Neoclassicism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is not a very popular subject of study among architectural historians. Our long indifference to historicist architecture in general, which has only recently started to wane, may have contributed to this situation. Our tendency to depreciate post-1800 neoclassical architecture as a mere imitation of the Classical revival style of the long eighteenth century has probably been a crucial factor as well. Classical scholars, looking for correspondence and similarity in post-classical interpretations of the ancient architectural legacy, also have little interest in this later phase of neoclassicism. However, neoclassical architecture can be a promising subject for research in modern Classical reception, being an index to the socio-cultural status of antiquity in general.
V.S. and M.-L. came to this conclusion and consequently joined efforts as editors of a thought-provoking collection of essays on the post-1800 appropriations and recreations of ancient Roman, Greek and Egyptian architecture, analysed in their specific socio-cultural contexts. Historians of antiquity and modernity from the US, Canada, Britain and the Netherlands (some of them originally participated in a session on this subject, organised by v.S. and M.-L. at the 145th Society for Classical Studies Annual Meeting in Chicago in 2014) were invited to contribute to this book, which is divided into seven chapters, excluding an introduction and an afterword by the editors. This volume does not only present a selection of case studies that make us aware of how architectural and artistic references to antiquity could engage with modernity. It also aspires to provide the reader with a new framework for viewing and grasping the phenomenon of neoclassicism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the introductory essay, ‘Architectural Reception and the Neo-Antique’, the editors argue that the term ‘neoclassicism’ obscures the eclectic character of Classical references that were common in European and American architecture since the mid-nineteenth century. They suggest the umbrella term ‘neo-antique’ instead of neoclassical or neo-Egyptian, for the reason that it better describes the ‘bricolage of eclectic and/or achronic elements’ (p. 9) under consideration. The volume examines different examples of dwelling architecture (hence the book's title, Housing the New Romans, although the term ‘dwelling’ has a very broad meaning in this case), because, according to the editors’ suggestions, it allows the contributors to focus on the problem of identity in architectural place-making.
The first chapter, ‘(Re)presenting Romanitas at Sir John Soane's House and Villa’ by A. Kuttner, looks at how the famous British architect's residences at Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, and Ealing, Middlesex, ‘evoked the ancient Roman world’ (p. 24). This essay is a case study of the idea of a Classical home at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Kuttner investigates different ways of evoking Romanitas in Soane's houses, such as original Roman artefacts, casts and models, Classically-inspired exterior and interior design, mock ruins or depictions of original Classical decorations hanging on the walls. Kuttner stresses the socio-economic context of Soane's Classical enterprises in his houses that showcased the architect's intention to represent himself as a gentleman able to gratify the needs of his aristocratic clients.
Chapter 2, ‘The Hôtel de Beauharnais in Paris: Egypt, Greece, Rome, and the Dynamics of Stylistic Transformation’, emerged from the joint work of C. van Eck with M.J. Versluys on the Empire style, domestic design as a harbinger of fully-fledged historicism. Their analysis of the architecture of this Napoleonic palace is a case study of the formal transformation of Classical ornaments in the long eighteenth century. In their discussion of the well-preserved decorative elements of the palace, combining Greek, Roman and Egyptian references, they draw on contemporary debates about ornament and interior decoration. They conclude that it was not a coherent iconographical programme, but ‘the immersive effects of objects and their materiality’ that provided the idea for this spectacular enterprise. Also, they argue that the fanciful eclecticism of the Empire style was closely connected with the conquest of Egypt and Napoleon's imperialism. However, it seems that this last argument, although very intriguing, demands more discussion and context in order to make it more convincing.
The third chapter, ‘The History of Human Habitation: Ancient Domestic Architecture in Nineteenth-Century Europe’ by S. Hales, considers Charles Garnier's full-scale recreations of model ancient houses at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, 1889, part of the exhibition L'Histoire de l'habitation humaine. Her analysis of those temporary and non-residential structures underlines their connections with modern ideas of dwelling as well as their political and nationalistic connotations (that were especially evident in the original concept of the ‘Gallo-Roman’ House).
M.F. Nichols's ‘Domestic Interiors, National Concerns: the Pompeian Style in the United States’, is the fourth chapter. Nichols convincingly argues that the phenomenon of the ‘Pompeian room’, which was characteristic of American elite culture at the turn of the twentieth century, was not only a product of the American reception of Classical heritage, but it also reflected a fascination among the upper classes with European aristocratic culture. Nichols points out the role of the sumptuous (and very expensive) Pompeian interior design in private mansions as well as in hotels and restaurants as an ultimate status symbol – ‘a product of the quest to forge a pseudo-aristocratic identity for the super-rich’ (p. 151).
