Capability Brown's Drawings: A Reference Catalogue of Drawings by Brown or his Office (c1740s to 1783) Including Architectural Drawings and Landscape Scenes

Author(s): Sarah Rutherford, Ceryl Evans

Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown was both the most outstanding landscape designer of his day and a respected architect of country house estates, with commissions throughout England, many of which combined both skills. During his career he fundamentally altered the relationship of the house with the designed landscape. As the architectural historian Howard Colvin expressed it, ‘In Brown’s hands the house, which before had dominated the estate, became an integral part of a carefully composed landscape intended to be seen through the eye of the painter and its design could not be divorced from that of the garden. So architecture as well as horticulture necessarily formed a part of Brown’s equipment.’ This Historic England research report presents an evolving reference catalogue of well over 100 existing architectural drawings and other drawn material from the office of the landscape designer Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown (1716-83). It forms part of the Capability Brown Festival legacy. As well as setting out the place name, type of building and drawing, and location of the original, where known, it provides information on published reproductions that are relatively easily available, including in monographs and scholarly journals such as Garden History. This research report forms a companion volume with the research report Capability Brown’s Plans: A Reference Catalogue of Design Plans and Surveys drawn by Brown or his Office (c.1750-83) (Historic England Research Report 5-2018).

Report Number:
64/2019
Series:
Research Report
Pages:
121
Keywords:
Gardens, Parks and Urban Spaces Landscape Park Landscape Building and Landscape Conservation Architectural Investigation

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