Michael William Lely Kitson (30 January 1926 – 7 August 1998) was a 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 ...

who became an international authority on the work of the painter

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

. His teaching career took in the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

and

Courtauld Institute 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 ...

in London; he was at the latter from 1955 to 1985, ending as Professor of the History of Art from 1978 and deputy director from 1980. He then moved to be Director of Studies at the

Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art is a scholarly centre in London devoted to supporting original research into the history of British Art. It was founded in 1970 and endowed by a gift from Paul Mellon. Since 1996, it has been ...

in London. In 1969, he organized the first major exhibition ever dedicated to Lorrain at the

Laing Art Gallery The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, followed by the

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, London.

Early life and education

Michael Kitson was born on 30 January, 1926, the son of the Reverend Bernard Meredith Kitson, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman, and his wife Helen May Lely. The novelist

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope ( ; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among the best-known of his 47 novels are two series of six novels each collectively known as the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire ...

and the painter

Sir Peter Lely Sir Peter Lely (14 September 1618 – 30 November 1680) was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was nearly all spent in England, where he became the dominant portrait painter to the court. He became a naturalised British subject and was kn ...

were among his ancestors. He was educated at

Gresham's School Gresham's School is a private school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Holt, Norfolk, England, one of the top thirty International Baccalaureate schools in England. The school was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham as a f ...

and King's College,

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 ...

, where he read English (1944–45 and 1948–50), and 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. The art collection is known particularly for ...

(1950–1952).

Military service

His three years at King's College, Cambridge, were interrupted in 1945 when he was commissioned into the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

and attached to security intelligence Middle East, based in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. He left the army in 1948 and returned to Cambridge.

Career

In 1952, he joined the

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, as an assistant lecturer in the history of art. He moved on to the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as a lecturer from 1955 to 1967 and as a reader from 1967 to 1978. He became Professor of the History of Art there in 1978 and was deputy director of the institute from 1980 to 1985. In 1985, Kitson became Director of Studies at the

, London, a British educational charity with close links to

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

. Kitson became an international authority on

and organized the first Lorrain exhibition at the

, London, in 1969. In 1978 he catalogued the ''

Liber Veritatis The ''Liber Veritatis'', meaning ''Book of Truth'' in Latin, is a book of drawings recording his completed paintings made by Claude Lorrain, known in English as "Claude". Claude was a landscape painter in Rome, who began keeping this record in ...

'', Lorrain's own drawings of his paintings, for 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 ...

and later wrote the article on Lorrain for the

Macmillan 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, ...

(1996). He shared an interest in 17th-century

French painting French art consists of the visual arts, visual and plastic arts (including French architecture, woodwork, textiles, and ceramics) originating from the geographical area of France. Modern France was the main centre for the European art of the U ...

with

Anthony Blunt 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 and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

and later wrote the article on Blunt for the

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

Family

On 8 July 1950, Kitson married Annabella, the daughter of John Leslie Cloudsley. They had two sons. In the 1980s Kitson became the partner of Judith Colton, an American art scholar.

Death

After his death in Islington, London, on 7 August 1998, a memorial service was held at

St Clement Danes St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is now situated near the 19th-century Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand in Aldwych. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th cent ...

on 23 October 1998, with an address by

Neil MacGregor Robert Neil MacGregor (born 16 June 1946) is a British art historian and former museum director. He was editor of the '' Burlington Magazine'' from 1981 to 1987, then Director of the National Gallery, London, from 1987 to 2002, Director of th ...

, Director of 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 more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

Publications

*''J. M. W. Turner'' (Barnes & Noble, 1963) *''English painting (Art of the Western World)'', with Alexandra Wedgwood (

Paul Hamlyn Paul Hamlyn, Baron Hamlyn, (born Paul Bertrand Wolfgang Hamburger; 12 February 1926 – 31 August 2001) was a German-born British publisher and philanthropist, who established the Paul Hamlyn Foundation in 1987. Early life He was born Paul Be ...

London, and

Golden Press Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...

, New York 1964) *''Frans Hals'' (1965) *''The Age of Baroque: Landmarks of the World's Art, Architecture, Sculpture, Portraits, Landscapes, Interior Decoration'' (Paul Hamlyn, London, 1966) *''Claude Lorrain, Liber veritatis'' (British Museum Publications, London, 1978) *''The Art of Claude Lorrain'' (Arts Council, London, 1969) *''The Complete Paintings of Caravaggio'' (London, Abrams, 1967, new edition Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1969 and 1986, ) *''Rembrandt'' (Phaidon Press, editions in 1969, 1971, 1978 and 1994) *''Discovering the Italian Baroque'' by

Gabriele Finaldi Sir Gabriele Maria Finaldi (born 28 November 1965) is a British art historian and curator, with Italian citizenship. Since August 2015, he has been director of the National Gallery in London, England. Early life and education Finaldi was born i ...

and Michael Kitson (catalogue of Sir Denis Mahon's collection) (National Gallery, 1997) *''The Seeing Eye: Critical Writings on Art'' Michael Kitson (a collection of essays) (Mnemosyne Press, 2008) *''Complete Bibliography''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitson, Michael 1926 births 1998 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Gresham's School Academics of the Courtauld Institute of Art Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art People from Ealing