24 July 2010
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mausolea,
sepulchral cities
and elysium
are some of the items that caught my imagination when reading the 2001 pamphlet publication joseph gandy and the shadow of the enlightenment, by brian lukacher. the soane annual lecture series produces these modest publications based on the talks given by esteemed guest speakers. this title was suggested to me by ian pollard, good friend [and futurist], who apparently understands my 'taste' in architecture.
"gandy's mind ran on obsequies"
- john summerson
the deep and hollow worlds of gandy's imagination incite fear in me. and i suppose i value this type of work; this painting, prose or built thing; capable of a cerebral engagement, where understanding is secondary to an emotional reconstruction.
some similar work of the same time is that of william blake - clearly not for style but for tone and perhaps symbolism and subject in his drawings. blake, like gandy, probably became interested in dante's 14th century epic the divine comedy, in particular dante's inferno. considering blake was relatively unknown while he was alive, i doubt he and gandy ever met. i would like to be a fly on the wall there!
- pandaemonium - satan's palace
- bank of england in ruins
- epic bank of england in ruins
Labels: blake, gandy, mythology, soane, tombs
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