Blunt, Anthony
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Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British
art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...
and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of
art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...
at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, the director of 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. The art collection is known particularly for ...
and Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures. His 1967
monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...
on the French Baroque painter
Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...
is still widely regarded as a watershed book in art history.Shone, Richard and Stonard, John-Paul, eds. ''The Books that Shaped Art History'', Introduction. London: Thames & Hudson, 2013. His teaching text and reference work ''Art and Architecture in France 1500–1700'', first published in 1953, reached its fifth edition (in a version slightly revised by Richard Beresford) in 1999, at which time it was still considered the best account of the subject. He was the "fourth man" of the Cambridge Five, a group of
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
-educated spies who worked for the Soviets between the 1930s and the 1950s. (Blunt was the fourth member of the group to be discovered.) The height of Blunt's espionage activity was during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, when he passed to the Soviets intelligence about ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'' plans that the British government had decided to withhold. In 1964, after being offered
immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...
, Blunt confessed to having been a spy for the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. His confession—a secret for years— was revealed publicly by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
in November 1979. He was stripped of his knighthood immediately thereafter and died a little over three years later.


Early life

Anthony Blunt was born on 26 September 1907 in
Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
, in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
. He was the third and youngest son of a
vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
, the Revd (Arthur) Stanley Vaughan Blunt (1870–1929), and his wife, Hilda Violet (1880–1969), daughter of Henry Master of the
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
civil service. His siblings included the writer Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt and
numismatist A numismatist is a specialist, researcher, and/or well-informed collector of numismatics, numismatics/coins ("of coins"; from Late Latin , genitive of ). Numismatists can include collectors, specialist dealers, and scholar-researchers who use coi ...
Christopher Evelyn Blunt. One of his grandfathers was Bishop Frederick Blunt. Blunt's father was assigned to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
with the British embassy chapel and moved his family to the French capital for several years during Anthony's childhood. Blunt became fluent in French and intensely experienced the artistic culture available to him in Paris, stimulating an interest which lasted a lifetime and formed the basis for his later career. Blunt was educated at
Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...
, a boys' public school in Marlborough,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. There he joined the college's secret "Society of Amici", in which he was a contemporary of Louis MacNeice (whose unfinished autobiography ''The Strings Are False'' contains numerous references to Blunt), John Betjeman and Graham Shepard. He was remembered by historian John Edward Bowle, a year ahead of Blunt at Marlborough, as "an intellectual prig, too preoccupied with the realm of ideas." Bowle thought Blunt had "too much ink in his veins and belonged to a world of rather prissy, cold-blooded, academic puritanism." In 1928, Blunt founded a political magazine, ''Venture'', whose contributors were
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
writers.


University of Cambridge

Blunt won a scholarship in mathematics to
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. At that time, scholars at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
were allowed to skip Part I of the
Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...
examinations and complete Part II in two years. However, they could not earn a degree in less than three years, hence Blunt spent four years at Trinity and switched to Modern Languages, eventually graduating in 1930 with a first class degree. Blunt taught French at Cambridge and became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1932. His graduate research was in French
art history Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...
, and he travelled frequently to continental Europe in connection with his studies. Like Guy Burgess, Blunt was a
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
, which at the time was a
criminal offence In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
in the United Kingdom. Both were members of the Cambridge Apostles (also known as the Conversazione Society), a clandestine Cambridge discussion group of twelve
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
s, mostly from Trinity and King's Colleges who considered themselves to be the brightest minds; many were also homosexual as well as
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
sympathisers. Through the Apostles, Blunt met the future poet Julian Bell (son of painter
Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...
) and took him as a lover. Amongst other members were Victor Rothschild and the American Michael Whitney Straight, the latter also later suspected of being part of the Cambridge spy ring. Rothschild later worked for
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
and gave Blunt £100 to purchase the painting ''Eliezar and Rebecca'' by
Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...
. The painting was sold by Blunt's
executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...
s in 1985 for £100,000 (totalling £192,500 with tax remission) and is now in Cambridge's
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...
.


Recruitment to Soviet espionage

There are numerous theories of how Blunt was recruited to the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. As a Cambridge don, Blunt visited the Soviet Union in 1933 and was possibly recruited in 1934. At a press conference decades later, Blunt claimed that Burgess recruited him as a spy after both had left Cambridge. The historian Geoff Andrews writes that Blunt was "recruited between 1935 and 1936", while his biographer Miranda Carter says that it was in January 1937 that Burgess introduced Blunt to his Soviet recruiter, Arnold Deutsch. Shortly after meeting Deutsch, writes Carter, Blunt became a Soviet "talent spotter" and was given the
NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...
codename "Tony."Carter 2001, p. 180. Blunt may have identified Burgess, Straight, Kim Philby, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross – all undergraduates at Trinity College (except Maclean at the neighbouring Trinity Hall) a few years younger than he – as potential spies for the Soviets.


