. ... // Events August 1 - George, elector of Hanover becomes King George I of Great Britain. ... Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio (November 30, 1508 - August 19, 1580), or Andrea di Pietro della Gondola, was an architect born in Padua, Italy. ... Vicenza by night Vicenza (population 107,223) is the capital of the province of Vicenza in the Veneto region, northern Italy at the northern base of the Monti Berici, straddling the Bacchiglione. ... Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork (April 25, 1694 – 1753) , born in Yorkshire, was a descendant of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. ... // Events January 23 - The Principality of Liechtenstein is created within the Holy Roman Empire April 25 - Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe June 10 - Battle of Glen Shiel Prussia conducts Europes first systematic census Miners in Falun, Sweden find an apparently petrified body of Fet-Mats Israelsson in an unused... Sir James Thornhill (25 July 1675 or 1676 - May 4, 1734) was an English painter of historical subjects, in the Italian baroque tradition. ... The south facade of the main block of Kensington Palace, seen through Jean Tijous wrought iron gates. ... Chiswick House Chiswick House is a Palladian villa in Burlington Lane, Chiswick, London W4, England. ... Burlington House is a courtyard building off Picadilly in London. ...

Architectural works

He is better remembered as the central architect of the revived Palladian style in England. Burlington gave him the task of editing The Designs of Inigo Jones... with some additional designs in the Palladian/Jonesian taste by Burlington and Kent, which appeared in 1727. As he rose through the royal architectural establishment, the Board of Works, Kent applied this style to several public buildings in London, for which Burlington's patronage secured him the commissions: the Royal Mews at Charing Cross (1731-33, demolished in 1830), the Treasury buildings in Whitehall (1733-37), the Horse Guards building in Whitehall, (designed shortly before his death and built 1750-1759). These neo-antique buildings were inspired as much by the architecture of Raphael and Giulio Romano as by Palladio. A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... Inigo Jones, by Sir Anthony van Dyck Inigo Jones (July 15, 1573–June 21, 1652) is regarded as the first significant English architect. ... Events June 11 - George, Prince of Wales becomes King George II of Great Britain. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... The Royal Mews is the mews (stables and in recent times also the garage) of the British Royal Family in London. ... The Victorian Eleanor Cross at Charing Cross The name Charing Cross, now given to a district of central London in the City of Westminster, comes from the original hamlet of Charing, where King Edward I placed a memorial to his wife, Eleanor of Castile. ... Whitehall, London, looking south towards the Houses of Parliament. ... Horse Guards viewed across Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards is a large building in the Palladian style between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. ... This page is about the artist. ... Fire in the Borgo, Vatican fresco Giulio Romano (ca 1499? – November 1, 1546) was an Italian painter, architect, and decorator. ...

In country house building, major commissions for Kent were designing the interiors of Houghton Hall (c.1725-35), recently built by Colen Campbell for Sir Robert Walpole, but at Holkham Hall the most complete embodiment of Palladian ideals is still to be found; there Kent collaborated with Thomas Coke, the other "architect earl", and had for an assistant Matthew Brettingham, whose own architecture would carry Palladian ideals into the next generation. A theatrically Baroque staircase and parade rooms in London, at 44 Berkeley Square, are also notable. Kent's domed pavilions were erected at Badminton House and at Euston Hall. The facade of Houghton Hall from Colen Campbells Vitruvius Britannicus. ... Palladian revival: Stourhead House, South facade, designed by Colen Campbell and completed in 1720. ... The Right Honourable Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), usually known as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. ... Holkham Hall. ... Holkham Hall. ... Berkeley Square in 1830. ... Badminton House is a large country house in Gloucestershire, England, and has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century. ... Euston Hall from Morriss County Seats (1880). ...

Kent could provide sympathetic Gothic designs, free of serious antiquarian tendencies, when the context called; he worked on the Gothic screens in Westminster Hall and Gloucester Cathedral. See also Gothic art. ... Clock Tower and New Palace Yard from the west The Palace of Westminster, on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster, London, is the home of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Gloucester Cathedral from the north east in 1828. ...

