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Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon (born 26 December 1960) is a British art historian and broadcaster.
Life and career
Early life and education
Andrew Graham-Dixon is a son of the
barrister Anthony Philip Graham-Dixon (1929–2012),
Q.C., and (Margaret) Suzanne "Sue" (née Villar, 1931–2010), a publicist for music and opera companies.
Graham-Dixon was educated at the independent
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
. He continued his education at
Christ Church, Oxford, where he read English. He graduated in 1981 and then pursued doctoral studies at the
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
,
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
.
Career
Graham-Dixon began work as a reviewer for the shortlived weekly ''
The Sunday Correspondent'' before becoming the chief art critic of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', where he remained until 1998. He won the Arts Journalist of the Year Award three years in a row – in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He later became the chief art critic of ''
The Sunday Telegraph''.
In 1992 Graham-Dixon won the first prize in the Reportage section at the
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (WFF; french: le Festival des Films du Monde) was one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF (although the Toronto Interna ...
for a documentary film about
Théodore Géricault
Jean-Louis André Théodore Géricault (; 26 September 1791 – 26 January 1824) was a French Painting, painter and Lithography, lithographer, whose best-known painting is ''The Raft of the Medusa''. Although he died young, he was one of the pi ...
's painting ''
The Raft of the Medusa''. From 2004 he was a contributor to ''
The Culture Show'' on
BBC Two, covering a variety of subjects and often acting as the main presenter. He has also presented many
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
documentary series on art, including ''
A History of British Art'' (1996), ''Renaissance'' (1999), ''
Caravaggio'' (2002), ''The Secret of Drawing'' (2005), ''The Battle for British Art'' (2007), ''
Art of Eternity'' (2007), ''
Art of Spain'' (2008), ''The Art of Russia'' (2009), ''Art of Germany'' (2010), ''Art of America'' (2011), ''British Art at War: Bomberg, Sickert and Nash'' (2014), '' Art of China'' (2014) and ''Art of France'' (2017). He is passionate about the ''
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...
'', appearing in the popular BBC documentary ''Secrets of the Mona Lisa'' (2015). In 2018 he presented a four-part series on BBC Four – ''Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection''.
He has also presented programmes on subjects other than art, such as ''I, Samurai'' (2006) and ''The Real Casino Royale'' for the BBC and ''
100% English'' (2006) for
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
. In 2010 he interviewed
John Lydon for a ''Culture Show'' special about
Public Image Ltd.
In 2018 he gave a lecture as part of the
Alpine Fellowship symposium in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
.
Graham-Dixon also wrote and presented the BBC documentary ''Who Killed Caravaggio?'', broadcast on BBC 4 in 2010. The same year saw the publication of his biography, ''Caravaggio: A Life Sacred And Profane''.
Honorary doctorate
In 2010
Plymouth University awarded Graham-Dixon an honorary Doctorate of Arts.
Supporter of Young British Artists
He was an early supporter of the group later known as the
Young British Artists
The Young British Artists, or YBAs—also referred to as Brit artists and Britart—is a loose group of visual artists who first began to exhibit together in London in 1988. Many of the YBA artists graduated from the BA Fine Art course at Goldsm ...
. In 1990 he wrote:
Goldsmiths' graduates are unembarrassed about promoting themselves and their work: some of the most striking exhibitions in London over the past few months—"The East Country Yard Show", or "Gambler", both staged in docklands—have been independently organised and funded by Goldsmiths' graduates as showcases for their work. This has given them a reputation for pushiness, yet it should also be said that in terms of ambition, attention to display and sheer bravado there has been little to match such shows in the country's established contemporary art institutions. They were far superior, for instance, to any of the contemporary art shows that have been staged by the Liverpool Tate in its own multi-million-pound dockland site.
Cambridge Union speech
On 9 November 2021 Graham-Dixon was banned from speaking again at the
Cambridge Union
The Cambridge Union Society, also known as the Cambridge Union, is a debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society in the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1815, it is the oldest continuously running debati ...
after "doing a Hitler impression". According to the
Campaign Against Antisemitism Graham-Dixon recited part of speech made by
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
including the lines: "This modern, horrible art that was promoted by the Jews.. and the modern art, it was cubist – inspired by the art of the negroes. This tribal art, urgh, how horrible is that?"
He later apologised for the impression and claimed that he was trying to "underline the utterly evil nature of Hitler." He added: "I apologise sincerely to anyone who found my debating tactics and use of Hitler's own language distressing; on reflection I can see that some of the words I used, even in quotation, are inherently offensive."
Public figures including
Louis de Bernières
Louis de Bernières (born 8 December 1954) is an English novelist. He is known for his 1994 historical war novel ''Captain Corelli's Mandolin''. In 1993 de Bernières was selected as one of the "20 Best of Young British Novelists", part of a pr ...
and
John Cleese were among those to defend Graham-Dixon, and criticism of the Union's plans for an exclusion list prompted a U-turn from its president.
In a statement to
The Jewish Chronicle
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, fellow historian Guy Walters said: “The idea that Andrew Graham-Dixon has been blacklisted for performing what was clearly a satirical impression of Adolf Hitler is both disgraceful and deeply ironic."
A full transcript of the speech was published by The Telegraph.
Personal life
Graham-Dixon is married and lives in East Sussex. He has four children.
Biography
Andrew Graham Dixon. Retrieved on 22 July 2016.
Film and television credits
Bibliography
* '' Howard Hodgkin''. London: Thames & Hudson, 1994 (); revised, 2001 ().
* '' John Virtue: New Paintings''. Bristol: Arnolfini
Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...
, 1995. .
* ''Paper Museum: Writings About Painting, Mostly''. London: HarperCollins
HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...
, 1996. .
* ''A History of British Art''. London: BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, 1996. .
* ''Renaissance''. London: BBC, 1999. .
* ''In the Picture: The Year Through Art''. London: