John Steer (1928 – 20 February 2012) was Professor of the History of Art at

Birkbeck College Birkbeck, University of London (formally Birkbeck College, University of London), is a public research university located in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. Established in 1823 as the London Mechanics' ...

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 ...

, from 1979 to his retirement in 1984. Subsequently, he was Emeritus Professor of the

History of Art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetics ...

, University of London. He was a specialist in Venetian art. Steer was the founder of the departments of art history at both

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and then

St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...

universities. Steer received an Honorary Doctorate from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

in 1991.

Selected publications

*''A concise history of Venetian painting.'' London: Thames and Hudson, 1970. *''Alvise Vivarini: His art and influence.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. *''Atlas of western art history: Artists, sites and movements from ancient Greece to the modern age.'' New York: Facts on File, c. 1994.

References

1928 births 2012 deaths British art historians Academics of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of the University of Bristol Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Culture of the Republic of Venice {{UK-art-historian-stub