Overview

An in-depth study that sheds a fascinating new light on Sir John Soane (1753–1837) and his world-renowned collection Sir John Soane's architecture has enjoyed a revival of interest over the last seventy years, yet Soane as a collector—the strategy behind and motivation for Soane's bequest to the nation—has remained largely unexplored. While Soane referred to the display of objects in his house and museum as ""studies for my own mind,"" he never explained what he meant by this, and the ambiguity surrounding his motivation remains perennially fascinating. This book sheds light on a side of Soane's personality unfamiliar to most students of his life and work by examining key strands in his collection and what they reveal about Soane and the psychology of collecting. Topics include the display of antiquities; his fascination with ruins, both literal and figurative; his singular response to Gothic architecture; and his investment in modern British painting and sculpture. These aspects are bookended by an introductory biographical chapter that highlights the ways in which his family and career informed his collecting habits as well as an epilogue that analyses the challenges of turning a private house and collection into a public museum.

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9780300275698

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Reviews

“Elegantly and engagingly written for the general reader and richly illustrated with full-colour photographs.”—Laura Freeman, Times (UK) “Richly illustrated with new photography and material uncovered from museum archives. . . . A treasure house of anecdotes and analysis that does full justice to the spectacle of Soane’s breathtaking Wunderkammer.”—Tim Newark, The Spectator “This handsomely produced book opens the complexity of Soane’s collecting and installation for an interested non-specialist better than anything that has gone before.”—Alan Powers, CountryLife

“Elegantly and engagingly written for the general reader and richly illustrated with full-colour photographs.”—Laura Freeman, Times (UK) “Richly illustrated with new photography and material uncovered from museum archives. . . . A treasure house of anecdotes and analysis that does full justice to the spectacle of Soane’s breathtaking Wunderkammer.”—Tim Newark, The Spectator

Author Information

Bruce Boucher is an art historian and curator who served as director of Sir John Soane’s Museum from 2016 to 2023. Specializing in Italian Renaissance, Baroque, and Neo-classical art and architecture, he is the author of a number of books, including The Sculpture of Jacopo Sansovino, Andrea Palladio: the Architect in his Time and Earth and Fire: Italian Terracotta Sculpture from Donatello to Canova.

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