Andrew Graham-Dixon Explained

Andrew Graham-Dixon
Birth Date:26 December 1960
Birth Place:London, England
Education:Westminster School

Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon (born 26 December 1960) is a British art historian, art critic, author and broadcaster.

Life and career

Early life and education

Andrew Graham-Dixon is a son of the barrister Anthony Philip Graham-Dixon (1929–2012), Q.C.,[1] [2] and (Margaret) Suzanne "Sue" (née Villar, 1931–2010), a publicist for music and opera companies.

Graham-Dixon was educated at the independent Westminster School. He continued his education at Christ Church, Oxford, where he read English. He graduated in 1981 and then pursued doctoral studies at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London.

Career

Graham-Dixon began work as a reviewer for the shortlived weekly The Sunday Correspondent before becoming the chief art critic of The Independent, where he remained until 1998. He won the Arts Journalist of the Year Award three years in a row – in 1987, 1988 and 1989. He later became the chief art critic of The Sunday Telegraph.

In 1992 Graham-Dixon won the first prize in the Reportage section at the Montreal World Film Festival for a documentary film about Théodore Géricault's painting The Raft of the Medusa. From 2004 he was a contributor to The Culture Show on BBC Two, covering a variety of subjects and often acting as the main presenter.[3] He has also presented many BBC documentary series on art, including A History of British Art (1996), Renaissance (1999), Caravaggio (2002),[4] The Secret of Drawing (2005),[5] The Battle for British Art (2007),[6] Art of Eternity (2007),[7] Art of Spain (2008),[8] The Art of Russia (2009), Art of Germany (2010), Art of America (2011),[9] British Art at War: Bomberg, Sickert and Nash (2014),[10] Art of China (2014) and Art of France (2017). He is passionate about the Mona Lisa, appearing in the popular BBC documentary Secrets of the Mona Lisa (2015).[11] In 2018 he presented a four-part series on BBC Four – Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection.

He has also presented programmes on subjects other than art, such as I, Samurai (2006)[12] and The Real Casino Royale for the BBC and 100% English (2006) for Channel 4. In 2010 he interviewed John Lydon for a Culture Show special about Public Image Ltd.[13]

In 2018 he gave a lecture as part of the Alpine Fellowship symposium in Venice.[14]

His publications include Howard Hodgkin (1993), A History of British Art (1995), Paper Museum: Writings About Painting, Mostly (1995), Renaissance (1999), In the Picture (2005), an anthology of articles published between 2001 and 2006 in the Sunday Telegraph, and Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel (2007).

Graham-Dixon also wrote and presented the BBC documentary Who Killed Caravaggio?, broadcast on BBC 4 in 2010. The same year saw the publication of his biography, Caravaggio: A Life Sacred And Profane.

He has previously judged the Turner Prize (1991), the BP National Portrait Prize (2001,2002), and the Annual British Animation Awards. He has served on the Government Art Collection Committee, the Hayward Advisory Committee, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Andrew Graham-Dixon currently serves on the Blue Plaque Committee for English Heritage and is an Ambassador for the Princes Teaching Institute.

Honorary doctorate

In 2010 Plymouth University awarded Graham-Dixon an honorary Doctorate of Arts.

Supporter of Young British Artists

He was an early supporter of the group later known as the Young British Artists. In 1990 he wrote:

Goldsmiths' graduates are unembarrassed about promoting themselves and their work: some of the most striking exhibitions in London over the past few months—"The East Country Yard Show", or "Gambler", both staged in docklands—have been independently organised and funded by Goldsmiths' graduates as showcases for their work. This has given them a reputation for pushiness, yet it should also be said that in terms of ambition, attention to display and sheer bravado there has been little to match such shows in the country's established contemporary art institutions. They were far superior, for instance, to any of the contemporary art shows that have been staged by the Liverpool Tate in its own multi-million-pound dockland site.[15]

Cambridge Union speech

On 9 November 2021 Graham-Dixon was banned from speaking again at the Cambridge Union after a debate titled "This House Believes there is no such thing as good taste", for the Cambridge Union Debating Society. Speaking in opposition to the motion, Graham-Dixon recited part of speech made by Adolf Hitler including the lines: "This modern, horrible art that was promoted by the Jews.. and the modern art, it was cubist – inspired by the art of the negroes. This tribal art, urgh, how horrible is that?" He later apologised for the impression and stated that he was trying to "underline the utterly evil nature of Hitler." He added: "I apologise sincerely to anyone who found my debating tactics and use of Hitler's own language distressing; on reflection I can see that some of the words I used, even in quotation, are inherently offensive."[16]

Public figures including Louis de Bernières and John Cleese were among those to defend Graham-Dixon, and criticism of the Union's plans for an exclusion list prompted a U-turn from its president. [17] In a statement to The Jewish Chronicle, fellow historian Guy Walters said: "The idea that Andrew Graham-Dixon has been blacklisted for performing what was clearly a satirical impression of Adolf Hitler is both disgraceful and deeply ironic."[18] A full transcript of the speech was published by The Telegraph.[19]

Personal life

Graham-Dixon is married and lives in East Sussex. He has four children.

