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Nikolaus Pevsner

ニコラウス・ペヴスナー

Nikolaus Pevsner

Aliases: Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1902-01-30 (Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, German Empire)
Died
1983-08-18 (London, England) age 81
Nationality
German, British
Languages
German, English
Religion
Lutheranism
Residence History
Hampstead, London (1936-1983) → Clyffe Pypard, Wiltshire

Career

Occupations
Art historian, Architectural historian
Active Years
1924-1983
Affiliations
Penguin Books, Architectural Review, Birkbeck College
Memberships
Fellow of the British Academy (FBA), Founding member of the Victorian Society
Influenced By
Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius
Influenced
John Betjeman

Education

Leipzig University
Art History
Degree: PhD
Period: 1920s
Year of Graduation: 1924
Country: Germany
Thesis on Baroque architecture of Leipzig
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Art History
Country: Germany
Humboldt University of Berlin
Art History
Country: Germany
Goethe University Frankfurt
Art History
Country: Germany

Awards

Albert Medal
1975
Organization: Royal Society of Arts
Result: 受賞
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
1953
Organization: British Monarch
Result: 受賞
Knight Bachelor
1969
Organization: British Monarch
Result: 受賞
RIBA Gold Medal
1967
Organization: Royal Institute of British Architects
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Buildings of England

1951 Architectural Guide

46-volume series of county-by-county guides to the buildings of England

English ArchitectureVictorian Architecture

Pioneers of the Modern Movement

1936 Architectural History

Pre-history of modern design from William Morris to Walter Gropius

ModernismBauhaus

An Outline of European Architecture

1943 Architectural History

Outline of European architecture

European Architectural History

Bibliography

  • Pioneers of the Modern Movement (1936)
  • An Enquiry into Industrial Art in England (1937)
  • Academies of Art, Past and Present (1940)
  • An Outline of European Architecture (1943)
  • The Buildings of England series (1951–1974)
  • The Englishness of English Art (1956)
  • A History of Building Types (1976)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Detailed gazetteer styleEncyclopedic approachObjective analysis
Recurring Motifs
Revaluation of Victorian architecturePromotion of modernism

Legacy

Best known for The Buildings of England series; contributed to architectural conservation; Pevsner Guides continue today

Archives

  • Getty Research Institute (Los Angeles)
  • Historic England Archive (Swindon)

In Popular Culture

  • English Heritage blue plaque

Quotes

  • A bicycle shed is a building; Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture.
    Source: An Outline of European Architecture (1943)

Trivia

  • Born into a Russian-Jewish family, converted to Lutheranism in young adulthood
  • Initially supported some early Nazi policies but persecuted as Jewish and fled to England
  • Key figure in reappraising Victorian architecture