Kerry Downes

Kerry John Downes OBE FSA (8 December 1930 – 11 August 2019[1]) was an English architectural historian whose speciality was English Baroque architecture. He was Professor of History of Art, University of Reading, 1978–91, then Emeritus.

Early Life and Education

Kerry Downes was born on 8 December 1930 to Ralph Downes CBE KSG(1904–1993) and Agnes Mary Downes (née Rix). He was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing where his art teacher, Michael Franks, encouraged his interest in the Baroque and then read for his BA at the Courtauld Institute of Art, where he was inspired by the lectures of Margaret Whinney who supervised his PhD on Nicholas Hawksmoor (c. 1661–1736) awarded in 1960 the year after his book, Hawksmoor (1959) which he revisited in his 1970 book of the same title.[2][3]

Life and career

Downes was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1961. He was Lecturer in Fine Art at University of Reading 1966-1971, Reader 1971-1978, Professor 1978-1991 then Emeritus; Visiting Lecturer Yale University 1968; Honorary Visiting Professor University of York from 1994. Downes served as a member of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (1981–93) and as president of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (1984–88). In 1994 he was appointed OBE. In 1995 he was admitted as Honorary DLitt University of Birmingham.

His interests included the work of Sir John Vanbrugh (1664–1726) and Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), and the Flemish painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640). His fellow historian James Stevens Curl has written, "Downes's productivity seems to contradict his claim that procrastination is one of his recreations".[4] In 1993, a collection of 24 original essays by colleagues, pupils and friends was dedicated to him, entitled English Architecture Public and Private: Essays for Kerry Downes.[5]

Downes married Margaret Walton, a music librarian with a contralto voice in 1962 remaining a devoted couple until her death in 2003.

Death

Downes died in York on 11 August 2019, aged 88.[6]

Publications
  • Hawksmoor, 1970, Thames and Hudson ISBN 978-0500181034.
  • Vanbrugh, 1977, London: A. Zwemmer Ltd ASIN B004H74CP6.
  • Georgian Cities of Britain, 1979, Phaidon Press ISBN 978-0714819488.
  • Sir Christopher Wren, 1982, Trefoil Publications Ltd ISBN 978-0862940300.
  • The Architecture of Wren, 1982, Universe Publishing ISBN 978-0876633953.
  • Sir John Vanbrugh: A Biography, 1987, Sidgwick & Jackson ISBN 978-0283994975.
  • Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1989, Aia Press ISBN 978-0913962909.
  • Rubens, 2006, Chaucer Press ISBN 978-1904449201.
  • Christopher Wren, 2007, Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0199534517.

References
  1. Chaney, Edward (9 September 2019). "Kerry Downes obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  2. Chaney, Edward (9 September 2019). "Kerry Downes obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 September 2019.
  3. "Downes, Kerry". arthistorians.info. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  4. Curl, James Stevens (23 February 2006). "Downes, Kerry John". A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860678-9. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  5. Bold, John; Chaney, Edward, eds. (1 July 1993). English Architecture Public and Private: Essays for Kerry Downes. London: Hambledon Press. ISBN 978-1852850951.
  6. Bold, John. "In Memoriam Kerry Downes". Cambridge University Press. Retrieved 5 September 2019.


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