Richard Dorment
Richard Dorment | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1946 United States |
| Occupation(s) | Art historian, art critic, curator |
| Years active | 1968–2015 (as chief art critic) |
| Known for | Chief art critic at The Daily Telegraph (1986–2015) |
Richard Dorment (born 1946) is a distinguished British art historian and curator of exhibitions. He held the role of chief art critic at The Daily Telegraph from 1986 until his retirement in 2015.
Early life
Dorment was born in the United States in 1946 and graduated with honors from Princeton University in 1968, where he majored in art history. He continued his academic pursuits at Columbia University, working as a faculty fellow between 1968 and 1972. He earned his doctoral degree there in 1975, focusing his dissertation on the mosaics by Edward Burne-Jones at the American Church in Rome.
Career
Dorment’s professional journey began as assistant curator of European paintings at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After moving to London, he authored the Catalogue of British Painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1986) and penned a biography of the sculptor Alfred Gilbert. In 1986, he was appointed chief art critic for The Daily Telegraph, a post he maintained until 2015. His collected critiques were later published in 2016 under the title Exhibitionist: Writing about Art for a Daily Newspaper.
In 1989, Dorment served as a juror for the prestigious Turner Prize. His expertise has been sought on various advisory panels including the Government Art Collection, the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, and the British Council's Visual Arts Advisory Committee. Since 1996, he has been a trustee of the Watts Gallery and previously served on the board of the Wallace Collection. His articles have appeared in prominent publications such as The New York Review of Books, The Burlington Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement, and Literary Review.
Dorment notably critiqued the operations of the Andy Warhol Foundation's Art Authentication Board through a series of articles beginning in 2009. The board was subsequently dissolved in 2011, after which the Foundation commenced selling Warhol artworks.
Exhibitions
From 1994 to 1995, Dorment co-curated a major exhibition on James McNeill Whistler at the Tate Gallery. He also curated the exhibition Alfred Gilbert: Sculptor and Goldsmith at the Royal Academy of Arts in 1986 and contributed to the catalogue for the Victorian High Renaissance exhibition in 1978.
Honours and awards
In 2013, Dorment was inducted as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA). He was honored with a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) designation "for services to the arts" during the 2014 New Year Honours. His accolades include receiving the Hawthornden Prize for Art Criticism in 1992, being named Critic of the Year at the British Press Awards in 2000, and earning the Holland Prize in 2014 for his critique covering the reopening of the Rijksmuseum.
Personal life
In 1985, Dorment married novelist Harriet Waugh. He has two children from an earlier marriage.
Selected publications
- Richard Dorment, Warhol after Warhol, Picador, 2023, ISBN 978-1529081497
- Richard Dorment, Exhibitionist: Writing about Art for a Daily Newspaper, Bitter Lemon Press, 2016, ISBN 978-1908524676
- Richard Dorment & Margaret McDonald, James McNeill Whistler, Harry N Abrams, 1995, ISBN 0810939762
- Richard Dorment, British Painting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art: From the seventeenth through the nineteenth century, 1986, ISBN 0812280350
- Richard Dorment, Alfred Gilbert, Sculptor and Goldsmith, Royal Academy catalogue, 1986, ISBN 0297788760
- Richard Dorment, Alfred Gilbert, Yale University Press, 1986, ISBN 0300033885