Arthur E. (Hugh) Popham, (22 March 1889 – 8 December 1970) was a British art historian, mainly focused on

Italian art Since ancient times, Greeks, Etruscans and Celts have inhabited the south, centre and north of the Italian peninsula respectively. The very numerous rock drawings in Valcamonica are as old as 8,000 BC, and there are rich remains of Etruscan ar ...

. Most of his life he worked at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and became especially renowned for his catalogue work. He was Keeper of Prints and Drawings from 1945 to his retirement from the museum in 1954.

Personal life

He was born Arthur Ewart Hugh Popham in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 22 March 1889, as the only son of Arthur Frederick Popham and Florence Amelia Radford. His mother was sister to the poet

Ernest Radford Ernest William Radford (1857–1919) was an English poet, critic and socialist. He was a follower of William Morris, and one of the organisers in the Arts and Crafts Movement; he acted as secretary to the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. He w ...

and the writer Ada Radford Wallas. He was educated at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, at King's College. He duly graduated MA in 1908. He was associated with

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

's circle of Neo-pagans and the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

. He married

Brynhild Olivier Brynhild Olivier (20 May 1887 – 13 January 1935) was one of four sisters noted for their progressive ideas, beauty and associations with both Rupert Brooke and his Cambridge circle of Neo-pagans, as well as the Bloomsbury Group. Born in B ...

on 3 October 1912 and the couple had three children: Hugh Anthony, Anne Olivier (later: Mrs.

Quentin Bell Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell (19 August 1910 – 16 December 1996) was an English art historian and author. Early life Bell was born in London, the son of Clive Bell and Vanessa Bell (née Stephen), and the nephew of Virginia Woolf (née Ste ...

) and Tristram. They divorced in 1924, when this was still a matter of some social consequence and required a hearing in court. He married Rosalind Baynes (née Thornycroft) in 1926. He died in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1970. At the time of death, his address was 4 Canonbury Place, London N1. At Probate on 16 February 1971, his estate was stated as £4,967.

Career

In 1912, Popham joined the Department of Prints and Drawings of the

. In 1933, he was promoted to deputy keeper. From 1945 to 1954, he served as Keeper of Prints and Drawings (i.e. head of the department). On retirement, he was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB). At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914, Popham joined the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

. During his service, he was awarded the French

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

. He moved to the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

upon its creation in 1918 with the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. During the war, he served in Europe, Egypt, and Palestine.

Selected works

* Arthur E. Popham: Catalogue of the Drawings of

Parmigianino Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola (11 January 150324 August 1540), also known as Francesco Mazzola or, more commonly, as Parmigianino (, , ; "the little one from Parma"), was an Italian Mannerist painter and printmaker active in Florence, Rome, Bo ...

. 3 Vols. New Haven & London: Yale University Press 1971.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * 1889 births 1970 deaths Writers from Plymouth, Devon British art historians Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Naval Air Service personnel of World War I Royal Air Force personnel of World War I Companions of the Order of the Bath {{UK-art-historian-stub