Joining MI5

With the
invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...
by German and Soviet forces, Blunt joined the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in 1939. During the
Phoney War The Phoney War (; ; ) was an eight-month period at the outset of World War II during which there were virtually no Allied military land operations on the Western Front from roughly September 1939 to May 1940. World War II began on 3 Septembe ...
he served in
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
in the Intelligence Corps. When the ''
Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...
'' drove British forces back to
Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...
in May 1940, Blunt was part of the
Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...
. During that same year he was recruited to
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
, the Security Service. Before the war, MI5 employed mostly former members of the Indian Imperial Police. In MI5, Blunt began passing the results of Ultra intelligence (from decrypted Enigma intercepts of ''Wehrmacht'' radio traffic on the Eastern Front) to the Soviets, as well as details of German spy rings operating in the Soviet Union. Ultra was primarily working on the
Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...
naval codes, which eventually helped win the
Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...
. As the war progressed, ''Wehrmacht'' codes were also broken. Sensitive receivers could pick up transmissions, relating to German war plans, from
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. There was a great risk that, if the Germans discovered their codes had been compromised, they would change the settings of the Enigma wheels, blinding the code breakers. The entirety of Ultra was known by only four people, only one of whom routinely worked at
Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
. Dissemination of Ultra information did not follow the usual intelligence protocol but maintained its own communications channels. Military intelligence officers gave intercepts to Ultra liaisons, who in turn forwarded the intercepts to Bletchley Park. Information from decoded messages was then passed back to military commanders through the same channels. Thus, each link in the communications chain knew only one particular job and not the overall Ultra details. Nobody outside Bletchley Park knew the source. John Cairncross was posted from
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
to work at Bletchley Park. Blunt admitted to recruiting Cairncross and may well have been the cut-out between him and Soviet contacts. Although the Soviet Union was now an ally, the Russians were not trusted. Some information concerned German preparations and detailed plans for the Battle of Kursk, the last major German offensive on the Eastern Front.
Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was a conservative British journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, i ...
, a wartime British agent, recalls meeting Philby and Rothschild in Paris in 1955. He reported that Rothschild argued that much more Ultra material should have been given to
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
; for once, Philby reportedly dropped his reserve and agreed. During the war, Blunt attained the rank of
major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...
. He was later accused of betraying Operation Market Garden to benefit both the Nazis and the Russians. This defeat was usually attributed to the Dutch traitor Christiaan Lindemans. In ''The Traitor of Arnhem'', premiered by ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', there is talk of another traitor, a certain "Josephine", who the author believed to be a cover name for Blunt. The aim of the Soviets, and therefore of Blunt, would have been to prevent Allied forces from arriving in Berlin before the Russians. After the war, Blunt's espionage activity diminished, but he retained contact with Soviet agents and continued to pass them gossip from former MI5 colleagues and documents from Burgess. This continued until the defection of Burgess and Maclean in 1951.


