} Richard Edward Ion Calvocoressi (b. 5 May 1951) is a British museum and gallery curator and art historian.

Career

Calvocoressi was born in

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. I ...

, Kent, one of three sons of Major Ion Calvocoressi, MBE, MC (1919-2007) and Katherine, née Kennedy (b. 1927). He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

, Brooke House, Market Harborough, and graduated from

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

and 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 ...

. He served as an assistant keeper of modern art 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 UK ...

from 1979 until 1987, and was director of the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art National Galleries Scotland: Modern (the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) is part of National Galleries Scotland, which is based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Modern houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1 ...

in Edinburgh from 1987 until 2007. He then served as director of the

Henry Moore Foundation The Henry Moore Foundation is a registered charity in England, established for education and promotion of the fine arts — in particular, to advance understanding of the works of Henry Moore, and to promote the public appreciation of sculpt ...

, and in 2015 became a senior curator at the

Gagosian Gallery The Gagosian Gallery is a modern and contemporary art gallery owned and directed by Larry Gagosian. The gallery exhibits some of the most well-known artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. As of 2024, Gagosian employs 300 people at 19 exhibiti ...

. Calvocoressi was appointed to the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art on 13 November 2012, serving until 12 November 2016. He was subsequently reappointed for another four-year term.

Personal life

He married Francesca Temple Roberts in 1976. They have three children. He was made a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in 2008 for "services to the Arts, particularly in Scotland".

Selected publications

* * * * * * ''Lucian Freud on Paper.'' London: Jonathan Cape 2008. * * ''Georg Baselitz.'' London: Thames & Hudson. 2021

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvocoressi, Richard 1951 births People from Westerham British people of Greek descent People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British art curators Living people People associated with the Tate galleries