David Patrick Martin Ekserdjian (born 28 October 1955) is Emeritus Professor of Art and Film History at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

Early life and family

Ekserdjian was educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He is the son of

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

( B. Comm) graduate

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Nubar Martin 'Bill' Ekserdjian (1913-1967), a Northhampshireman whose family were

Armenian nobility Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

- '' Amira'' - a class of influential wealthy Armenians in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

between the 18th and 19th centuries. Col. Ekserdjian was an executive director of

Iraq Petroleum Company The Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), formerly known as the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC), is an oil company that had a virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq between 1925 and 1961. It was jointly owned by some of the world ...

founded by

Calouste Gulbenkian Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian (; ; 23 March 1869 – 20 July 1955) was an Ottoman-born British Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development a ...

, an avid

art collector A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...

; both Gulbenkian and his son, Nubar, shared an interest in art with Col. Ekserdjian. David's brother is barrister Angus George Martin Ekserdjian (1948-1989), a

alumni. Other members of the Ekserdjian family who have been art historians include Hmayeag Ekserdjian who wrote ''Memoir on the Two Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of the Holy Cross Church of Uskudar 1676-1926''.

Career

Ekserdjian spent the years 1991 to 1997 working for

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

. He was Editor of art magazine ''

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

'' (1997-2004). His academic posts include lecturer 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 ...

from 1986 until 1987. In 2017-18, he was the Slade Professor of Fine Art 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 ...

. He has been a member of the Courtauld Institute Board since 1998. His publications include introduction and notes for ''Vasari's Lives of the Artists'' (1996) and ''Correggio'' (1997).

Selected publications

*''Correggio''. 1997. *''Parmigianino''. 2006. *''Treasures from Budapest. European Masterpieces from Leonardo to Schiele''. 2010. (editor) *''Pink Cashmere: Tracing the Origins''. 2011. *''Bronze''. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2012. (With

Cecilia Treves Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. History The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for g ...

) *''Correggio and Parmigianino: Art in Parma During the Sixteenth Century''. 2016. *''A Journey in Figure Painting: My Obsession with Evan Ross''. 2020.

References

External links

*https://www.apollo-magazine.com/author/david-ekserdjian/ 1955 births British art historians Living people {{UK-art-historian-stub