Trips on behalf of the royal family

In April 1945, Blunt, who had worked part-time at the Royal Library, was offered and accepted the job of Surveyor of the King's Pictures. His predecessor,
Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...
, had resigned earlier that year. The Royal Librarian, Owen Morshead, who had become friends with Blunt during the two years he worked in the Royal Collection, recommended him for the job. Morshead had been impressed with Blunt's "diligence, his habitual reticence, and his perfect manners." Blunt often visited Morshead's home in Windsor.Carter 2001, p. 305 (American edition). His student Oliver Millar, who would become his successor as Surveyor, said, "I think Anthony was happier there than many other places." Carter writes: "The
royal family A royal family is the immediate family of monarchs and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term papal family describes the family of a pope, while th ...
liked him: he was polite, effective and, above all, discreet." In August 1945, during the final days of World War II in Europe,
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...
asked Blunt to accompany Morshead on a trip to Friedrichshof Castle near
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
to retrieve almost 4,000 letters written by
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
to her daughter, Empress Victoria, the mother of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The account of the trip in the Royal Archives states that the letters, as well as other documents, "were exposed to risks owing to unsettled conditions after the war."Carter 2001, p. 311 (American edition). According to Morshead, Blunt was needed because he knew German, which would make it easier to identify the desired material. There was a signed agreement made at the time, since the royal family did not own the documents. The letters rescued by Morshead and Blunt were deposited in the Royal Archives and were returned in 1951. Carter mentions that other versions of the story, which claim that the trip was to retrieve letters from the
Duke of Windsor Duke of Windsor was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 8 March 1937 for the former monarch Edward VIII, following his Abdication of Edward VIII, abdication on 11 December 1936. The Duchy, dukedom takes its name from ...
to Philipp, Landgrave of Hesse, the owner of Friedrichshof Castle, in which the Duke knowingly revealed Allied secrets to
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, have some credibility, given the Duke's known Nazi sympathies. Variants of this version have been published by several authors. Carter allows that, while George VI may have also asked Blunt and Morshead to be on the alert for any documents relating to the Duke, "it seems unlikely that they found any."Carter 2001, p. 313 (American edition). Much later, Queen Victoria's letters were edited and published in five volumes by Roger Fulford, and it was revealed they contained numerous "embarrassing and 'improper' comments about the awfulness of German politics and culture."
Hugh Trevor-Roper Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper, Baron Dacre of Glanton, (15 January 1914 – 26 January 2003) was an English historian. He was Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford), Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Trevor-Rope ...
remembered discussing the trip with Blunt at MI5 in the autumn of 1945, recalling (in Carter's retelling): "Blunt's task had been to secure the Vicky correspondence before the Americans found it and published it." Blunt made three more trips to other locations over the following eighteen months, mainly "to recover royal treasures to which the Crown did not have an automatic right." On one trip he returned with a twelfth-century
illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared manuscript, document where the text is decorated with flourishes such as marginalia, borders and Miniature (illuminated manuscript), miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Churc ...
and the diamond crown of Queen Charlotte. The King had good reason to worry about the safety of the objects he had sent Blunt to retrieve: the senior American officers at Friedrichshof Castle, Kathleen Nash and Jack Durant, were later arrested for looting and put on trial.


Suspicion and secret confession

Some people knew of Blunt's role as a Soviet spy long before his public exposure. According to MI5 papers released in 2002,
Moura Budberg Maria Ignatievna von Budberg-Bönninghausen (, ''Maria (Moura) Ignatievna Zakrevskaya-Benckendorff-Budberg'', née Zakrevskaya; February 1892 – 1 November 1974), also known as Countess von Benckendorff and Baroness von Budberg, was a Russian ...
reported in 1950 that Blunt was a member of the
Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...
, but this was ignored. According to Blunt himself, he never joined because Burgess persuaded him that he would be more valuable to the Soviet cause by working with Burgess. He was certainly on friendly terms with Sir Dick White, the head of MI5 and later
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, in the 1960s, and they used to spend Christmas together with Rothschild in the latter's Cambridge residence."Scholar, gentleman, prig, spy"
''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', London, 11 November 2001
Blunt's
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
handlers had also become suspicious at the sheer amount of material he was passing over, suspecting him of being a triple agent. Later, he was described by a KGB officer as "ideological shit." With the defection of Burgess and Maclean to
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in May 1951, Blunt came under suspicion. Burgess returned on the RMS ''Queen Mary'' to
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
after being suspended from the British embassy in Washington for his conduct. He was to warn Maclean, who now worked in the
Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...
but was under surveillance and isolated from secret material. Blunt collected Burgess at Southampton Docks and took him to stay at his flat in London, although he later denied that he had warned the defecting pair. Blunt was interrogated by MI5 in 1952 but gave away little if anything. Arthur Martin and Jim Skardon interviewed Blunt eleven times after 1951, but Blunt had admitted nothing. Blunt was greatly distressed by Burgess' flight and, on 28 May 1951, confided in his friend Goronwy Rees, a fellow of
All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...
, who had briefly supplied the NKVD with political information in 1938–39. Rees suggested that Burgess had defected because of his virulent
anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment and Americanophobia) is a term that can describe several sentiments and po ...
and belief that the United States would involve Britain in a Third World War, and that he was a Soviet agent. Blunt suggested that this was not sufficient reason to denounce Burgess to MI5, pointing out that "Burgess was one of our oldest friends and to denounce him would not be the act of a friend." Blunt quoted E. M. Forster's belief that country was less important than friendship, arguing that "Burgess had told me he was a spy in 1936 and I had not told anyone." In 1963, MI5 learned of Blunt's espionage from Straight, whom he had recruited. Blunt confessed to MI5 on 23 April 1964. The private secretary of Queen
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
was informed shortly thereafter, but the Queen herself was not officially informed until 1973. Blunt also named Cairncross, Jenifer Hart, Phoebe Pool, Peter Ashby, Brian Simon and Leonard Henry Long as spies. Long had also been a member of the Communist Party and an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge. During the war, he served in MI14 military intelligence in the
War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...
, with responsibility for assessing German offensive plans. He passed analyses but not original material relating to the Eastern Front to Blunt. According to his obituary in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', Blunt acknowledged that he had recruited spies for the Soviets from among young radical students at Cambridge, passed information to the Russians while he served as a high-ranking British intelligence officer during World War II and had helped two of his former Cambridge students who had become Soviet moles, Burgess and Maclean, escape in 1951 just as their activities were about to be exposed. Blunt was convinced that his confession would be kept secret. "I believed, naively, that the security service would see it, partly in its own interest, that the story would never become public," he wrote. Indeed, in return for a full confession, the British government agreed to keep his espionage an official secret, though only for fifteen years, and granted him full
immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. S ...
.Burns, John F.
Memoirs of British Spy Offer No Apology
''The New York Times'', 23 July 2009.
Blunt was not stripped of his knighthood until
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
officially announced his treachery in 1979. According to the memoir of MI5 officer Peter Wright, Wright had regular interviews with Blunt from 1964 onwards for six years. Prior to that, he had a briefing with Michael Adeane, the Queen's private secretary, who told Wright: "From time to time you may find Blunt referring to an assignment he undertook on behalf of the Palace – a visit to Germany at the end of the war. Please do not pursue this matter. Strictly speaking, it is not relevant to considerations of national security." For unknown reasons, Prime Minister
Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
was not informed of Blunt's spying, although the Queen and
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
Henry Brooke had been fully informed. In November 1979, Thatcher informed
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
of Blunt's treachery and the immunity deal that had been arranged. Blunt's life was little affected by the knowledge of his treachery. In 1966, two years after his secret confession, Noel Annan, provost of King's College, Cambridge, held a dinner party for Labour Home Secretary
Roy Jenkins Roy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (11 November 1920 – 5 January 2003) was a British politician and writer who served as the sixth President of the European Commission from 1977 to 1981. At various times a Member of Parliamen ...
,
Ann Fleming Ann Geraldine Mary Fleming (, 19 June 1913 – 12 July 1981) was a British aristocrat and socialite. She had three husbands: Lord O'Neill, Lord Rothermere and Ian Fleming. Biography Anne Geraldine Mary Charteris was born to Frances Lucy ...
(widow of
James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...
author
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...
), and Victor Rothschild and his wife Tess. The Rothschilds brought their friend and lodger – Blunt. All had had wartime connections with British intelligence; Jenkins at Bletchley Park.


Public exposure

In 1979, Blunt's role was represented in Andrew Boyle's book ''Climate of Treason'', in which Blunt was given the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
"Maurice", after the homosexual protagonist of E. M. Forster's novel of that name. In September of that year, Blunt had tried to obtain a typescript before the publication of Boyle's book. "Technically there was no
defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...
, and Boyle's editor, Harold Harris, refused to cooperate." Blunt's request was reported in the magazine '' Private Eye'' and drew his attention. In early November excerpts were published in ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...
'', and on 8 November ''Private Eye'' revealed that "Maurice" was Blunt. In interviews to publicise his book, Boyle refused to confirm that Blunt was "Maurice" and asserted that was the government's responsibility. Based on an interview with Blunt's solicitor, Michael Rubinstein (who had met Mrs Thatcher's
Cabinet Secretary A cabinet secretary is usually a senior official (typically a civil servant) who provides services and advice to a cabinet of ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powe ...
, Sir Robert Armstrong), Carter states that Thatcher, "personally affronted by Blunt's immunity, took the bait. ...she found the whole episode thoroughly reprehensible, and reeking of Establishment collusion." On 15 November 1979, Thatcher revealed Blunt's wartime role to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
in reply to
questions A question is an utterance which serves as a request for information. Questions are sometimes distinguished from interrogatives, which are the grammar, grammatical forms, typically used to express them. Rhetorical questions, for instance, are i ...
put to her by Ted Leadbitter, MP for
Hartlepool Hartlepool ( ) is a seaside resort, seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is governed by a unitary authority borough Borough of Hartlepool, named after the town. The borough is part of the devolved Tees Valley area with an estimat ...
, and
Dennis Skinner Dennis Edward Skinner (born 11 February 1932) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolsover (UK Parliament constituency), Bolsover for 49 years, from 1970 to 2019. A m ...
, MP for Bolsover: In a statement to the press on 20 November, Blunt claimed the decision to grant him immunity from prosecution was taken by the then-prime minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home. Speaking in the House of Commons on 21 November, Thatcher disclosed more details of the affair. For weeks after Thatcher's announcement, Blunt was hunted by journalists. Once found, he was besieged by photographers. Blunt had recently given a lecture at the invitation of Francis Haskell,
Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...
's professor of art history. Haskell had a Russian mother and wife and had graduated from King's College, Cambridge. To the press, this made him an obvious suspect. They repeatedly telephoned Haskell's home in the early hours of the morning, using the names of his friends and claiming to have an urgent message for "Anthony." Although Blunt was outwardly calm, the sudden exposure shocked him. His former pupil, art critic Brian Sewell, said at the time, "He was so businesslike about it; he considered the implications for his knighthood and academic honours and what should be resigned and what retained. What he didn't want was a great debate at his clubs, the Athenaeum and the Travellers. He was incredibly calm about it all." Sewell was involved in protecting Blunt from the extensive media attention, and his friend was spirited away to a flat within a house in
Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...
. In 1979, Blunt said that the reason for his betrayal could be explained by the E. M. Forster adage "if asked to choose between betraying his friend and betraying his country, he hoped he would have the guts to betray his country." In 2002 the novelist
Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with ''The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with ''Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and ''Arthu ...
asserted that "Blunt exploited, deceived, and lied to far more friends than he was loyal to ... if you betray your country, you by definition betray all your friends in that country..." The Queen stripped Blunt of his knighthood, and in short order he was removed as an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. He resigned as a Fellow of the
British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the sa ...
after a failed effort to expel him; three fellows resigned in protest against the failure to remove him. He broke down in tears in his
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
confession at the age of 72. Anthony Blunt died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
at his London home, 9 The Grove, Highgate, in 1983, aged 75. Jon Nordheimer, the author of his obituary in ''The New York Times'', wrote: "Details of the nature of the espionage carried out by Mr. Blunt for the Russians have never been revealed, although it is believed that they did not directly cause loss of life or compromise military operations."


Memoirs

Blunt withdrew from society after he was officially exposed and seldom went out, but continued his work on art history. His friend Tess Rothschild suggested that he occupy his time writing his memoirs. Sewell, his former pupil, said they remained unfinished because he had to consult the Newspaper Library in Colindale to check facts, but was unhappy at being recognised. "I do know he was really worried about upsetting his family," said Sewell. "I think he was being absolutely straight with me when he said that if he could not verify the facts there was no point in going on." Blunt stopped writing in 1983, leaving his memoirs to his partner, John Gaskin, who kept them for a year and then gave them to Blunt's executor, John Golding, a fellow art historian. Golding passed them on to the British Library, insisting that they not be released for twenty-five years. They were finally made available to readers on 23 July 2009 and can be accessed through the British Library catalogue. In the typed manuscript, Blunt conceded that spying for the Soviet Union was the biggest mistake of his life. The memoir revealed little that was not already known about Blunt. When asked whether there would be any new or unexpected names, Golding replied: "I'm not sure. It's twenty-five years since I read it, and my memory is not that good." Although ordered by the KGB to defect with Maclean and Burgess to protect Philby, in 1951 Blunt realised "quite clearly that I would take any risk in ritain rather than go to Russia." After he was publicly exposed, he claims to have considered
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
but instead turned to "whisky and concentrated work." The regret in the manuscript seemed to stem from the way that spying had affected his life, and there was no apology. The historian Christopher Andrew felt that the regret was shallow, and that he found an "unwillingness to acknowledge the evil he had served in spying for Stalin."


Career as an art historian


Royal Collections

Throughout the time of his activities in espionage, Blunt's public career was as an art historian, a field in which he gained eminence. In 1940, most of his fellowship dissertation was published under the title of ''Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600'', which remains in print. In 1945, he was given the distinguished position of Surveyor of the King's Pictures, and later the Queen's Pictures (after the death of King George VI in 1952), in charge of the
Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...
, one of the largest and richest collections of art in the world. He held the position for 27 years, was
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...
ed as a KCVO in 1956 for his work in the role, and his contribution was vital in the expansion of the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace, which opened in 1962, and organising the cataloguing of the collection.


University of London and Courtauld Institute

In 1947, Blunt became both Professor of the History of Art at the
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
, and the director of 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. The art collection is known particularly for ...
, University of London, where he had been lecturing since the spring of 1933, and where his tenure in office as director lasted until 1974. This position included the use of a live-in apartment on the premises, then at Home House in Portman Square. During his 27 years at the Courtauld Institute, Blunt was respected as a dedicated teacher, a kind superior to his staff. His legacy at the Courtauld was to have left it with a larger staff, increased funding, and more space, and his role was central in the acquisition of outstanding collections for the Courtauld's Galleries. He is often credited for making the Courtauld what it is today, as well as for pioneering art history in Britain, and for training the next generation of British art historians. While at the Courtauld, Blunt contributed photographs to the Conway Library of art and architecture, which are currently being digitised.


