From Publishers Weekly
English architect, designer, polemicist and convert to Catholicism, Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) changed the course of Gothic Revival by linking it firmly to its medieval roots. No mere revivalist, he regarded Gothic as a living language, and his cathedrals, churches, colleges, seminaries, cottages and secular buildings are highly original and personal in their concern for context and texture. Pugin's design of the interiors of the Houses of Parliament reveals his mastery of pattern, color and ornament. He suffered periodic bouts of insanity and loss of eyesight, dying at 40 shortly after a complete mental breakdown, yet his legacy lived on in the Gothic movement in Europe and North America. The catalogue of an exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts in New York City, this handsomely illustrated study includes essays by 10 American and English scholars who discuss his tragic life, his architectural theory and the full range of his work in ceramics, furniture, sacred vestments, metalwork, textiles, jewelry, stained glass, tiles and wallpaper. Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852) was one of the most influential architects and designers of the nineteenth century. This catalogue and the exhibition it accompanies establish Pugin as a figure of worldwide significance. He is little known in the United States, but his ideas and the styles he created are the basis for the Gothic Revival in America. This most characteristic and dynamic style to emerge in the nineteenth century became synonymous with the period as a whole. The objects in the exhibition reflect Pugin's pioneering diversity as a product designer and the modernity of his design principles. Ten essays and their illustrations have been prepared by scholars of international stature. They show the development of pre-Pugiman Gothic, underline the revolutionary nature of Pugin's role in the history of architecture and design, and reflect his status now as an international figure. A. W. N. Pugin: Master of Gothic Revival was held at The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, from November 9, 1995 to February 25, 1996.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly