Sir John Soane's Museum
(Catalogue nos. 7-15)
Referred to as the ‘Academy of Architecture’ since it began to welcome students in the early nineteenth century, Sir John Soane’s house-museum in Lincoln’s Inn Fields is one of the most stunning historic interiors in London. It has provided a constant source of inspiration for artists. Preserved intact after Soane’s death, his seemingly haphazard but highly inventive approach to displaying his collection of plaster casts, Roman marbles and other artifacts never ceases to impress. Trevor, who first visited the museum in 1985, based this series on his initial impressions. He evokes awe at the displays in the house’s cavernous back and their spectral atmosphere.
Effectively a grisaille, catalogue no. 1 offers a close-up look at some of the casts from the Sepulchral Chamber, plus others appropriated from elsewhere in the collection or invented by the artist. In a sequence of enfilades (cat. nos. 7-9), Trevor recalls the visitor’s passage through the house, and includes two impressionistic views of the Monk’s parlour door, which is surmounted by architectural models. A loosely drawn view of the corridor between the picture room and the colonnade (cat. no. 11) contrasts with the more finished study of the library-dining room (cat. no. 12).
Two iconic views of the Monument Court are among the closing works in the series. One shows the cast of the celebrated Apollo Belvedere from the Vatican (cat. no. 13), considered in the eighteenth century to be the greatest sculpture to survive from antiquity, and the epitome of male beauty; the other is a view from the opposite side (cat. no. 15), in which the bust of Sir John Soane himself can be made out among the array of casts and sculpture, which Trevor has imaginatively rearranged and illuminated by the ethereal yellow light streaming in from the skylight.
Effectively a grisaille, catalogue no. 1 offers a close-up look at some of the casts from the Sepulchral Chamber, plus others appropriated from elsewhere in the collection or invented by the artist. In a sequence of enfilades (cat. nos. 7-9), Trevor recalls the visitor’s passage through the house, and includes two impressionistic views of the Monk’s parlour door, which is surmounted by architectural models. A loosely drawn view of the corridor between the picture room and the colonnade (cat. no. 11) contrasts with the more finished study of the library-dining room (cat. no. 12).
Two iconic views of the Monument Court are among the closing works in the series. One shows the cast of the celebrated Apollo Belvedere from the Vatican (cat. no. 13), considered in the eighteenth century to be the greatest sculpture to survive from antiquity, and the epitome of male beauty; the other is a view from the opposite side (cat. no. 15), in which the bust of Sir John Soane himself can be made out among the array of casts and sculpture, which Trevor has imaginatively rearranged and illuminated by the ethereal yellow light streaming in from the skylight.
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