George Aitchison Explained

George Aitchison Jr. RA (London 7 November 1825 – 16 May 1910) was a British architect and academic^{[1] [2]} of "considerable reputation".^[3]

He was the son of architect, civil engineer, and surveyor George Aitchison (1792–1861),^{[4] [5]} and educated at Merchant Taylors' School^[6] then University College London, obtaining a first class Bachelor of Arts degree (with honours in animal physiology) in 1850.^{[7] [8]}

His best-known work is Leighton House in Kensington, described by architectural historian J. Mordaunt Crook as "one of the most innovative houses of the Victorian period",^[9] which he designed for his friend, the artist Frederic Leighton.^{[10] [11] [12]} This generated a number of commissions from well-heeled clients and "established him as a master of decoration and ornament".^[13] Moncure D. Conway considered the house of Frederick Lehman in Berkeley Square to be Aitchison's "chef-d'œuvre", noting that the rooms he completed "would fein see themselves hung upon the walls of the Royal Academy, and not merely the designs of some of them, which were, indeed exhibited there".^[14]

Aitchison became an associate member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1881 and a full member in 1898, and was Professor of Architecture there from 1887^[15] to 1905. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1862, and after serving as its vice-president from 1889 to 1893, succeeded Francis Penrose as president from 1896 to 1899. He was awarded their Royal Gold Medal in 1898.^{[16] [17]}

Publications

• Book: Aitchison, George . 1878 . Restoration of Ancient Buildings . Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, 1877 . https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112109951662&seq=762 . London . Longmans, Green and Co. . 712–720,726 . HathiTrust.
• Book: Aitchison, George . 1883 . Address on Art . Transactions of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, 1882 . https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044105224018&seq=173 . London . Longmans, Green and Co. . 111–123 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 27 February 1886 . Architectural Education . . 50 . 2247 . 331–334,351 . Internet Archive.
• Aitchison . George . 6 March 1886 . Mouldings . The Builder . 50 . 2248 . 365–366 . Internet Archive.
• Aitchison . George . 13 March 1886 . Mouldings . The Builder . 50 . 2249 . 402–404 . Internet Archive.
• Aitchison . George . 15 December 1888 . Utilitarian Ugliness in Towns . The Builder . 55 . 2393 . 430–433 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 2 February 1889 . Roman Architecture . The Builder . 56 . 2400 . 85–88 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 9 February 1889 . Roman Thermæ: The Baths at Caracalla . The Builder . 56 . 2401 . 103–106 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 16 February 1889 . The Thermæ at Caracalla (Continued) . The Builder . 56 . 2402 . 121–124 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 23 February 1889 . The Roman Thermæ . The Builder . 56 . 2403 . 142–125 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 2 March 1889 . Decorative Materials . The Builder . 56 . 2404 . 162–165 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 9 March 1889 . The Principal Marbles Used By the Romans: An Appendix to the Fifth Royal Academy Lecture . The Builder . 56 . 2405 . 181–183 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . George . 16 March 1889 . Construction . The Builder . 56 . 2406 . 198–201 . HathiTrust.
• Aitchison . G. . January 1891 . The Principles of Decoration . Popular Science Monthly . 38 . 390–398 . Internet Archive.
• Aitchison . G. . 1892 . Byzantine Architecture . Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects . New series . 8 . 221–264.
• Book: Ward, James . Aitchison . George . 1896 . The Principles of Ornament . Second . London . Chapman and Hall . Internet Archive .

References

Sources

• Book: Hodgson . J. E. . John Evan Hodgson . Eaton . Fred A. . Frederick A. Eaton . amp . 1905 . The Royal Academy and Its Members 1768–1830 . London . John Murray . Internet Archive.

External links

• • Designs by Aitchison on the Royal Institute of British Architects website.
• Designs by, and photographs of Aitchison on the Royal Academy of Arts website.

Notes and References

1. News: . 17 May 1910 . Obituary – Mr. George Aitchison, R.A. . . subscription . London . 39274 . 10.
2. Book: Felstead . Alison . Franklin . Jonathan . Pinfield . Leslie . amp . 1993 . Directory of British Architects 1834-1900 . registration . London . Mansell Publishing . 0720121582 . 6 . Internet Archive.
3. Book: Curl, James Stevens . James Stevens Curl . 2006 . Aitchison, George, jun. . A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture . Second . https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofarch0000curl_a9p5/page/12/mode/1up . registration . registration . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 9780198606789 . 12 . Internet Archive.
4. . 1862 . Memoirs – Mr. George Aitchison . Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers . 21 . 569–571 . London . . Google Books.
5. Book: Colvin, Howard . Howard Colvin . 1978 . Aitchison, George (1792–1861) . A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 . https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict0000colv/page/61/mode/1up . registration . registration . London . John Murray . 0719533287 . 61 . Internet Archive.
6. Book: Robinson, Charles J. . 1883 . A Register of the Scholars Admitted Into Merchant Taylors' School: from A.D. 1562 to 1874 . II . Lewes . Farncombe & Co. . 260 . Google Books.
7. News: . 6 November 1850 . University Intelligence . subscription . The Times . London . 20639 . 3.
8. News: . 5 December 1850 . University Intelligence . subscription . The Times . London . 20664 . 8.
9. Crook . J. Mordaunt . J. Mordaunt Crook . 2004 . Aitchison, George (1825–1910) . subscription . 10.1093/ref:odnb/30356 .
10. Gere . Charlotte . May 2010 . Leighton House: Its Rise, Fall, And Rise . . 171 . London . Press Holdings Media Group . 54–59 . 0003-6536.
11. Droth . Martina . 2011 . Leighton's House: Art In and Beyond the Studio . limited . . 24 . 4 . 339–358 . 10.1093/jdh/epr038 . 41419642 . 0952-4649 . JSTOR.
12. Abrahams . Tim . February 2023 . There's No Place Like Home . . New York . BNP Media . 52–57 . 0003-858X.
13. Book: Lever . Jill . Richardson . Margaret . amp . 1984 . The Art of the Architect: Treasures from the RIBA's Collections . registration . London . Trefoil Books . 0862940605 . 25 . Internet Archive.
14. Book: Conway, Moncure Daniel . Moncure D. Conway . 1882 . Travels in South Kensington, with Notes on Decorative Art and Architecture in England . London . Trübner & Co. . 159 . HathiTrust.
15. News: . 14 March 1887 . The Royal Academy . subscription . The Times . London . 32019 . 6.
16. Book: Cooper, Thompson . Thompson Cooper . 1884 . Men Of The Time: A Dictionary Of Contemporaries . 11th . London . George Routledge and Son . 15 . Internet Archive.
17. . 28 May 1910 . The late Professor Aitchison, R.A. . . London . 17 . 14 . 581–583 . Internet Archive.