Research and publications

In 1953, Blunt published his book ''Art and Architecture in France, 1500–1700'' in the Pelican History of Art (later taken over by Yale University Press), and he was in particular an expert on the works of
Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...
, writing numerous books and articles about the painter, and serving as curator for a landmark exhibition of Poussin at the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in 1960, which was an enormous success. He also wrote on topics as diverse as
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...
,
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, and the Galleries of England, Scotland, and Wales. He also catalogued the French drawings (1945), G. B. Castiglione and Stefano della Bella drawings (1954) Roman drawings (with H. L. Cooke, 1960) and Venetian (with Edward Croft-Murray, 1957) drawings in the Royal Collection, as well as a supplement of Addenda and Corrigenda to the Italian catalogues (in E. Schilling's German Drawings). Blunt attended a summer school in
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
in 1965, leading to a deep interest in Sicilian Baroque architecture, and in 1968 he wrote the only authoritative and in-depth book on the subject. From 1962 he was engaged in a dispute with Sir Denis Mahon regarding the authenticity of a Poussin work which rumbled on for several years. Mahon was shown to be correct. Blunt was also unaware that a painting in his own possession was also by Poussin. After Margaret Thatcher had exposed Blunt's espionage, he continued his art history work by writing and publishing a ''Guide to Baroque Rome'' (1982). He intended to write a monograph about the architecture of
Pietro da Cortona Pietro da Cortona (; 1 November 1596 or 159716 May 1669) was an Italian Baroque painter and architect. Along with his contemporaries and rivals Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, he was one of the key figures in the emergence of Roman ...
but he died before realising the project. His manuscripts were sent to the intended co-author of this work, German art historian Jörg Martin Merz by the executors of his will. Merz published a book, ''Pietro da Cortona and Roman Baroque Architecture'' in 2008 incorporating a draft by the late Anthony Blunt. Many of his publications are still seen today by scholars as integral to the study of art history. His writing is lucid, and places art and architecture in their context in history. In ''Art and Architecture in France'', for example, he begins each section with a brief depiction of the social, political and/or religious contexts in which works of art and art movements are emerging. In Blunt's ''Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600'', he explains the motivational circumstances involved in the transitions between the High
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
and
Mannerism Mannerism is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, when the Baroque style largely replaced it ...
.


Notable students

Notable students who have been influenced by Blunt include Aaron Scharf, photography historian and author of ''Art and Photography'' (whom Blunt assisted, along with Scharf's wife, in escaping McCarthy condemnation for their support of communism), Brian Sewell (an art critic for the ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
''), Ron Bloore, Sir Oliver Millar (his successor at the Royal Collection and an expert on Van Dyck), Nicholas Serota, Neil Macgregor, the former editor of the Burlington magazine, former director of the National Gallery and former director of the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
who paid tribute to Blunt as "a great and generous teacher", John White (art historian), Sir Alan Bowness (who ran the Tate Gallery), John Golding (who wrote the first major book on
Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
), Reyner Banham (an influential architectural historian),
John Shearman John Kinder Gowran Shearman (pronounced "Sherman"; 24 June 1931 – 11 August 2003) was an English art historian who also taught in America. He was a specialist in Italian Renaissance painting, described by his colleague James S. Ackerman as " ...
(the "world expert" on Mannerism and the former Chair of the Art History Department at
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
), Melvin Day (former Director of National Art Gallery of New Zealand and Government Art Historian for New Zealand ), Christopher Newall (an expert on the Pre-Raphaelites), Michael Jaffé (an expert on
Rubens Sir Peter Paul Rubens ( ; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat. He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque tradition. Rubens' highly charged compositions reference erudite aspects of clas ...
), Michael Mahoney (former Curator of European Paintings at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and former Chair of the Art History Department at Trinity College, Hartford), Lee Johnson (an expert on
Eugène Delacroix Ferdinand Victor Eugène Delacroix ( ; ; 26 April 1798 – 13 August 1863) was a French people, French Romanticism, Romantic artist who was regarded as the leader of the French Romantic school.Noon, Patrick, et al., ''Crossing the Channel: ...
), Phoebe Pool (art historian) and Anita Brookner (an art historian and novelist).


Honorary positions

Among his many accomplishments, Blunt also received a series of honorary fellowships, became the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
's picture adviser, curated exhibitions at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
, edited and wrote numerous books and articles, and sat on many influential committees in the arts.


Works

A , ''Studies in Renaissance and Baroque Art presented to Anthony Blunt on his 60th Birthday'', Phaidon 1967 (introduction by Ellis Waterhouse), contains a full list of his writings up to 1966. Major works include: * Blunt, ''Artistic Theory in Italy, 1450–1600'', 1940 and many later editions * Anthony Blunt, ''François Mansart and the Origins of French Classical Architecture'', 1941. * Blunt, ''Art and Architecture in France, 1500–1700'', 1953 and many subsequent editions. * Blunt, ''Philibert de l'Orme'', A. Zwemmer, 1958. * Blunt, ''Nicolas Poussin. A Critical Catalogue'', Phaidon 1966 * Blunt, ''Nicolas Poussin'', Phaidon 1967 (new edition Pallas Athene, published, London, 1995). * Blunt, ''Sicilian Baroque'', 1968 (ed. it. Milano 1968; Milano 1986). * Blunt, ''Picasso's Guernica'', Oxford University Press, 1969. * Blunt, ''Neapolitan Baroque and Rococo Architecture'', London 1975 (ed. it. Milano 2006). * Blunt, ''Baroque and Rococo Architecture and Decoration'', 1978. * Blunt, ''Borromini'', 1979 (ed. it. Roma-Bari 1983). * Blunt, ''L'occhio e la storia. Scritti di critica d'arte (1936–38)'', a cura di Antonello Negri, Udine 1999. Important articles after 1966: * Anthony Blunt, "French Painting, Sculpture and Architecture since 1500", in ''France: A Companion to French Studies'', ed. D. G. Charlton (New York, Toronto and London: Pitman, 1972), 439–492. * Anthony Blunt, "Rubens and architecture", ''Burlington Magazine'', 1977, 894, pp. 609–621. * Anthony Blunt, "Roman Baroque Architecture: the Other Side of the Medal", ''Art history'', no. 1, 1980, pp. 61–80 (includes bibliographical references).


Depictions in popular culture

'' A Question of Attribution'' is a play written by Alan Bennett about Blunt, covering the weeks before his public exposure as a spy, and his relationship with Queen Elizabeth II. After a successful run in London's West End, it was made into a television play directed by
John Schlesinger John Richard Schlesinger ( ; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director, and actor. He emerged in the early 1960s as a leading light of the British New Wave, before embarking on a successful career in Hollywood ...
and starring James Fox,
Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...
and Geoffrey Palmer. It was aired on the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 1991. This play was seen as a companion to Bennett's 1983 television play about Guy Burgess, '' An Englishman Abroad''. ''Blunt: The Fourth Man'' is a 1985 television film starring Ian Richardson,
Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor. Considered one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for List of Anthony Hopkins performances, his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins ha ...
, Michael Williams, and Rosie Kerslake, covering the events of 1951 when Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean went missing. '' The Untouchable'', a 1997 novel by
John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...
, is a based largely on the life and character of Anthony Blunt; the novel's protagonist, Victor Maskell, is a loosely disguised Blunt. "I. M. Anthony Blunt" is a poem by Gavin Ewart, cleverly attempting a humane corrective to the hysteria over Blunt's fall from grace. Published in ''Gavin Ewart, Selected Poems 1933–1993'', Hutchenson, 1996 (reprinted Faber and Faber, 2011). ''A Friendship of Convenience: Being a Discourse on Poussin's "Landscape With a Man Killed by a Snake"'', is a 1997 novel by Rufus Gunn set in 1956 in which Blunt, then Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, encounters
Joseph Losey Joseph Walton Losey III (; January 14, 1909 – June 22, 1984) was an American film and theatre director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Wisconsin, he studied in Germany with Bertolt Brecht and then returned to the United States. Hollywood ...
, the film director fleeing
McCarthyism McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
. Blunt was portrayed by
Samuel West Samuel Alexander Joseph West (born 19 June 1966) is an English actor, theatre director, and narrator. He has directed on stage and radio, and worked as an actor in theatre, film, television, and radio. West was nominated for the BAFTA Award f ...
in '' Cambridge Spies'', a 2003 four-part BBC television drama concerning the lives of the Cambridge Four from 1934 to the defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean to the Soviet Union. West reprised the role in ''
The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
'' (2019), in "Olding", the first episode of the third season. At the end of the episode, a series of on-screen titles simply say, "Anthony Blunt was offered complete immunity from prosecution. He continued as Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures until his retirement in 1972. The Queen never spoke of him again." No mention is made of the Queen stripping him of his knighthood or his removal as an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College. ''Liberation Square'', Gareth Rubin's alternative history of the UK, published in 2019, makes Blunt First Party Secretary of a 1950s Britain divided by US and Russian forces. Blunt is portrayed by Nicholas Rowe in the 2022
ITVX ITVX is a British Over-the-top media services, over-the-top and ad-supported Streaming television, streaming service operated by ITV plc. The service offers original content from the broadcaster, livestreams of the ITV television channels, Free ...
miniseries '' A Spy Among Friends'', an espionage drama based on Ben Macintyre's book of the same name. '' The Endless Game'' featured a character based on Blunt. Anthony Quayle played Herbert Glanville, an art critic dubbed the Fifth Man of a Cambridge spy ring who made a deal to get immunity from prosecution.


