Thursday 20th November 2025, 12.00pm

To coincide with the publication of his book, John Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture, Charles Saumarez Smith will give a lunchtime talk on Vanbrugh’s extraordinary life: his upbringing; why he spent so much time in a French gaol; the writing of The Relapse and The Provoked Wife; and how he came to design Castle Howard with no previous experience of architecture. Saumarez Smith will give particular attention to Vanbrugh’s work as a theatrical impresario and the designer of the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket, so disastrous as a venue for plays, but where all of Handel’s early operas were performed. He will then describe Vanbrugh’s quarrel with the Duchess of Marlborough and his later work as an architect, at King’s Weston, Claremont, Grimsthorpe, Seaton Delaval and Stowe. In recent years, Vanbrugh’s reputation as an architect has been eclipsed by his subordinate, Nicholas Hawksmoor. This talk and the accompanying book will explain Vanbrugh’s originality and influence on later architects from Robert Adam to Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown.

Charles Saumarez Smith is a writer, curator and art historian. He has served as Director of the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery, London, as Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts, London, as Professor of Architectural History at the Royal Academy of Arts, and Chairman of The Royal Drawing School and The Watercolour World. He is currently a Trustee of the Garden Museum, and Emeritus Trustee of ArtUK and Charleston.

Copies of the book will be available for purchase in the Foyer at a special price.

Book your ticket here

John Vanbrugh: The Drama of Architecture