Charles Saumarez Smith
Encyclopedia
Charles Robert Saumarez Smith CBE
(born 28 May 1954 in Redlynch
, England
) is a British
art historian
. He was Director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was director of the National Gallery
and is currently Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. He was formerly President of the Museums Association
.
William Saumarez Smith
and son of William Hanbury Saumarez Smith, a former Indian civil servant, Charles Saumarez Smith was born in an old rectory in the Wiltshire
village of Redlynch, near Salisbury
. He was educated at Marlborough College
, where a Gainsborough
portrait belonging to the school first awakened his interest in art. He then studied history and history of art at King's College, Cambridge
, gaining a double first, and, following graduation, was awarded a Henry Fellowship to study at the Fogg. Art Museum in Cambridge Massachusetts. He studied for his doctorate under Michael Baxandall
at the Warburg Institute
, London, and his thesis was entitled "Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
and the architecture of Castle Howard
" was awarded a PhD in 1986. Meanwhile, he was appointed Christie's Research Fellow in the History of Applied Arts at Christ's College, Cambridge
and taught part-time in the Department of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex.
In 1982, Saumarez Smith was appointed by Sir Roy Strong as an Assistant Keeper at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he helped to establish the V&A/RCA MA Course in the History of Design and was a contributor to The New Museology, published in 1989. In 1990, his PhD thesis was published by Faber and Faber under the title The Building of Castle Howard and was awarded the Alice David Hitchcock medallion. In the same year, he was appointed as Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum
in London
. In 1994 he published a book on 18th century interior design, before becoming director of the National Portrait Gallery. There he more than doubled visitor figures by staging exhibitions by contemporary photographers, including Annie Leibovitz
, Richard Avedon
, Bruce Weber
and the fashion photographer Mario Testino
. He also presided over the building of an extension to the NPG in 2000, the Ondaatje Wing designed by Sir Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones. From 2001 to 2002 Saumarez Smith held the Slade Professorship
at Oxford University
, where he lectured on "The State of the Museum".
Saumarez Smith was a candidate to be Director at the V&A, the Tate Gallery
and the British Museum
before becoming the director of the National Gallery
in 2002. The main success of his directorship was the purchase of Raphael
's Madonna of the Pinks
in 2004 for £22 million, raised by a successful public appeal. However, few other major acquisitions were made by the National Gallery under Saumarez Smith due to the inflated prices now commanded by Old Master paintings. He was a vocal critic of Tony Blair
's government for giving too little money towards museum funding, and for not creating tax incentives for potential donors to museums.
2006 saw the opening of a new ground-floor entrance hall at the National Gallery designed, like the Ondaatje Wing by Dixon Jones architects although this project was begun under Saumarez Smith's predecessor Neil MacGregor
. In 2007, news broke of a power struggle between Peter Scott, head of the Gallery's board of trustees, and the director; at the same time it became known that Saumarez Smith was applying for the newly-created post of Secretary and Chief Executive at the Royal Academy
. He resigned from the National Gallery on 26 July 2007, and was succeeded by Martin Wyld, head conservator at the Gallery, as acting director until Nicholas Penny
was appointed permanent director in the spring of 2008.
He has contributed biographies on Quentin Bell
and Philip McCammon Core to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary, University of London
and an occasional panelist on the BBC
's Newsnight Review.
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 28 May 1954 in Redlynch
Redlynch
Redlynch is a hamlet and civil parish about southeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Morgan's Vale immediately west of Redlynch, and Lover southeast of Redlynch...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
art historian
History of art
The History of art refers to visual art which may be defined as any activity or product made by humans in a visual form for aesthetical or communicative purposes, expressing ideas, emotions or, in general, a worldview...
. He was Director of the National Portrait Gallery from 1994 to 2002. From 2002 to 2007 he was director of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
and is currently Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. He was formerly President of the Museums Association
Museums Association
The Museums Association is a professional organisation based in London for museum professionals and museums in the United Kingdom.The association is the oldest museum association in the world and was started in 1889 by a small group of museums to protect the interests of museums and galleries...
.
Biography
A great-grandson of the 19th-century Archbishop of SydneyArchbishop of Sydney
Archbishop of Sydney may refer to:*List of Anglican bishops of Sydney*Catholic Bishops and Archbishops of Sydney...
William Saumarez Smith
William Saumarez Smith
William Saumarez Smith was an Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, Australia.Smith was born in Saint Helier, Jersey the eldest twin son of the Lieutenant Richard Snowden Smith and his wife Anne, née Robin. Smith was educated at Marlborough College and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A...
and son of William Hanbury Saumarez Smith, a former Indian civil servant, Charles Saumarez Smith was born in an old rectory in the Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
village of Redlynch, near Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
. He was educated at Marlborough College
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a British co-educational independent school for day and boarding pupils, located in Marlborough, Wiltshire.Founded in 1843 for the education of the sons of Church of England clergy, the school now accepts both boys and girls of all beliefs. Currently there are just over 800...
