James Fox (art historian)

For other people named James Fox, see James Fox (disambiguation).

Dr James Fox is a British art historian and broadcaster. Fox is a Research Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and specializes in 20th century art at the University of Cambridge's History of Art Department.

Fox received a starred first class degree in History of Art from Emmanuel College, Cambridge.^[1] He then undertook an MPhil on British modernism, and a PhD on history of art entitled "Business Unusual: Art in Britain During the First World War, 1914–18,"^[2] both at the University of Cambridge and funded by the AHRC. In 2009, he was appointed as a Research Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge. He joined Gonville and Caius College in 2010. He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University.^[1]

In 2008, Fox curated (with British art critic Waldemar Januszczak) the Statuephilia exhibition at the British Museum; this included work by Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Marc Quinn.^[3]

Fox presents documentaries on art for the BBC. In 2010, he presented the ninety-minute film The Art of Cornwall.^[4] In his introduction to the programme, Fox says of the St Ives' artists, "they went on to produce some of the most exhilarating art of the twentieth century...for a few dazzling years this place was as famous as Paris, as exciting as New York and infinitely more progressive than London."^[5][6]

A three-part series entitled British Masters was broadcast on BBC Four in July 2011.^[7] Fox's provocative approach divided critics: The Times called the series 'superb television... passionate, accessible and authoritative';^[8] and The Observer called him 'absurdly lucid',^[9] and the Financial Times called it 'excellent' and engaging'^[10] But John Preston criticised its 'grandiose, inflammatory statements'^[11] and Fisun Güner called Fox's revisionist approach 'ludicrous'.^[12]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "James Fox". History of Art Faculty. University of Cambridge, UK. http://www.hoart.cam.ac.uk/HistoryOfArt/StaffMember.aspx?p=24&ix=254&pid=12&prcid=17&ppid=1420. 
2. ^ Listing of Fox's PhD Thesis, The Institute of Historical Research, UK.
3. ^ Statuephilia, British Museum, UK.
4. ^ BBC Four. "The Art of Cornwall". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wbn80. 
5. ^ The Art of Cornwall-00 introduction, YouTube
6. ^ Helen Hoyle, Review of The Art of Cornwall, ArtCornwall.org.
7. ^ Masters, BBC Four Press Office, 3 March 2011.
8. ^ David Chater, David Chater,Monday's TV: British Masters, The Times, 16 July 2011.
9. ^ Euan Ferguson, TV, The Observer, 17 July 2011.
10. ^ Robson, Leo. "Oil on Canvas, Pixels on Laptop". Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/b32e6e6a-b2bf-11e0-bc28-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1T8dhnv3h. Retrieved 25 July 2011. 
11. ^ John Preston, Masters, BBC Four, The Night Watch, BBC Two, review, The Daily Telegraph, 15 July 2011.
12. ^ Fisun Güner, British Masters, BBC Four/ The World's Most Expensive Paintings, BBC One, The Artsdesk, 12 July 2011.

External links

• James Fox staff listing at History of Art Faculty, University of Cambridge