Henry Hobson Richardson

Abstract

Henry Hobson Richardson (b. 1838–d. 1886) is considered one of the most important American architects of the nineteenth century. His achievements were celebrated during his lifetime and publications addressing his life and work have appeared almost continuously since his death. The second American architect to attend the École des Beaux Arts, his early designs show the influence of the contemporary Gothic Revival and Second Empire styles, but, about 1870, he began moving in an independent direction, creating a free interpretation of Romanesque precedents. Trinity Church, Boston, a Romanesque Revival design completed in 1877, brought Richardson national recognition and shaped his career as it led him to move from New York to Brookline, a suburb of Boston. Although most of his work is in New England and New York, as his fame grew he received commissions in Washington, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, and Wyoming. In his later projects he often reduced historical references, emphasized the qualities of materials, and moved toward simplification of form to produce masterpieces, such as the Allegheny County Courthouse and Jail in Pittsburgh and the Marshall Field Wholesale Store in Chicago. His projects also included emerging building types, such as small railroad passenger stations and free public libraries. His country houses catalyzed the development of the shingle style. Richardson was not a solitary genius. He engaged personally with a wide circle of friends and clients. In his last years, his office grew to a staff of approximately twenty. Following his early death, his leading apprentices continued the practice as Shepley, Rutan, and Coolidge. Richardson’s contemporaries understood his achievement in different ways, so his influence led in multiple directions. Unlike other leading architects, Richardson rarely wrote about his intentions, so scholars have presented his work through varying interpretive frameworks.