Kerry Downes

Kerry John Downes (8 December 1930 – 11 August 2019 ) 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 in Princeton, New Jersey on 8 December 1930 to Ralph Downes CBE KSG (1904–1993) and Agnes Mary Downes (née Rix). His father was the musical director at Princeton University's new chapel. The family returned to London, where in 1936 Ralph became the organist at the Brompton Oratory.

He graduated with a BA in 1952, then, as a conscientious objector, his two years of National Service were carried out as a hospital porter. This gave him the opportunity to continue his studies part-time. Returning to the Courtauld Institute of Art in 1954 he was employed as a library assistant.

He studied for his PhD on Nicholas Hawksmoor, under the supervision of Margaret Whinney. His PhD was awarded in 1960.

Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh Downes's reputation was built on his scholarship of two architects. His monograph on Nicholas Hawksmoor (Zwemmer 1959) was his PhD thesis, without the catalogue of drawings. At the time Hawksmoor was a little known pupil of Sir Christopher Wren, and his Christ Church, Spitalfields had been left to rot. Publication of the book helped to rescue the church from destruction by initiating a restoration programme for the church, with parish worship returning in 1987. Downes was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1961. In addition to his career at Reading, Downes was a commissioner with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (1981–93); Visiting Lecturer Yale University 1968; Honorary Visiting Professor University of York from 1994; President (1984–88) and Honorary Patron (2017) of the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain (1984–88). In 1994 he was appointed . In 1995 he was admitted as Honorary DLitt University of Birmingham.

His interests included the work of Sir Christopher Wren (16321723); the Flemish painter Sir Peter Paul Rubens (15771640) and Francesco Borromini (1599 - 1667). His fellow historian James Stevens Curl has written, "Downes's productivity seems to contradict his claim that procrastination is one of his recreations". 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.

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

Photographs by Kerry Downes are held at the Conway Library in the Courtauld, London, and are being digitised.

Death

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

Publications Hawksmoor, 1959, London: A. Zwemmer Ltd Hawksmoor, 1970, Thames and Hudson . Vanbrugh, 1977, London: A. Zwemmer Ltd . Georgian Cities of Britain, 1979, Phaidon Press . Sir Christopher Wren, 1982, Trefoil Publications Ltd . The Architecture of Wren, 1982, Universe Publishing . Sir John Vanbrugh: A Biography, 1987, Sidgwick & Jackson . Sir Christopher Wren: The Design of St. Paul's Cathedral, 1989, Aia Press . Rubens, 2006, Chaucer Press . Christopher Wren, 2007, Oxford University Press . Borromini's Book: The “Full Relation of the Building” of the Roman Oratory by Francesco Borromini and Virgilio Spada of the Oratory. Translated by Kerry Downes Wetherby: Oblong Creative, 2009.ISBN 9780955657641.