DOI Heft:
No. 61 (April, 1898)
DOI Artikel:Modern domestic architecture: the work of Mr. Ernest Newton, [1]
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.18391#0195
The Work of Ernest Newton
que/ we applaud him, but if he is more influ-
enced by Mr. Whistler or by Rossetti he is in
danger of being regarded as a mere hanger on.
The fallacy the nineteenth century once prized
as its central truth was that the making of a style
belonged to the past. History conflicts with
such a theory: style has always been modified or
completely changed as conditions of life altered.
It is obvious that the nineteenth century only
found its own expression when it discarded all
attempts to model cottages on cathedrals and
mansions on Greek temples, and was content to
build houses wherein the chief aims were conveni-
ence and comfort, with an exterior expressing the
personality of the interior, not disguising it.
This argument is not urged in any way as a
defence of Mr. Ernest Newton; his works need no
special pleader to justify them. He has at times
employed what it is to be hoped will be known one
day as the " Norman Shaw style" as frankly as
others have followed Venetian Gothic or Cinque
Cento. To say that in doing this he has stamped
his own individuality upon his work is merely a
roundabout way of saying that he is an artist and
not a bungler. If in so slight a thing as address-
ing a letter certain people unconsciously place their
handwriting in a particular position, and even affix
the postage stamp so that a mere glance at the
envelope reveals the writer, it is proof that the
expression of personality affecting proportion and
relative planes is not uncommon. But it is true
that a vast number of excellent people have scarcely
a trace of this instinct for the placing of masses, as
it is true also that a large number of so-called
architects are satisfied with imitating as closely as
possible the work of others. In The Studio,
respect for precedent, but greater respect for con-
sistent disregard of it, has been preached again
and again. No more, therefore, need be said here of
general principles, but we may turn to Mr. Ernest
Newton's work, and find in it one of the best
arguments to support a claim that the style of
Norman Shaw is a genuine and logical develop-
ment of English domestic architecture, as closely
related to its predecessors as, say, Late Perpen-
dicular was to Early English, and yet with every
que/ we applaud him, but if he is more influ-
enced by Mr. Whistler or by Rossetti he is in
danger of being regarded as a mere hanger on.
The fallacy the nineteenth century once prized
as its central truth was that the making of a style
belonged to the past. History conflicts with
such a theory: style has always been modified or
completely changed as conditions of life altered.
It is obvious that the nineteenth century only
found its own expression when it discarded all
attempts to model cottages on cathedrals and
mansions on Greek temples, and was content to
build houses wherein the chief aims were conveni-
ence and comfort, with an exterior expressing the
personality of the interior, not disguising it.
This argument is not urged in any way as a
defence of Mr. Ernest Newton; his works need no
special pleader to justify them. He has at times
employed what it is to be hoped will be known one
day as the " Norman Shaw style" as frankly as
others have followed Venetian Gothic or Cinque
Cento. To say that in doing this he has stamped
his own individuality upon his work is merely a
roundabout way of saying that he is an artist and
not a bungler. If in so slight a thing as address-
ing a letter certain people unconsciously place their
handwriting in a particular position, and even affix
the postage stamp so that a mere glance at the
envelope reveals the writer, it is proof that the
expression of personality affecting proportion and
relative planes is not uncommon. But it is true
that a vast number of excellent people have scarcely
a trace of this instinct for the placing of masses, as
it is true also that a large number of so-called
architects are satisfied with imitating as closely as
possible the work of others. In The Studio,
respect for precedent, but greater respect for con-
sistent disregard of it, has been preached again
and again. No more, therefore, need be said here of
general principles, but we may turn to Mr. Ernest
Newton's work, and find in it one of the best
arguments to support a claim that the style of
Norman Shaw is a genuine and logical develop-
ment of English domestic architecture, as closely
related to its predecessors as, say, Late Perpen-
dicular was to Early English, and yet with every