References


Bibliography

* Andrews, Geoff (2015). ''The Shadow Man: At the Heart of the Cambridge Spy Circle''. London: I.B. Tauris. . * Banville, John (1997). '' The Untouchable'' (novel). London: Picador. . * Bennett, Alan (1988). ''A Question of Attribution'', first theatre performance as the second part of a double-bill, with ''An Englishman Abroad'' about Guy Burgess as the first part, London, 1988; broadcast as television play, 1991; both plays published in one volume as ''Single Spies'', London, Faber, 1989, . * Bounds, Philip (2018). "A Spy in the House of Art: The Marxist Criticism of Anthony Blunt", '' Critique: Journal of Socialist Theory'', vol. 46 no. 2, pp. 343–362. * Boyle, Andrew (1979). ''The Climate of Treason: Five Who Spied for Russia''. London: Hutchinson. . * ''Burlington'' (1974)
"Editorial: Anthony Blunt and the Courtauld Institute"
''
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 s ...
'', vol. 116, no. 858 (September 1974), p. 501. * Carter, Miranda (2001). ''Anthony Blunt: His Lives'', London: Pan (609 pages). . New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (590 pages). . * Chastel, André (1983). "Anthony Blunt, art historian (1907–1983)", ''The Burlington Magazine'', vol 125, no. 966 (September 1983), . * Costello, John (1988). ''Mask Of Treachery'', London, Collins. . * De Seta, Cesare (1991). "Anthony Blunt", in ''Viale Belle Arti. Maestri e amici'', Milano, pp. 111–138. * Foster, Henrietta (2008)
"Unearthing an interview with a spy"
'' Newsnight''. (23 January 2008). BBC. Retrieved 23 January 2008. * Gatti, Andrea (2002). "La critica della ragione. sulla teoria dell'arte di Anthony Blunt", ''Miscellanea Marciana'', vol. 17, pp. 193–205. . * Kitson, Michael, rev. * Lenzo, Fulvio (2006). ''Napoli e l'architettura italiana ed europea negli studi di Anthony Blunt'', in Anthony Blunt, ''Architettura barocca e rococò a Napoli'', ed. it. a cura di Fulvio Lenzo, Milano, pp. 7–15. * MacNeice, Louis (1965). ''The Strings are False'', London, Faber. . * Penrose, Barrie and Simon Freeman (1987). ''Conspiracy of Silence: The Secret Life of Anthony Blunt''. New York. . * Petropoulos, Jonathan (2006). ''The Royals and the Reich''. Oxford University Press. . * Sorenson, Lee
"Blunt, Anthony"
''Dictionary of Art Historians.'' * Straight, Michael (1983). ''After Long Silence: the Man Who Exposed Anthony Blunt Tells for the First Time the Story of the Cambridge Spy Network from the Inside'', London, Collins. . * Varriano, John (1996). "Blunt, Anthony", vol. 4, p. 182, in ''
The Dictionary of Art ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...
'' (34 volumes), edited by
Jane Turner Jane Turner (born 1 December 1960) is an Australian actress, comedian and Logie Award-winning comedy series creator and screenwriter. She is widely known for her role as Kath in the TV sitcom ''Kath and Kim''. Career Jane Turner, although ...
. New York: Grove. . Also available a
Oxford Art Online
(subscription required). * West, Nigel (1999). ''The Crown Jewels: The British Secrets Exposed by the KGB Archives'', London. . * Wright, Peter (1987). ''Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer''. Toronto: Stoddart Publishers. .


External links


FBI file on Anthony Blunt

BBC Newsnight: Blunt's art tapes revealed/Courtauld Institute
* in the '' Oxonian Review of Books'' *
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's ''The Reunion'': Five past pupils of London's
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. The art collection is known particularly for ...
br>remember Anthony Blunt

Interview with biographer Miranda Carter on "Anthony Blunt: His Lives"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blunt, Anthony 1907 births 1983 deaths 20th-century English historians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British Army General List officers British Army personnel of World War II British spies for the Soviet Union Burials at Putney Vale Cemetery Cold War spies Communist Party of Great Britain members Directors of the Courtauld Institute of Art English architecture writers English art historians English communists English curators Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Gay academics British gay writers Intelligence Corps officers Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order English LGBTQ writers MI5 personnel People educated at Marlborough College Writers from Bournemouth People stripped of a British Commonwealth honour Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford) Soviet spies Surveyors of the King's Pictures 20th-century English LGBTQ people British magazine founders