John Russell

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(22 January 1919 – 23 August 2008) was an English art critic.

Life and career

John Russell was born in

Fleet, Hampshire Fleet is a town and civil parish in the Hart District of Hampshire, England, centred 38.2 miles (61.5 km) WSW of London and 13 miles (21 km) east of Basingstoke. It is the major town of the Hart District, and has large technology business a ...

, England, in 1919. He attended St Paul's School and then

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He was an unpaid intern at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1940, but moved to the country after the gallery was bombed. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he worked in

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

for the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

. There he met Ian Fleming, who helped to secure Russell a reviewing position at ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

''. Russell succeeded a fired critic at ''The Sunday Times'' in 1950. Art critic

Hilton Kramer Hilton Kramer (March 25, 1928 – March 27, 2012) was an American art critic and essayist. Biography Early life Kramer was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and was educated at Syracuse University, receiving a bachelor's degree in English; ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' hired Russell in 1974. Russell was chief art critic there from 1982 to 1990.

Marriages

Russell was married to: * Alexandrina, Countess Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, the former wife of Julius Lanczy. They married in 1945, divorced in 1951, and had one child, Lavinia (married Sir Nicholas Grimshaw). * Vera Poliakoff (died 1992), married 1956, divorced 1971. Also known professionally as Vera Lindsay, she was an artist and actress, daughter of Vladimir Poliakoff and former wife of British journalist Sir Gerald Reid Barry, with whom she had two sons. *

Rosamond Bernier Rosamond Bernier (1916–2016) was a journalist and lecturer known for founding the Paris-based magazine ''L'oeil'' and for her presentations on art history at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Life and career Bernier was born Rosamond Margaret ...

(née Rosamond Margaret Rosenbaum, formerly Mrs Georges Bernier, formerly Mrs Lewis Riley), a lecturer and founder of the art magazine

L'ŒIL ''L'ŒIL'' ( French: ''The Eye'') is a French magazine created by Rosamond Bernier (née Rosenbaum) and her second husband, Georges Bernier, in 1955 to celebrate and reflect contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced i ...

. They married in 1975.

Death

Russell died on 23 August 2008 at a hospice in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

.John Russell, Art Critic for The Times, Dies at 89.
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Books

His books include: * John Russell, 1971, ''Francis Bacon, London:'' Thames & Hudson. * John Russell: ''Marc Klionsky'' * John Russell: ''Matisse, Father & Son'', Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1999, * John Russell: ''The Meanings of Modern Art'' (1981, 2nd revised edition 1992) * John Russell,

Erich Kleiber Erich Kleiber (5 August 1890 – 27 January 1956) was an Austrian, later Argentine, conductor, known for his interpretations of the classics and as an advocate of new music. Kleiber was born in Vienna, and after studying at the Prague Conservato ...

: "A memoir" (London 1957) * John Russell: ''Paris'' (London, 1960) * John Russell: ''Shakespeare's Country * John Russell: ''Switzerland'' * John Russell: ''Reading Russell'' (New York and London, 1989), collected journalism and books on

Seurat Georges Pierre Seurat ( , , ; 2 December 1859 – 29 March 1891) was a French post-Impressionist artist. He devised the painting techniques known as chromoluminarism and pointillism and used conté crayon for drawings on paper with a rough su ...

(1965), Vuillard (1971) and Henry Moore

Notes and references

1919 births 2008 deaths People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Royal Navy personnel of World War II English art critics The Sunday Times people Critics employed by The New York Times Commanders of the Order of the British Empire People from Fleet, Hampshire English male non-fiction writers 20th-century English male writers British expatriates in the United States {{UK-academic-bio-stub