Antony Vaughan Griffiths, (born 28 July 1951) is a British museum curator and

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

, specialising in prints and drawings. From 1991 to 2011, he served as Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings,

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. He was

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

for the 2014/2015 academic year.

Early life and education

Griffiths was born on 28 July 1951. He was educated at Highgate School, then an all-boys

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

, London. He studied Classics ("Greats") at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, and art history 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. The art collection is known particularly for ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, graduating with a Master of Arts (MA) degree.'GRIFFITHS, Antony Vaughan', '' Who's Who 2017'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 5 Oct 2017
/ref>

Career

Griffiths joined the British Museum's Department of Prints and Drawings as an Assistant Keeper in 1976. He was promoted to Deputy Keeper of the department in 1981, and appointed its Keeper in 1991. After 20 years leading the department, he retired from the British Museum in 2011. Griffiths was selected to give the Panizzi Lectures at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

for 2003: the lecture series was titled "Prints for Books, French Book Illustration 1760–1800". He was the

at the

for the 2014/2015 academic year. As such, he was required to give a lecture series consisting of eight lectures: the series was titled "The Print before Photography: The European print in the age of the copper plate and wooden block" (published in book form, 2016). Griffiths has been Chairman of Print Quarterly Publications since 2001. He co-founded the

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

'' Print Quarterly'' in 1984, which is published by Print Quarterly Publications, and is a serving member of its

editorial board The editorial board is a group of editors, writers, and other people who are charged with implementing a publication's approach to editorials and other opinion pieces. The editorials published normally represent the views or goals of the publicat ...

. He was a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of the

Art Fund Art Fund (formerly the National Art Collections Fund) is an independent membership-based British charity, which raises funds to aid the acquisition of artworks for the nation. It gives grants and acts as a channel for many gifts and bequests, as ...

from 2010 to 2021. From 2013 to 2022, he served as chairman of The Walpole Society. He has been a trustee of the Henry Moore Foundation since 2014.

Honours

In 2000, Griffiths was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

, the United Kingdom's

national academy A national academy is an organizational body, usually operating with state financial support and approval, that co-ordinates scholarly research activities and standards for academic disciplines, and serves as a public policy advisors, research ...

for the humanities and social sciences. On 27 September 2017, Griffiths was awarded the British Academy Medal for his book ''The Print Before Photography: An Introduction to European Printmaking 1550–1820''.

Selected works

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Antony Vaughan 1951 births Living people British curators Employees of the British Museum British art historians Fellows of the British Academy People educated at Highgate School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Recipients of the British Academy Medal