Philip Conisbee Explained

Philip Conisbee (January 3, 1946 – January 16, 2008) was a British-American curator for the American National Gallery of Art.^[1]

Life

Philip was born in Belfast, the son of Paul Conisbee, but raised in London, being educated at St Dunstan's College in Catford before earning a BA in European Art at the Courtauld Institute in 1968.^[2]

Continuing in academia, he received a doctorate for his thesis on the French landscape artist Claude Joseph Vernet in 1971. From 1971 to 1986, he lectured at Leicester University. He then moved to America to act as Curator of French Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

He befriended Earl Powell III and moved to California to work with him at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1988. Powell moved to Washington in 1992 and asked Conisbee to join him the following year.

He became a US citizen in 1994.

He rose to be Curator of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.^[1] In 1998, he organised one of the country's most successful exhibitions: Van Gogh's Van Goghs.^[3]

In 2003, the French government awarded him Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.^[4]

He died of lung cancer in Georgetown, Washington D.C., but is buried in Highgate Cemetery in north London.^[5]

Family

Conisbee first married Susan Baer, with whom he had two children. Following divorce he married Faya Causey, who survived him.^[1]

Selected publications

• Chardin (1985)
• Painting in 18th-Century France (1981)
• In the Light of Italy: Corot and Early Open-Air Painting (1996)
• George de la Tour and his World (1996)
• Portraits by Ingres: Image of an Epoch (1999)
• Cézanne in Provence (2006)

Notes and References

1. News: Philip Conisbee, 62, National Gallery Curator, Is Dead. Johnson. Ken. 25 January 2008. The New York Times. 20 June 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20180627071405/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/arts/design/25conisbee.html. 27 June 2018. live.
2. News: Philip Conisbee. Elizabeth Cropper. Cropper. Elizabeth. 13 March 2008. The Guardian. https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144844/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2008/mar/13/art.usa. 27 June 2018. live.
3. News: Philip Conisbee; National Gallery Curator. Schudel. Matt. 19 January 2008. The Washington Post. https://web.archive.org/web/20180627062331/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/18/AR2008011803309.html. 27 June 2018. live.
4. Web site: Death of Philip Conisbee. Rykner. Didier. 19 January 2008. The Art Tribune. https://web.archive.org/web/20180504155525/http://www.thearttribune.com/Death-of-Philip-Conisbee.html. 4 May 2018. live.
5. Web site: Conisbee, Philip. Sorensen. Lee. Dictionary of Art Historians. https://web.archive.org/web/20180323155459/http://arthistorians.info/conisbeep. 23 March 2018. live.