Kerry Downes
Kerry John Downes
Early life and education
Kerry Downes was born in Princeton, New Jersey on 8 December 1930 to
Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh
Downes's reputation was built on his scholarship of two architects. His monograph on Nicholas Hawksmoor (Zwemmer 1959) was his PhD thesis, without the catalogue of drawings. At the time Hawksmoor was a little known pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, and his Christ Church, Spitalfields had been left to rot. Publication of the book helped to rescue the church from destruction by initiating a restoration programme for the church, with parish worship returning in 1987.[1] The importance of this first book, Hawksmoor, was recognised by the award of the Society of Architectural Historians (GB) Alice Davis Hitchcock medallion in 1961.
His second book, Hawksmoor, (Thames & Hudson 1969) explored Hawksmoor's divergence from Wren, and the influence of imagination, with reference to the hall of All Souls College, Oxford.
Downes also wrote two books on
Life and career
Downes left his job as a librarian at the Courtauld in 1958. He took up a similar position at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham until 1966. He then joined the recently appointed Peter Fitzgerald at the
His interests included the work of Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723); the Flemish painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640) and Francesco Borromini (1599 - 1667). His fellow historian James Stevens Curl has written, "Downes's productivity seems to contradict his claim that procrastination is one of his recreations".[5] In 1993, a collection of 24 original essays by colleagues, pupils and friends was dedicated to him, entitled English Architecture Public and Private: Essays for Kerry Downes.[6]
Downes married Margaret Walton, a music librarian with a contralto voice in 1962; they remained a devoted couple until her death in 2003.
Photographs by Kerry Downes are held at the Conway Library in the Courtauld, London, and are being digitised.[7]
Death
Downes died in York on 11 August 2019, aged 88.[8]
Publications
- Hawksmoor, 1959, London: A. Zwemmer Ltd
- Hawksmoor, 1970, ISBN 978-0500181034.
- Vanbrugh, 1977, London: A. Zwemmer Ltd ASIN B004H74CP6.
- Georgian Cities of Britain, 1979, ISBN 978-0714819488.
- Sir Christopher Wren, 1982, Trefoil Publications Ltd ISBN 978-0862940300.
- The Architecture of Wren, 1982, ISBN 978-0876633953.
- Sir John Vanbrugh: A Biography, 1987, ISBN 978-0283994975.
- Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1989, Aia Press ISBN 978-0913962909.
- Rubens, 2006, Chaucer Press ISBN 978-1904449201.
- Christopher Wren, 2007, ISBN 978-0199534517.
- Borromini's Book: The “Full Relation of the Building” of the Roman Oratory by Francesco Borromini and Virgilio Spada of the Oratory. Translated by Kerry Downes Wetherby: Oblong Creative, 2009.ISBN 9780955657641.
References
- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
- TheGuardian.com. 5 February 2011.
- ^ "Professor Kerry Downes (1930-2019) obituary". 8 October 2019.
- ^ "Architectural historian Kerry John Downes, 1930 – 2019".
- ISBN 978-0-19-860678-9. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ISBN 978-1852850951.
- ^ "Who made the Conway Library?". Digital Media. 30 June 2020. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 25 February 2021.
- ^ Bold, John. "In Memoriam Kerry Downes". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
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