Allan John Witney Braham (19 August 19373 March 2011) was an English art historian, architectural historian, author and art gallery curator. He was Deputy Director at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, London.

Biography

Braham was born in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, to Dudley Braham and Florence (née Mears). He studied at

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

in south London, then at 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. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

, University of London, gaining a BA in 1960 and a PhD (on François Mansart's drawings for the Louvre) in 1967. Photographs contributed by Allan Braham to the Courtauld Institute of Art's Conway Library are currently being digitised as part of the Courtauld Connects project. Braham worked at the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, first as Assistant Keeper (1962-1973), then as Deputy Keeper (1973-1978), then as Keeper (1978-1989) and Deputy Director (1978-1992). Braham coordinated numerous exhibitions, and contributed to the accompanying catalogues. He was sole or co-author on books on art and architecture, and numerous scholarly articles, in particular for

The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation sin ...

, and for the

Gazette des Beaux-Arts The ''Gazette des Beaux-Arts'' was a French art review, founded in 1859 by Édouard Houssaye, with Charles Blanc as its first chief editor. Assia Visson Rubinstein was chief editorial secretary under the direction of George Wildenstein from 1936 ...

in France. Braham married Helen Clare Butterworth on 15 June 1963 (marriage dissolved in 2004); they had two daughters and lived in North London. Braham died in London in 2011.

Awards

In 1980 Braham was awarded both the Sir Banister Fletcher Prize and the

Alice Davis Hitchcock Award The Alice Davis Hitchcock Book Award, established in 1949, by the Society of Architectural Historians, annually recognizes "the most distinguished work of scholarship in the history of architecture published by a North American scholar." The oldes ...

for his book ''The Architecture of the French Enlightenment''.

Selected publications

Books

* ''Dürer'', London: Spring Books, 1965, 1967. * ''Murillo, The Masters'', London: Knowledge Publications, 1966. * ''The National Gallery in London: Italian painting of the high renaissance'', Munich: Knorr & Hirth, 1971. * ''Velásquez, Themes and painters in the National Gallery'', London: National Gallery, 1972. * ''Rubens, Themes and painters in the National Gallery'', London: National Gallery, 1972. * ''The Leonardo-Cartoon: a short account of its history and significance'', London: National Gallery, 1973. * ''Funeral decorations in early eighteenth century Rome'', London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1975. * ''Architecture'', London: National Gallery, 1975. * ''The Rokeby Venus, Velázquez'', London: National Gallery, 1976. * ''The Architecture of the French Enlightenment'', London: Thames and Hudson, 1980, 1989. * ''El Greco to Goya: the taste for Spanish paintings in Britain and Ireland ...'' (book with introduction and catalogue by Allan Braham), London: National Gallery, 1981. * ''Italian paintings of the sixteenth century'', London: National Gallery in association with William Collins, 1985.

Books with co-authors

* ''L'église du dome'', Allan Braham and Anthony Blunt, London: Warburg Institute, 1960. * ''The Spanish School'' by Neil MacLaren, 2nd edition revised by Allan Braham, London: National Gallery, 1970. * ''François Mansart'', Allan Braham and Peter R Smith, London: Zwemmer, 1973. The book was developed from both writers' PhD theses for the Courtauld Institute. * ''Carlo Fontana: the drawings at Windsor Castle'', Allan Braham and Hellmut Hager, Royal Library (Windsor Castle), London: Zwemmer, 1977. * ''Piranesi as archaeologist and French architecture in the late eighteenth century'', Allan Braham and Anthony Blunt, Rome: Edizioni dell'Elefante, 1978.

Exhibition catalogues

* ''Wright of Derby: Mr & Mrs Coltman'' (exhibition organised and booklet written by Allan Braham), London: National Gallery, 1986. * ''Giovanni Battista Moroni: 400th anniversary exhibition'' (introduction and catalogue by Allan Braham), National Gallery, London: Hillingdon Press, 1978. * ''The National Gallery lends Italian Renaissance portraits'', ''an exhibition organised in conjunction with the Arts Council of Great Britain'' (introduction and catalogue by Allan Braham), London: National Gallery, 1979.

Articles

* 'Mansart studies: 1: the Val-de-Grâce', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), pp. 351–363, 1963. * 'Mansart studies: 4: the Château of Gesvres', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 106, pp. 359–363, 1964. * 'Archbishop Fernando de Valdés y Llanos: the problem of Velázquez's portrait', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 110, pp. 401–404, 1968. * 'Drawings for Soufflot's Sainte Geneviève', The Burlington Magazine (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 113, pp. 582–590, 1971. * 'A reappraisal of "The introduction of the cult of Cybele at Rome" by Mantegna', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 115, pp. 457–463, 1973. * 'The Emperor Sigismund and the Santa Maria Maggiore Altar-piece', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 122, pp. 106–112, 1980. * 'Murillo's portrait of Don Justino de Neve', ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 122, pp. 192–194, 1980.

Articles with co-authors

* 'Louis le Vau's projects for the Louvre and the Colonnade: 2', Allan Braham and Mary Whiteley, ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', pp. 347–362, 1964. * ''Mansart studies: 5: the church of the Minimes', Allan Braham and Peter Smith, ''The Burlington Magazine'' (ed. Benedict Nicolson), Vol. 107, pp. 123–132, 1965. * 'François Mansart's work at the Hôtel de Chavigny', Allan Braham and Peter Smith, ''Gazette des beaux-arts'', pp. 317–330, 1965.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braham, Allan English art historians Writers from London Alumni of the University of London 1937 births 2011 deaths British architectural historians Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art