42 Notable alumni of Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Updated: June 22, 2026 EliteDegrees
Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London is ranked #1,765 in the world and #108 in United Kingdom by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 42 notable alumni from Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. Melvin Day
1923-2016 (aged 93)
painter
Melvin Norman "Pat" Day CNZM was a New Zealand artist and art historian.
2. Benedict Read
1945-2016 (aged 71)
art historian
Benedict William Read FSA was an English art historian. Usually known as Ben Read, he was the author of numerous books, essays and articles on nineteenth and twentieth century art history, and was one of the most authoritative writers in the second half of the twentieth century on British Victorian sculpture.
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3. Emily Tsingou
1968-. (aged 58)
art dealer
Emily Tsingou is a private collection’s curator and adviser who lives in London, England. She is the former proprietor of Emily Tsingou Gallery which was open 1998 through 2007.
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4. Frances Morris
1959-. (aged 67)
curator
Frances Mary Morris CBE was the director of the Tate Modern from January 2016 to February 2023. She had succeeded Chris Dercon, and is succeeded by Karin Hindsbo. She remains the director emerita.
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5. Mark Jones
1951-. (aged 75)
art historian
numismatist
Sir Mark Ellis Powell Jones FSA FRSE is a British art historian, numismatist and museum director. He was director of the Victoria and Albert Museum from 2001 to 2011, and then master of St Cross College, Oxford from 2011 to 2016.
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6. Zahra Newby
1971-. (aged 55)
historian
classical scholar
professor
Zahra Newby is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick. She is known in particular for her work on Greek mythology in Roman art and the visual culture of Greek festivals in the Roman east. Newby is currently the Senior Tutor in the Classics and Ancient History Department at the University of Warwick.
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7. Cecily Hennessy
Cecily Jane Hennessy, FSA is the Academic Director of Christie's Education, London. She has promoted studies on the imagery of children and is an authority on the representation of children, adolescents and the family in Byzantium.
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8. Amy Plum
1967-. (aged 59)
writer
children's writer
Amy Plum is an American-born French young-adult fiction writer, best known for her Die for Me series.
9. Bernard Smith
1916-2011 (aged 95)
academic
university teacher
painter
historian
art historian
Bernard William Smith was an Australian art historian, art critic and academic, considered the founding father of Australian art history, and one of the country's most important thinkers. His book Place, Taste and Tradition: a Study of Australian Art Since 1788 is a key text in Australian art history, and influence on Robert Hughes. Smith was associated with the Communist...
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10. Anne Olivier Bell
1916-2018 (aged 102)
preservationist
editor
art historian
university teacher
Anne Olivier Bell MBE was an English art scholar. She was part of the Bloomsbury Group and best known for editing the diaries of Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Monuments Men, she was responsible for the protection of cultural artefacts in Europe during the Second World War and earned the military rank of Major.
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11. Alan Bowness
1928-2021 (aged 93)
art critic
art historian
Sir Alan Bowness CBE was a British art historian, art critic, and museum director. He was the director of the Tate Gallery between 1980 and 1988.
12. Penelope Curtis
1961-. (aged 65)
art historian
curator
exhibition curator
Penelope Curtis is a British art historian and curator. From 2015 to 2020 she was the director of Lisbon's Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, and from 2010 to 2015 director of Tate Britain. She is the author of several monographs on sculpture and has written widely at the invitation of contemporary artists.
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13. James Austin
1940-. (aged 86)
photographer
architectural photographer
James Austin is an Australian fine-art and architectural photographer.
14. John Goodall
1970-. (aged 56)
historian
journalist
castellologist
art historian
John Arthur Annesley Goodall FSA is an English historian, author, and Architectural Editor of Country Life magazine.
15. Pamela Tudor-Craig
1928-2017 (aged 89)
historian
curator
art historian
Dr Pamela Tudor-Craig, Lady Wedgwood FSA was a British medieval art historian.
