Peter Alistair Marshall Smart (30 April 1922–21 December 1992) was a 20th-century British historian and expert on

Allan Ramsay Allan Ramsay may refer to: *Allan Ramsay (poet) or Allan Ramsay the Elder (1686–1758), Scottish poet *Allan Ramsay (artist) Allan Ramsay (13 October 171310 August 1784) was a Scottish portrait Painting, painter. Life and career Ramsay w ...

Life

He was born in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

on 30 April 1922 the son of Prof John Couch Adams, grandson of his namesake astronomer grandfather,

John Couch Adams John Couch Adams ( ; 5 June 1819 – 21 January 1892) was a British mathematician and astronomer. He was born in Laneast, near Launceston, Cornwall, and died in Cambridge. His most famous achievement was predicting the existence and position o ...

. His university career was long and varied. He first studied English at

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. His studies were interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during which he was wounded, and after the war he "found religion" and studied to be a minister at

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the The University of Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious studies, R ...

. He then changed direction again and spent three years at

Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...

under Sir

William George Gillies Sir William George Gillies (21 September 1898 – 15 April 1973) was a renowned Scottish landscape and still life painter. He is often referred to simply as W. G. Gillies. Life Gillies was born in Haddington, East Lothian and is brother o ...

. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

and the Institute of Fine Arts in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. His first post was as a lecturer in Art History at University College, Hull.Independent (newspaper) obituaries : 23 December 1992. url:https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-professor-alastair-smart-1565228.html He was Head of the Fine Art Department at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

from 1956 to 1982, being granted his professorship in 1963. He died in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 21 December 1992. He is buried in the 20th century extension to

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in the west of the city.

Family

He was married to Marita Lawlor-Johnson. They had one son and one daughter.

Publications

*''The Life and Art of Allan Ramsay'' (1952) *''Paintings and Drawings by Allan Ramsay'' (1964) *''The Assisi Problem and the Art of

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

'' (1971) reprinted 1983 *''The Renaissance and Mannerism in Northern Europe and Spain'' (1972) *''

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

and his Country'' (1976) co-written with Col

Attfield Brooks Attfield is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *George Attfield (1826–1925), English cricketer * Henry Attfield (1756–c. 1829), English cricketer * Jeremy Attfield (born 1972), English cricketer * Judith (Judy) Attfield (1937� ...

*''The Dawn of Italian Painting'' (1978)

References

1922 births 1992 deaths British art historians Academics of the University of Nottingham Historians from Cambridge Burials at the Dean Cemetery {{UK-historian-stub