Studies In The Thought Of Nicholas Pevsner

Sir Nikaulas Pevsner is a well-known German scholar of British art history and architects.He is best known for the 46-volume The Buildings of England series.His other important works include Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius,Outline of European Architecture,The Englishness of English Art,etc.Pevsner's research involves design history,art history,architectural history,urban planning and other fields.He is a scholar with profound knowledge and writing.Pevsner's thoughts mainly involve three parts,namely design history,art history and architectural history.Among them,design history belongs to his early research,and in the middle and later stages he devoted himself to the research of art and architectural history.The modern movement that Pevsner strongly promotes is characterized by fit for its purpose,no decoration,unity,functionalism,and bold use of new materials.He believed that modern movement originated in England,and he called William Morris the true prophet and father of modern movement,and he believed that Gropius finally determined the characteristics of modern movement.In the An Enquiry Into Industrial Art in England,based on the data he collected in practice,he advocated the adoption of the principles of modern movement in British industrial design and emphasized the ethics and social responsibilities behind the design.In his early years,Pevsner received the art history education of the traditional Hegelian system in Germany.He built a bridge between the theoretical art history research in Germany and the traditional British art history research focusing on identification and archeology.Whether it conforms to the Zeitgeist is an important criterion for him to review architecture and art.In the Outline of European Architecture,Pevsner relied on his strong understanding and comprehensive ability,combined with the theoretical foundation acquired over the years,to compress the long history of European architecture into a pamphlet with only more than two hundred pages,which was very popular in public.In the subsequent “The Englishness of English Art” Reith Lecture,Pevsner combed the development process of British art history for his British audience in detail,clarified the main characteristics of British art,and concentratedly reflected his geography and nationality of art theory.While the impact of the lecture was far-reaching,it was also extremely controversial because it involved ethnic issues.An important turning point in Pevsner's thought was that during his time as an editor,he participated in the launch of Architectural Review in the 1940 s to encourage Britain to develop a softer,more eclectic,and more humane modernism.In opposition to the classicism of the totalitarian regimes(and in unspoken opposition to the totalitarian aspects of International Modernism),the picturesque could be seen as reflective of English liberty and democracy.Because of his great influence in British,Pevsner was called the academic "saint" in the British cultural circle.He is also a "popular" scholar,and has long been one of the favorite scholars of the British public.As an outsider,he allowed the British people to have a clearer understanding of British art,architecture,and even themselves in the process of comparing him with themselves.But at the same time,because of the contradictory nature of Pevsner's thoughts,it has also triggered intense discussions and even dissatisfaction in the British academic circle.He is a controversial scholar.Nevertheless,his fertility and erudition will always fascinate us.