Charles Locke Eastlake (11 March 1836 – 20 November 1906) was a British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728–1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745–1795) * Franco Albini (1905–1977) * Davis Allen ( ...

. His uncle, Sir

Charles Lock Eastlake Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (17 November 1793 – 24 December 1865) was a British Painting, painter, gallery director, collector and writer of the 19th century. After a period as Curator#Collections curator, keeper, he was the first director of ...

PRA (born in 1793), was a Keeper of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

, from 1843 to 1847, and from 1855 its first director, which results in some confusion between the two men, whose names are distinguished only by the presence or absence of an "e" in their middle names. The style of furniture named after him, Eastlake style, flourished during the later half of the nineteenth century. The Eastlake movement, a style of architecture, with old English and Gothic elements, is also named for him.

Life

Eastlake was born March 11, 1836, in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

. His formal education included studies at the

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

where he discovered an interest in architecture, along with the talent for drawing and painting in watercolors. Eastlake furthered his education with three years of travel throughout France, Italy, and Germany, developing his love for medieval building and architecture. Trained by the architect

Philip Hardwick Philip Hardwick (15 June 1792 in London – 28 December 1870) was an English architect, particularly associated with railway stations and warehouses in London and elsewhere. Hardwick is probably best known for London's demolished Euston Arch ...

(1792–1870), he popularized

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

's notions of decorative arts in the

Arts and Crafts style The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

, becoming one of the principal exponents of the revived Early English or

Modern Gothic Modern Gothic, also known as Reformed Gothic, was an Aesthetic Movement style of the 1860s and 1870s in architecture, furniture and decorative arts, that was popular in Great Britain and the United States. A rebellion against the excessive orname ...

style popular during the nineteenth century. His book, ''A History of the Gothic Revival,'' published in 1872, depicted buildings of

English Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed a ...

architectural style and the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

built between 1820 and 1870. This was influential to revivalists interested in restoring the language of Gothic tradition in England. Although he had the qualifications of an architect, Eastlake did not practice as one. In the years 1855 and 1856 he put forward several architectural designs for a number of projects, including a design for the Rugby Town Hall, but all were rejected. In the years following, Eastlake instead focused on journalism, the occasional design of interior goods, and furniture design. He did not make any furniture; his designs were produced by professional cabinet makers. Drawing room sofa design by Charles L

In 1868 he published ''Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and other Details'', which was very influential in Britain, and later in the United States, where the book was published in 1872. From 1866 to 1877 he was secretary to the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

, and from 1878 to 1898 he was Keeper of the

, London. He died, aged 70, at Leinster Square,

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

, and was buried at

Kensal Green Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington, London, North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent ...

Artistic recognition

A bust of Eastlake by John Gibson is held in the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

.Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.173

Notes

References

Bibliography

''A History of the Gothic Revival: an Attempt to Show How the Taste for Mediæval Architecture, which Lingered in England during the Two Last Centuries Has since Been Encouraged and Developed''.
Publisher: Longmans, Green & Co., London 1872;
''Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details''.
Edited by Charles C. Perkins. Publisher: J. R. Osgood, Boston 1874
''Notes on the Principal Pictures in the Brera Gallery at Milan''
Publisher: Longmans and Co., London 1883; * ''Notes on the Principal Pictures in the Louvre''. Publisher: Longmans and Co., London 1883; 1883
''Notes on the Principal Pictures in the Old Pinakothek at Munich''
Publisher: Longmans & Co, London 1884; * ''Notes on the Principal Pictures in the Accademia in Venice'', 1888
Art for the Nation: Sir Charles Eastlake at the National Gallery.
Exhibition at the National Gallery 27 July – 30 October 2011

Life

Artistic recognition

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading