Design for the Decoration of the Drawing Room at Eastnor Castle, Hertfordshire
Medium
Watercolor with touches of gold over graphite
Dimensions
sheet: 15 3/8 x 19 13/16 in. (39.1 x 50.4 cm)
Classification
Drawings|Ornament & Architecture
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Dodge and Fletcher Funds, 1967
Accession Number
67.736.49
Tags
Art Historical Context
This exquisite watercolor design, created around 1850 by Augustus Wel Northmore Pugin in collaboration with John Gregory Crace, envisions the opulent decoration of the drawing room at Eastnor Castle in Hertfordshire Pugin, a leading figure in the Gothic Revival movement, championed medieval-inspired architecture and interiors as a moral antidote to industrialization's excesses. Working with Crace, a skilled decorator from a renowned family firm, they crafted a harmonious blend of intricate details like draped curtains and elegant couches, evoking the grandeur of Gothic luxury. Rendered in wat...
About the Artist
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin|John Gregory Crace · 1812–1852
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) was a British architect, designer, and theorist whose fervent advocacy for Gothic architecture transformed Victorian Britain's built environment and established the intellectual foundations of the Gothic Revival movement. Born in London to the French architect and draughtsman Auguste Charles Pugin, he showed exceptional talent from childhood, producing de...