MUSIC AND ART
Raymond McGrath, God’s Architect We were fortunate to have been contacted by the granddaughter of famous architect, interior designer and alumnus, Raymond McGrath earlier this year. She sent a fascinating range of photographs of the architect in and around Cambridge (figure 1), and we thought it was worth investigating how one of the greatest pioneers of the Modernist movement in architecture was influenced and enthralled by Clare College. Over the course of his practice he became known as one of the great Modernist architects, responsible for St Ann’s Court in Chertsey, and the interiors of Broadcasting House in Portland Place, Dublin Castle and the Royal Hibernian Academy. He published two major and well-respected works, Twentieth Century Houses (1934) and Glass in Architecture and Decoration (1937). Mansfield Duval Forbes, Fellow of Clare and after whom the Forbes Mellon Library is partially named, was one of the greatest influences on McGrath’s life. It was Forbes who arranged for McGrath to become the first research student of architecture at Cambridge, introducing him to a plethora of influential individuals in the world of literature, art and architecture who undoubtedly steered McGrath’s intellectual direction. Forbes and McGrath kept a close relationship for years, and despite Forbes being fifteen years McGrath’s senior, had a fruitful and complementary relationship. On meeting Forbes McGrath said, ‘…if going to Cambridge means association with men like himself then it was something to be hoped for indeed.’ On Forbes’ instruction, McGrath was asked to remodel the building ‘Finella’ on Queen’s Road (now owned by Gonville and Caius), a dark 1880’s house. McGrath transformed the house into a showcase for all that was exciting in the way of interior design and modern material. Finella became a huge attraction and was visited by artistic royalty; John and Paul Nash, Epstein, Moore and Gill were among the early visitors. Roger McGrath was not solely dedicated to architectural study and design, and produced many woodcuts, drawings and paintings. In Mansfield Forbes’ Clare College 1326-1926, a publication to celebrate the sexcentenary of Clare in 1926, McGrath produced the frontispiece (figure 2) – a painting in tempera of Memorial Court by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. 34
Figure 1 – Roger McGrath in and around Cambridge
An example of a woodcut for Lady Clare Magazine – ‘Clare Bridge’ c.1929
Figure 2 – Frontispiece
He also produced beautiful woodcuts to illustrate poetry in the Lady Clare Magazine.
Hibernian Society towards the end of his life. The years spent at Clare left a deep impact on McGrath who was enchanted by the architectural and intellectual environment. It is therefore fitting to end with a few lines of a poem McGrath wrote on his first night at Clare, in which he could not tear his eyes from the shadowy Backs –
After Clare, McGrath set up practice in London and spent ten years taking on major commissions and producing publications. At the outbreak of war, there was little work for architects, which pushed McGrath to apply for a senior architect’s position in the Office of Public Works in neutral Ireland. Here, McGrath showed at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art and at the Royal Hibernian Society right up till his death. Raymond McGrath remains one of the most influential exponents of Modernist architecture and interior design. An artist of distinction, he was appointed as the President of the Royal
‘My Restless Thoughts would rush, Out through the frosty air, In brightness of the hush Of the midnight over Clare’ For an in-depth study of Raymond McGrath please read God’s Architect, A Life of Raymond McGrath by Donal O’Donovan. CLARE NEWS 2016-17