- John Rothenstein
Sir John Knewstub Maurice Rothenstein CBE (1901–1992) was an English
art historian . He grew up in London the son of SirWilliam Rothenstein . The family was connected to theBloomsbury Set . John Rothenstein studied atOxford University and became friends withT. E. Lawrence .From 1938 to 1964 he was director of the Tate Gallery. [LondonGazette|issue=34519|startpage=3725|date=10 June 1938|accessdate=2008-10-08] Rothenstein's directorship — the longest to date — was a period of relative stagnation for the gallery as there were few major bequests or expansions of the buildingFact|date=October 2008. The Tate's annual purchase fund could not compete with US institutions so few works of modern foreign art were added to the collection. Rothenstein was publicly dismissive of the influence of the School of Paris stating that Picasso was over-rated and had been a critic of the
Vorticists Fact|date=October 2008. According toRichard Cork one of Rothenstein's major errors was failing to purchase "The Red Studio", a major work byHenri Matisse , when it was offered to the Tate Gallery for a few hundred pounds in 1941. The art dealer Douglas Cooper began an open campaign to have Rothenstein dismissed by the trustees leading to an incident in which Rothenstein punched Cooper in the face. In any context Rothenstein's stewardship and preservation of the collection during the war years was a major accomplishment. The Tate also began to host temporary exhibitions during this period organised by theArts Council of Great Britain including a major retrospective of Picasso. [For a more complimentary bio see www.tate.org.uk/archivejourneys/historyhtml/people_dir_rothenstein.htm ]Rothenstein was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1948King's Birthday Honours , [LondonGazette|issue=38311|supp=yes|startpage=3373|endpage=3374|date=4 June 1948|accessdate=2008-10-08] and knighted in the 1952New Year Honours . [LondonGazette|issue=39421|supp=yes|startpage=2|date=28 December 1951|accessdate=2008-10-08] [LondonGazette|issue=39480|startpage=1192|date=29 February 1952|accessdate=2008-10-08]Works
* "Modern English Painters", 1952-74
* "Autobiography", 1965, 1966References
External links
*NRA|P33617
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