16. Roselee Goldberg
1947-. (aged 79)
choreographer
curator
art historian
author
journalist
RoseLee Goldberg is an art historian, author, critic and curator of performance art. She is most well known as being the founder and director of Performa, a performance art organisation. She is also currently a Clinical Associate Professor of Arts Administration at New York University.
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17. Olivier Berggruen
1963-. (aged 63)
art historian
curator
museologist
Olivier Berggruen is a German-American art historian and curator, described by the Wall Street Journal as playing "a pivotal role in the art world."
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18. Tim Marlow
1963-. (aged 63)
art historian
television presenter
Timothy John Marlow OBE is a British writer, broadcaster and art historian who is the Director and Chief Executive of the Design Museum, London. Prior to this role, he was the Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He has lectured on art and culture in over 40 countries.
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19. Nicky Gavron
1941-2024 (aged 83)
council member
environmentalist
politician
Felicia Nicolette Gavron was a British politician who was deputy mayor of London under Ken Livingstone from 2000 to 2003 and 2004 to 2008. She was a member of the London Assembly from 2000 to 2021 and was the former Labour candidate for the 2004 London mayoral election.
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20. Noah Charney
1979-. (aged 47)
art historian
novelist
writer
Noah Charney is an American art historian and novelist based in Slovenia. He is the author of The Art Thief, a mystery novel about a series of thefts from European museums and churches, and is the founder of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art.
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21. Charlie Casely-Hayford
fashion designer
Charlie Casely-Hayford is a menswear designer based in London, England, where he was born. He founded the international menswear brand Casely-Hayford at the age of 22 with his father, the acclaimed British fashion designer Joe Casely-Hayford OBE.
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22. Lavinia Greenlaw
1962-. (aged 64)
novelist
poet
writer
Lavinia Elaine Greenlaw is an English poet, novelist, and non-fiction writer. She won the Prix du Premier Roman with her first novel and her poetry has been shortlisted for awards that include the T. S. Eliot Prize, Forward Prize, and Whitbread Poetry Prize. She was shortlisted for the 2014 Costa Poetry Award for A Double Sorrow: A Version of Troilus...
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23. Denis Mahon
1910-2011 (aged 101)
art collector
art historian
Sir John Denis Mahon, CH, CBE, FBA was a British collector and historian of Italian art. Considered to be one of the few art collectors who was also a respected scholar, he is generally credited, alongside Sacheverell Sitwell and Tancred Borenius, with bringing Italian pre-Baroque and Baroque painters to the attention of English-speaking audiences, reversing the critical aversion to their...
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24. Robin Cormack
1938-. (aged 88)
Byzantinist
art historian
Robin Sinclair Cormack, FSA is a British classicist and art historian, specialising in Byzantine art. He was Professor in the History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 1991–2004.
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25. Martin Kemp
1942-. (aged 84)
opinion journalist
university teacher
historian
art historian
author
Martin John Kemp FBA is a British art historian and exhibition curator who is one of the world's leading authorities on the life and works of Leonardo da Vinci. The author of many books on Leonardo, Kemp has also written about visualisation in art and science, particularly anatomy, natural sciences and optics. Instrumental in the controversial authentication of Salvator Mundi...
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26. Griselda Pollock
1949-. (aged 77)
writer
art historian
art critic
university teacher
Griselda Frances Sinclair Pollock is a British art historian, whose work focuses on analyzing visual arts and visual culture through global feminist and postcolonial feminist lenses. Since 1977, Pollock has been an influential scholar of modern, avant-garde, postmodern, and contemporary art. She is a major influence in feminist theory, feminist art history, and gender studies. She is known for her...
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27. Nicholas Serota
1946-. (aged 80)
art historian
exhibition curator
Sir Nicholas Andrew Serota CH is a British art historian and curator. He has been chairman of Arts Council England since February 2017.