Chapter 5, ‘The Impossible Exedra: Engineering Contemplation and Conviviality in Turn-of-the-Century America’, engages with the discussion of the relationship between neoclassicism and national identity. M.B. Deusner chooses exedrae – semi-circular ‘monumental sofas’ (p. 157) that were often connected with public memorials in urban open spaces – to study the relationship between Classical reception and the American idea of democracy c. 1900. Deusner observes that the use of this ‘physical embodiment of democracy’ (p. 188) by poverty-stricken, unprivileged members of the national community was a controversial issue at that time. It reflected a deep division between the idealised image of ‘picturesque citizenry’ (p. 188) the American upper class identified with and the socio-economic realities that undermined it.
M.-L.’s ‘Entombing Antiquity: a New Consideration of Classical and Egyptian Appropriation in the Funerary Architecture of Woodlawn Cemetery, New York City’, Chapter 6, focuses on neo-antique mausolea that were built by wealthy self-made men in c. 1900. Paying a lot of attention to design and Classical sources of inspiration, M.-L. argues that the architecture of these tombs ‘was a visible symbol of social standing, elite belonging and erudition’ (p. 228). In her view, they played a significant role in the self-fashioning of their wealthy but parvenu owners who ‘embraced the Classical and Egyptian worlds as part of their process of legitimacy’ (p. 229). She observes that they were not replicas of ancient buildings but represented a general idea of antiquity as a source of social prestige.
The last chapter, ‘Reconsidering Hyperreality: “Roman” Houses and Their Gardens’, is by v.S. In her discussion of ‘three Neo-Antique sites of absolute fakery’ (p. 234), the Getty Villa in Malibu, California, the Pompeia in Saratoga Springs, New York, and the Crowninshield garden in Wilmington, Delaware, she expands on their ‘hyperreal’ character. V.S. argues that hyperreality, a ‘condition where the distinction between real and imaginary is erased’ (p. 233), can serve as a prism through which these ‘fakes’ can be recognised as cultural phenomena and analysed in a novel and unbiased way. It is not historical accuracy that is a problem to explore in the case of these previously disregarded (and two now demolished) sites, but the use of history as an instrument of modern self-fashioning.
The book ends with a short afterword, ‘New Romans, New Directions’, in which the editors summarise the most important points of the chapters. They point out that it is evident that neo-antique sites and structures were products of ‘the major ideas and trends of their era’ (p. 270) in architecture, archaeology, politics and culture in general. Moreover, they remark that the neo-antique often was an upper-class status symbol, and in the case of America it reflected an obsession with Europe. They reiterate their argument that the broad neo-antique framework enables us to deepen our understanding of modern eclecticism of Greek, Roman or Egyptian origins as a specific phenomenon in its own right.
The volume offers absorbing and inspiring case studies ushering us into a promising and underdeveloped field of architectural historical research. There is convincing evidence in this volume that the concept of the neo-antique is a useful methodological instrument. It helps us to recognise the socio-cultural meaning of this formal phenomenon, although the strong theoretical bent of some essays makes them less accessible to non-specialist readers. The book is thoughtfully illustrated, with many black-and-white photographs and a selection of colour images. Yet even such a groundbreaking work is not flawless. Apart from the essays written by the editors and Nichols, other contributions engage little with the discussion of the neo-antique and do not expand on the relevance of the term and concept in reception studies. This shortcoming does not subvert the editors’ key argument, but renders the book's narrative rather incoherent and the editors’ introduction (with their discussion of the neo-antique) less strongly related to what one reads in subsequent chapters. The book rather fails to live up to the promise of its generic title. The ‘modern world’ is reduced here to Britain (strictly speaking, England), France and above all the US. It may be even surmised that European examples served here only to shed light on foreign origins of American reception practices (if so, it is essential to clearly state it). It is not my intention to suggest that this book should include a variety of international case studies, including not only Italy and Germany but also Central and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, South America as well as European colonies in Africa and Asia. It is practically impossible. However, in my opinion, such books should not pretend to universality, but place emphasis on the specificity of the geopolitical territories that they cover. The editors do not explain why they include case studies from Britain, France and the US only, and why these chosen examples are so illustrative of the global phenomenon of the neo-antique. Nevertheless, the book with all its fresh insights into post-1800 neoclassicism is an essential read for anyone interested in Classical architectural tradition and classical reception in general.