Landscape architect

As a landscape designer, Kent was one of the originators of the English landscape garden, a style of 'natural' gardening that revolutionised English garden design. He worked on Stowe, Buckinghamshire from about 1730 onwards, at Alexander Pope's villa garden at Twickenham, for Queen Caroline at Richmond and notably at Rousham House, creating a sequence of Arcadian setpieces punctuated with temples, cascades, grottoes, Palladian bridges and exedra, and opening the field for the broader achievements of Capability Brown in the following generation. His all-but-lost gardens at Claremont, Surrey, have recently been restored. It is often said that he was not above planting dead trees to create the mood he required. The term English garden or English park is used in many languages to refer to the style of informal landscape gardening which was popular in the United Kingdom from the mid 18th century to the early 19th century, and is particularly associated with Capability Brown. ... The south or garden front of Stowe from Jones Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen (1819). ... Alexander Pope, an English poet best known for his Essay on Criticism and Rape of the Lock Pope, circa 1727. ... Twickenham is a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in the south-west of London. ... Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (or Anspach) (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline) (1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737) as Queen Caroline was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain 1727-1737. ... Richmond is a suburb in southwest London, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. ... Rousham House is a Jacobean style country house in Oxfordshire, England. ... An exedra adopted by James Cameron for a neoclassical interior space, at the Hermitage In architecture an exedra is a semicircular recess, headed by a half-dome, which is usually set into a buildings facade. ... Lancelot Brown (1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape gardener. ... Claremont Landscape Garden, just outside Esher, United Kingdom, is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind - still featuring its original 18th century layout. ... Surrey is a county in southern England, part of the South East England region and one of the Home Counties. ...

Kent's only real downfall was said to be his lack of horticultural knowledge and technical skill (which people like Charles Bridgeman possessed - his impact on Kent is often underestimated), but his naturalistic style of design compensated. The Claremont, Stowe, and Rousham houses are places where their joint efforts can be viewed. The Stowe and Rousham houses are Kent's most famous works. At the latter, Kent elaborated on Bridgeman's 1720s design for the property, adding walls and arches to catch the viewer's eye. At Stowe, Kent used his Italian experience to give the manor a Romanist design, particularly with the Palladian Bridge. At both sites Kent incorporated his naturalistic views and lighting concepts. Charles Bridgeman (1690-1738) was an English garden designer in the onset of the naturalistic landscape style. ...

Furniture designer

His stately furniture designs complemented his interiors: he designed furnishings for Hampton Court Palace (1732), for Devonshire House in London, and at Rousham. The royal barge he designed for Frederick, Prince of Wales can still be seen at the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Hampton Court Palace with the Union Jack flying. ... A ball at Devonshire House in 1850. ... The Prince Frederick, Prince of Wales (Frederick Louis) (February 1, 1707 - March 31, 1751) was a member of the British Royal Family, the eldest son of King George II. He was born into the House of Hanover and was known as Duke Friedrich Ludwig of Brunswick-Lüneburg. ... The National Maritime Museum, Greenwich The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom, and one of the most important in the world. ... This page is about Greenwich in England. ...

In his own age, Kent's fame and popularity were so great that he was employed to give designs for all things, even for ladies' birthday dresses, of which he could know nothing and which he decorated with the five classical orders of architecture. These and other absurdities drew upon him the satire of William Hogarth who, in October 1725, produced a Burlesque on Kent's Altarpiece in St. Clement Danes. A refined canonic version of the Orders engraved for the Encyclopédie, vol. ... William Hogarth, self-portrait, 1745 William Hogarth (November 10, 1697 – October 26, 1764) was a major British painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, and editorial cartoonist who has been credited as a pioneer in western sequential art. ... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ...

Walpole tribute

According to Horace Walpole, Kent "was a painter, an architect, and the father of modern gardening. In the first character he was below mediocrity; in the second, he was a restorer of the science; in the last, an original, and the inventor of an art that realizes painting and improves nature. Mahomet imagined an elysium, Kent created many." Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, more commonly known as Horace Walpole, (September 24, 1717 – March 2, 1797), was a politician, writer and forerunner of the Gothic revival. ...

External links

• Short biography on gardenvisit.com
• Short biography on britainexpress.com
• Design examples on furniturestyles.net

Bibliography

Ross, David (2000). William Kent. Britain Express, 1-2. Retrieved September 26, 2004, from http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/kent.htm

Rogers, E. (1936). Landscape design a cultural and architectural history. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated.

Newton, N. (1971). Design of the land. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.