, where a Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough was an English portrait and landscape painter.-Suffolk:Thomas Gainsborough was born in Sudbury, Suffolk. He was the youngest son of John Gainsborough, a weaver and maker of woolen goods. At the age of thirteen he impressed his father with his penciling skills so that he let...
portrait belonging to the school first awakened his interest in art. He then studied history and history of art at King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, gaining a double first, and, following graduation, was awarded a Henry Fellowship to study at the Fogg. Art Museum in Cambridge Massachusetts. He studied for his doctorate under Michael Baxandall
Michael Baxandall
Michael David Kighley Baxandall, FBA was a British-born art historian and a professor emeritus of Art History at University of California, Berkeley...
at the Warburg Institute
Warburg Institute
The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of the influence of classical antiquity on all aspects of European civilisation.-History:The Institute was founded by...
, London, and his thesis was entitled "Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, PC was a British statesman and member of the peerage of England.Charles Howard was the eldest son of Edward Howard and inherited his title on the death of his father in 1692. He married in 1683 Lady Anne de Vere Capell, daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of...
and the architecture of Castle Howard
Castle Howard
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...
" was awarded a PhD in 1986. Meanwhile, he was appointed Christie's Research Fellow in the History of Applied Arts at Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
and taught part-time in the Department of Art History and Theory at the University of Essex.
In 1982, Saumarez Smith was appointed by Sir Roy Strong as an Assistant Keeper at the Victoria and Albert Museum, where he helped to establish the V&A/RCA MA Course in the History of Design and was a contributor to The New Museology, published in 1989. In 1990, his PhD thesis was published by Faber and Faber under the title The Building of Castle Howard and was awarded the Alice David Hitchcock medallion. In the same year, he was appointed as Head of Research at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. In 1994 he published a book on 18th century interior design, before becoming director of the National Portrait Gallery. There he more than doubled visitor figures by staging exhibitions by contemporary photographers, including Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
, Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
, Bruce Weber
Bruce Weber (photographer)
Bruce Weber is an American fashion photographer and occasional filmmaker. He is most widely known for his ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Pirelli, Abercrombie & Fitch, Revlon, and Gianni Versace, as well as his work for Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair, Elle, Life, Interview, and Rolling Stone...
and the fashion photographer Mario Testino
Mario Testino
-Early Life:Testino grew up in Lima, the eldest son of a businessman. When he was young he wanted to be a priest. Testino recalls being unpopular at school because of his flamboyance. He was good at math and went on to study economics at Universidad del Pacífico, where his insistence on wearing...
. He also presided over the building of an extension to the NPG in 2000, the Ondaatje Wing designed by Sir Jeremy Dixon and Edward Jones. From 2001 to 2002 Saumarez Smith held the Slade Professorship
Slade Professor of Fine Art
The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and London.-History:The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collector and philanthropist Felix Slade, with studentships also created in the University of...
at Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, where he lectured on "The State of the Museum".
Saumarez Smith was a candidate to be Director at the V&A, the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
and the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
before becoming the director of the National Gallery
National gallery
The National Gallery is an art gallery on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom.National Gallery may also refer to:*Armenia: National Gallery of Armenia, Yerevan*Australia:**National Gallery of Australia, Canberra...
in 2002. The main success of his directorship was the purchase of Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...
's Madonna of the Pinks
Madonna of the Pinks
The Madonna of the Pinks is an early devotional painting usually attributed to Italian Renaissance master Raphael. It is painted in oils on fruitwood and now hangs in the National Gallery, London....
in 2004 for £22 million, raised by a successful public appeal. However, few other major acquisitions were made by the National Gallery under Saumarez Smith due to the inflated prices now commanded by Old Master paintings. He was a vocal critic of Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
's government for giving too little money towards museum funding, and for not creating tax incentives for potential donors to museums.
2006 saw the opening of a new ground-floor entrance hall at the National Gallery designed, like the Ondaatje Wing by Dixon Jones architects although this project was begun under Saumarez Smith's predecessor Neil MacGregor
Neil MacGregor
Robert Neil MacGregor, OM, FSA is an art historian and museum director. He was the Editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1981 to 1987, the Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, and was appointed Director of the British Museum in 2002...
. In 2007, news broke of a power struggle between Peter Scott, head of the Gallery's board of trustees, and the director; at the same time it became known that Saumarez Smith was applying for the newly-created post of Secretary and Chief Executive at the Royal Academy
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
. He resigned from the National Gallery on 26 July 2007, and was succeeded by Martin Wyld, head conservator at the Gallery, as acting director until Nicholas Penny
Nicholas Penny
Nicholas Penny, FSA is a British art historian. Since Spring 2008 he has been director of the National Gallery in London....
was appointed permanent director in the spring of 2008.
He has contributed biographies on Quentin Bell
Quentin Bell
Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell was an English art historian and author.Bell was the son of Clive Bell and Vanessa Bell , and the nephew of Virginia Woolf . He was educated in London and at the Quaker Leighton Park School.Principally an artist, as a potter, he was drawn to academia...
and Philip McCammon Core to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. In addition, he is a Visiting Professor at Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
and an occasional panelist on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Newsnight Review.
He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours
New Year Honours 2008
The New Year Honours 2008 for the Commonwealth Realms were announced on 29 December 2007, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2008....
.