Frederick Etchells (14 September 1886 – 16 August 1973) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

artist and architect.

Biography

Etchells was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. His early education was at the London School of Kensington, now known as

The Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

where he studied on the Architectural course under

Arthur Beresford Pite Arthur Beresford Pite (2 September 1861 – 27 November 1934) was a British architect known for creating Edwardian buildings in Baroque Revival, Byzantine Revival and Greek Revival styles. The early years Arthur Beresford Pite was born on 2 S ...

(1861–1934) and two years under

William Lethaby William Richard Lethaby (18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of ...

, which brought him into contact with the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group was a group of associated British writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the early 20th century. Among the people involved in the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster, Vanessa Bell, a ...

. He was a contributor to the

Omega Workshops The Omega Workshops Ltd. was a design enterprise founded by members of the Bloomsbury Group and established in July 1913. Shone, Richard. (1999) ''The Art of Bloomsbury: Roger Fry, Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant''. Princeton: Princeton University ...

, but was one of those breaking away with

Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''Blast (British magazine), Blast'', the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His ...

; this breakaway began the Rebel Art Centre, with the Rebel Art Movement, somewhat akin to the

Dadaists Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had ...

in Paris. The Rebel Art Movement transformed into the

Vorticists Vorticism was a London-based modernist art movement formed in 1914 by the writer and artist Wyndham Lewis. The movement was partially inspired by Cubism and was introduced to the public by means of the publication of the Vorticist manifesto in '' ...

several of his illustrations appeared in the issues of the literary magazine ''

BLAST Blast or The Blast may refer to: *Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner *Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front *A planned explosion in a mine, ...

'' of which there were only two issues. There was a Manifesto, which not all of the artists involved signed up to; Etchells himself excluded his name from the manifesto. However William Roberts later painted Etchells holding the copy of ''BLAST'' in his work "

The Vorticists at the Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel, Spring 1915 ''The Vorticists at the Restaurant de la Tour Eiffel, Spring 1915'' is a 1961–1962 painting by the English artist William Roberts. It depicts the Vorticist group gathered at a French restaurant in London. Description The painting shows a cro ...

". Roberts wrote to Etchells wanting to confront Lewis about his prominence in the authorship of the magazine, to which Etchells declined since he no longer wanted anything to do with it. He, unlike many of the others from the Vorticists, remained acquainted with

Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and art critic, critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent ...

. In his architectural practice, Etchells produced some modernist buildings, the most well known of which are his designs for 232–4 High Holborn, London (1929–30) for the advertising firm WS Crawford Ltd., a commission he had obtained through his friend Ashley Havinden (1903–73) who was the company’s art director from 1929. This was the first fully modernist office building in central London. Its clean façade was matched by a modern interior, complete with built-in furniture and stainless steel. Etchells's main responsibility was the façade. Etchells's most significant work is his translation of

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

's ''

Vers une architecture ''Vers une architecture'', recently translated into English as ''Toward an Architecture'' but commonly known as ''Towards a New Architecture'' after the 1927 translation by Frederick Etchells, is a collection of essays written by Le Corbusier (Ch ...

'' known in its English title as '' Towards a New Architecture'': This has now been re-translated by John Goodman in his version ''

Toward an Architecture ''Vers une architecture'', recently translated into English as ''Toward an Architecture'' but commonly known as ''Towards a New Architecture'' after the 1927 translation by Frederick Etchells, is a collection of essays written by Le Corbusier (Ch ...

'' 2007. Etchells later translated another book of Corbusier's ''Urbanisme'', which in its English translation became ''The City of Tomorrow''. He gradually moved into architecture after a period of book publication, with the Haslewood Press. Later he became a church and

conservation architect Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...

. He had close associations with

John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...

who wrote his obituary. Betjeman was a tenant in one of Etchells's flats in Mayfair, this was during the period when Betjeman was a journalist with ''The Architectural Review''. One of his restorations was

St Andrew's Church, Plymouth The Minster Church of St Andrew, also known as St Andrew's Church, Plymouth is an Anglican church in Plymouth, Devon in England. It is the original parish church of Sutton, one of the three towns which were later combined to form the city of Pl ...

; he also restored St George's Church, Donnington,

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

after a fire in 1939, and St James's Church, Abinger Common,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

in 1950 after bomb damage during World War II. He contributed articles to the journal ''The Studio.'', though often anonymously and to ''Artwork''. He was an active member of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) and a founding member of the

Georgian Group The Georgian Group is a British charity, and the national authority on Georgian architecture built between 1700 and 1837 in England and Wales. As one of the National Amenity Societies, The Georgian Group is a statutory consultee on alterati ...

. In the 1930s Etchells purchased a weekend cottage in West Challow then called Holme Lea, a Queen Anne property. He lived there between 1939 and 1944, having moved out of London. During that time he acquired and renovated a second smaller house in West Challow into which he, his wife and daughter moved in 1944.1939 Electoral Roll, Berkshire West Challow He was married to Hester Margaret Sainsbury who was a book illustrator, painter and artist known for her performances to music.

References

Sources

*Aldham, Dinah ''Frederick Etchells, Artist and Architect''. London, Architectural Association (dissertation), 1977. *Dickson, Malcolm. ''Etchells (1886–1973)''. London, Architectural Association Library (thesis), 2005.https://aaschool.academia.edu/MalcolmDickson *Ind, Rosy & Wilson, Andrew "Frederick Etchells: Plain Homebuilder Where is your Vortex?" International Centrum voor Structuranalyse en Constructivisme. (ICSAC) Cahier 9/9: Vorticism. Brussels: 1988. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Etchells, Frederick 1886 births 1973 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters Architects from Northumberland Vorticists Conservation architects Group X 20th-century English male artists