John Russell Pope

John Russell Pope 1874-1937, American architect, b. New York City, studied at the College of the City of New York and the School of Mines, Columbia (Ph.B., 1894). He won a fellowship (1895) to the American Academy in Rome. Pope's firm, established in New York City in 1900, consistently produced dignified architecture of classical inspiration. His designs include a long list of town and country residences. His public works at Washington, D.C., include the Scottish Rite Temple, the National Archives Building, Constitution Hall for the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the National Gallery of Art.

Bibliography: See study by S. M. Bedford (1998).

Pope, John Russell (1873–1937). American architect, the greatest academic Classicist of his time in the USA. A disciple of McKim, Mead, & White, he trained at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris (1897–9), began practice in 1903, and produced some fine Neo-Classical buildings of national and international importance, including the Temple of the Scottish Rite, Washington, DC (1910—a vast pyramidal composition alluding to the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus), and his two best-known works, the Jefferson Memorial (1935–43) and the National Gallery of Art (1936–41), both in Washington, DC (and both completed by Otto Eggers (1882–1964) and Daniel Paul Higgins (1886–1953)). He also designed the Sculpture Hall, Tate Gallery, London (1935–8), and the Sculpture Gallery, British Museum, London (1936–8). the ‘Elgin Marbles’ from the Athenian Parthenon): both galleries were donated by Joseph, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbank (1869–1939). Pope also designed the conversion of the mansion housing the Frick Collection, NYC (1931–5).

Bibliography

Bedford (1998);
Pope & and Cortissoz (1924–30);
RIBA Journal (Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects), ser. 3, xlv/2 (22 Nov. 1937), 102;
Jane Turner (1996);
van Vynckt (ed.)(1993)