28. Nancy Johnson
1935-. (aged 91)
teacher
politician
Nancy Elizabeth Johnson is an American lobbyist and politician from the state of Connecticut. Johnson was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the 6th district and later the 5th District after reapportionment.
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29. Jonathan Foyle
architect
Jonathan Foyle is a British architectural historian, broadcaster and advocate for heritage sites. He is also an artist.
30. Gabriele Finaldi
1965-. (aged 61)
art historian
curator
Sir Gabriele Maria Finaldi is a British art historian and curator, with Italian citizenship. Since August 2015, he has been director of the National Gallery in London, England.
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31. David White
1961-. (aged 65)
King of Arms
politician
genealogist
David Vines White is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Since 2021, he has served as Garter Principal King of Arms.
32. Iain Sinclair
1943-. (aged 83)
designer
editing staff
critic
filmmaker
poet
Iain Sinclair FRSL is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, and influenced by psychogeography.
33. Nicole Krauss
1974-. (aged 52)
writer
novelist
Nicole Krauss is an American author best known for her four novels Man Walks into a Room (2002), The History of Love (2005), Great House (2010) and Forest Dark (2017), which have been translated into 35 languages. Her fiction has been published in The New Yorker, Harper's, Esquire, and Granta's Best American Novelists Under 40, and has been collected in...
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34. Jeff Wall
1946-. (aged 80)
art historian
artist
printmaker
photographer
Jeffrey Jeff Wall, OC, RSA is a Canadian photographer. He is an artist best known for his large-scale back-lit Cibachrome photographs and art history writing. Early in his career, he helped define the Vancouver School and he has published essays on the work of his colleagues and fellow Vancouverites Rodney Graham, Ken Lum, and Ian Wallace. His photographic tableaux often...
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35. Andrew Graham-Dixon
1960-. (aged 66)
art historian
Andrew Michael Graham-Dixon is a British art historian, art critic, author and broadcaster. He served as chief art critic at both The Independent and The Telegraph newspapers, and presents art documentaries for the BBC, as well as five series of Italy Unpacked, in which he explored the culture and cuisine of Italy with chef Giorgio Locatelli. He has written a...
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36. Brian Sewell
1931-2015 (aged 84)
autobiographer
art critic
writer
journalist
art historian
Brian Alfred Christopher Bushell Sewell was an English art critic. He wrote for the Evening Standard and had an acerbic view of conceptual art and the Turner Prize. The Guardian described him as "Britain's most famous and controversial art critic", while the Standard called him the "nation’s best art critic".
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37. Neil MacGregor
1946-. (aged 80)
art historian
podcaster
non-fiction writer
Robert Neil MacGregor 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 the British Museum from 2003 to 2015, and founding director of the Humboldt Forum in Berlin until 2018.
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38. Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan
1971-. (aged 55)
archaeologist
anthropologist
manager
Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan is a princess of Jordan and a first cousin of King Abdullah II.
39. Jeremy Deller
1966-. (aged 60)
filmmaker
video artist
performance artist
artist
Jeremy Deller is an English conceptual, video and installation artist. Much of Deller's work is collaborative; it has a strong political aspect, in the subjects dealt with and also the devaluation of artistic ego through the involvement of other people in the creative process. He won the Turner Prize in 2004 and represented Great Britain at the 55th Venice Biennale...
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40. Vincent Price
1911-1993 (aged 82)
writer
autobiographer
art historian
actor
film actor
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was an American actor, known to film audiences for his work in the horror genre, mostly portraying villains. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.
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41. Cynthia Wu
1978-. (aged 48)
politician
business executive
Cynthia Wu is a Taiwanese businesswoman, politician, and former financial analyst.
42. David Elliott
1949-. (aged 77)
art historian
author
curator
David Andrew Elliott is an Australian former politician. Elliott served as the New South Wales Minister for Transport and the Minister for Veterans in the Perrottet ministry between 21 December 2021 and 25 March 2023. Elliott was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Baulkham Hills for the Liberal Party between 2011 and 2023.
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