Dawn Ades, Sophie Bowness and Toby Treves (eds), Alan Bowness: Writings 1950–2016

Alan Bowness: Writings 1950–2016 comprises the selected writings of the eminent art historian, critic and museum director, Sir Alan Bowness (1928-2021). In the 1950s and early 1960s he was a regular and acute critic of contemporary art for Art News and Review, The Observer, The Spectator, Times Literary Review and the New York-based magazine Arts, among others. His reviews were often among the first substantial articles on the post-war generation of British artists, many of whom became his friends, and the first significant writings published in Britain on leading contemporary European and American artists. Many of these important but long out of print articles and essays are re-published here, as are others on one of the subjects Bowness taught at the Courtauld Institute of Art from 1957 to 1980: nineteenth century French painting.

Bowness left the Courtauld in 1979 to take up the post of director of the Tate Gallery early in the following year. Under his leadership, the museum expanded its collection, deepened its commitment to scholarship, established itself as a major patron of contemporary art, not least through the Turner Prize which he initiated, and embarked on an expansion programme that led to the opening of Tate Liverpool, Tate St Ives and a new wing of what is now Tate Britain. His writings on museums (he also set up the Barbara Hepworth Museum, St Ives, and was closely involved with the creation of The Hepworth, Wakefield) and his reflections on criticism, also published in this volume, remain especially relevant for the present era.

With an introduction by Dawn Ades on the life and work of Alan Bowness.

To be published on 6 October 2025