Charles Harry Ralph Handley-Read (1916 – 17 October 1971) was an architectural writer and collector
and the first serious 20th-century student of the work of
William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
, "a pioneer in Burges studies who was the first to assess the historical brilliance of Burges as ''
gesamtkunstwerk
A ''Gesamtkunstwerk'' (, literally 'total artwork', translated as 'total work of art', 'ideal work of art', 'universal artwork', 'synthesis of the arts', 'comprehensive artwork', or 'all-embracing art form') is a work of art that makes use of al ...
'' architect and designer."
Life and works
Charles Handley-Read was born in 1916 to a father who was a magazine illustrator and military artist and a mother who, beside being one of the first qualified female doctors and dentists, was a militant
suffragette. In the thirties, he went up to
St Catharine's College, Cambridge to read architecture, and upon graduation became art master at his old school,
Bryanston
Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an ind ...
. His career was interrupted by the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
during which, as a
conscientious objector, he worked at the
epileptic
Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...
colony at
Lingfield, developing
art therapy for children.
On the resumption of his career, Handley-Read's architectural passion was
Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
and in 1951 he completed his monograph on "''The Art of
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,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists.
His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...
.''" However, the subsequent, and very different, course of his life was set when, in 1952, he saw the Exhibition of
Victorian and
Edwardian
The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...
Decorative Arts at the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
.
Following the exhibition, and his marriage to Lavinia Staunton, a devotee of Victorian sculpture, Handley-Read "pinned all his hopes and dreams on one all-consuming passion, the work of
William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
." In the period between the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the 1960s Victorian architecture reached its nadir of appreciation; "at best an unhappy interlude between Neo-Classicism and Modernism; at worst a period of grotesque bad taste, associated with religious cranks like
Pugin and Socialist crackpots like
Ruskin and
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...
." The desire for, and consequently the prices of, the Victorian decorative arts were therefore at an all-time low. Handley-Read and his wife, aided by a considerable inheritance, began to collect on an increasingly gargantuan scale. While his collection expanded, his ability to write about the works he bought did not: "A lifetime spent struggling to write produced just seventeen articles." Accepting his own inability to undertake Burges's biography, Handley-Read wrote to a friend,
Joseph Mordaunt Crook
Joseph Mordaunt Crook, (born 27 February 1937), generally known as J. Mordaunt Crook, is an English architectural historian and specialist on the Georgian and Victorian periods. He is an authority on the life and work of the Victorian architect ...
; "Now look. You have just edited
Eastlake's ''Gothic Revival''...with complete success. You are well soaked in
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute, (12 September 1847 – 9 October 1900) was a landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist, and architectural patron.
Succeeding to the marquisate at the a ...
. You know all about
Smirke...why not do William Burges?...partnership is less than I am looking for. I want to hand the job over."
On 17 October 1971, at 82 Ladbroke Road,
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
,
[ Handley-Read committed suicide. He left a substantial estate, valued for probate at £161,768.]["Handley-Read, Charles Harry Ralph of 82 Ladbroke Road London W11" in ''Wills and Administrations 1972 (England and Wales)'' (1973), p. 56] His wife Lavinia killed herself on 9 December of the same year. These events shocked their friends; the architectural historian Mark Girouard, who was close to them both, wrote, "they loved each other, had enough money, a pleasant home, plenty of friends, and had achieved something remarkable."
In an article he wrote in '' Country Life'' in March 1972, Girouard described his visits to their London home to view their collection. Of Charles and Lavinia, he recalled "two highly strung, vulnerable and complicated people who for 18 years had supported each other". Their collection of Victorian artefacts was broken up at sale. Many pieces were bought by major museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
and Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...
, as well as private collectors. The largest part of the collection to stay together was the 200 plus pieces purchased by The Higgins Art Gallery & Museum, Bedford, including William Burges's own bed and dressing table.
Handley-Read's notes on William Burges were passed to Joseph Mordaunt Crook
Joseph Mordaunt Crook, (born 27 February 1937), generally known as J. Mordaunt Crook, is an English architectural historian and specialist on the Georgian and Victorian periods. He is an authority on the life and work of the Victorian architect ...
and became the basis of his seminal work on Burges, ''William Burges and the High Victorian Dream''. The book received very positive reviews and was instrumental in establishing Burges's rehabilitation. A rare criticism is contained in a review written by Anthony Symondson in 1982. Symondson's critique relates not to Burges, but rather to Crook's portrait of Handley-Read; "those of us who knew (him) do not find him in Dr Crook's prelude, however cleverly written and closely researched".
References
Sources
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Handley-Read, Charles
1916 births
1971 deaths
People educated at Bryanston School
Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge
British conscientious objectors
British architecture writers
British architectural historians
Suicides in Kensington
20th-century British historians
1971 suicides