Film and television credits

Film and television
YearTitleNotes
1992
1992 First Prize in the Reportage Section of the
Montreal International Film and Television Festival
1996Six-part series
Nominated for BAFTA and RTS awards
1996Hogarth's Progress
1999RenaissanceSix-part series
Nominated for RTS award
2001Art That Shook the WorldSeries 1 episode 1 "Monet's Impression Sunrise"
2002Secret Lives of the ArtistsThree-part series on Constable,Vermeer, Caravaggio
2002Drama-documentary on the Elgin Marbles
20031000 Ways of Getting Drunk in England
2004–present
2005Four-part series
2006I, Samurai
2006
2006100% English
2007
2007Art of EternityThree-part series on Christian art
Long-listed for Grierson Awards
2008Art of SpainThree-part series
2008Travels with VasariTwo-part documentary exploring the life and work of the artist, architect and chronicler of the Italian Renaissance, Giorgio Vasari.
2008The Medici: Makers of Modern ArtDocumentary
2009The Art of RussiaThree-part series
2009PicassoCulture Show Special
2010Art of GermanyThree-part series
2011Treasures of Heaven[20] Documentary about the British Museum exhibition on relics and reliquaries
2011I Never Tell Anybody Anything: The Life and Art of Edward BurraDocumentary
2011Art of AmericaThree-part series
2012Sicily UnpackedThree-part series presented with Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli.
2013Italy Unpacked series 1Three-part series presented with Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli.
2013The High Art of the Low CountriesThree-part series
2014Italy Unpacked series 2Three-part series presented with Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli.
2014Art of ChinaThree-part series
2014The Art of Gothic: Britains Midnight HourThree-part series
2014Viking ArtPublished by BBC and broadcast as part of BBC The Culture Show series
2014British Art at WarThree-part series
2015Italy Unpacked series 3Three-part series presented with Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli.
2015Secrets of the Mona LisaDocumentary
2016Art of ScandinaviaThree-part series
2017Art of FranceThree-part series
2018Rome UnpackedTwo-part series presented with Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli.
2018Art, Passion and Power: the Story of the Royal CollectionFour-part history of the Royal Collection.
2018Stealing Van GoghDocumentary
2019Van Meegeren: The Forger Who Fooled the NazisDocumentary

Bibliography

DVD releases

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Graham-Dixon, Anthony Philip, (5 Nov. 1929–6 March 2012), QC 1973 . WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007 . 20 June 2019. 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U17825. 978-0-19-954089-1 .
  2. Web site: GRAHAM-DIXON – Deaths Announcements – Telegraph Announcements. announcements.telegraph.co.uk. 20 June 2019.
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20090218132955/http://andrewgrahamdixon.com/biography Biography
  4. https://web.archive.org/web/20060427004440/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/06/02/wcara02.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/06/02/ixworld.html&_requestid=254296 Review in the Daily Telegraph of the Caravaggio BBC TV series
  5. Web site: BBC – Arts – The Secret of Drawing. www.bbc.co.uk. 20 June 2019.
  6. Web site: The Battle for British art: BBC FOUR webpage. 20 June 2019.
  7. Web site: Art of Eternity: BBC FOUR webpage. Three episodes, broadcast December 2007. 20 June 2019.
  8. Web site: BBC – Press Office – BBC Four to celebrate The Art Of Spain. www.bbc.co.uk. 20 June 2019.
  9. Web site: BBC Four – Art of America. BBC. 20 June 2019.
  10. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04j2bt1 BBC
  11. Web site: BBC Two – The Secrets of the Mona Lisa. BBC. 20 June 2019.
  12. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/samurai.shtml BBC TV website on I, Samurai
  13. Web site: The Culture Show, John Lydon Special. bbc.co.uk. 20 July 2010.
  14. Web site: The Alpine Fellowship.
  15. Andrew Graham-Dixon, "The Midas Touch?: Graduates of Goldsmiths' School of Art dominate the current British art scene," The Independent, 31 July 1990, p. 13.
  16. Web site: CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY BANS SPEAKER FOR DOING HITLER IMPERSONATION DURING DEBATE. 9 November 2021.
  17. News: BBC News . 11 November 2021 . Cambridge University debating society drops speaker blacklist . live . BBC News.
  18. Web site: STARS DEFEND HISTORIAN WHO MIMICKED HITLER. 12 November 2021.
  19. Web site: HITLER ROW: A FULL TRANSCRIPT OF WHAT ANDREW GRAHAM-DIXON SAID AT THE CAMBRIDGE UNION. 10 November 2021.
  20. Web site: BBC Four – Treasures of Heaven. BBC. 20 June 2019.