James Malpas obituary

Art historian and lecturer keen to make his subject accessible through his witty writings and radio broadcasts

James Malpas, who has died of a cerebral haemorrhage aged 56, was an art historian with a broad knowledge of western art, literature, history, music, eastern arts and spirituality. He was a virtuoso lecturer and educator at galleries including the Tate, Victoria & Albert and Hayward, for the National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies and the National Art Collections Fund, and on BBC Radio 3 and 4. He lectured without notes and with seamless unpredictability. The structure was in his head: a mesh of narrative connections. On air, he spoke without hesitation, almost as if competing on Just a Minute. No repetition, plenty of surprising, long-jump deviation.

He was keen that people should monitor their responses to art, not become stuck in a single way of looking. Talking about Caspar David Friedrich in 2012, he even appeared to be doing himself out of a job, suggesting the “interiority” of Friedrich’s painting was best appreciated in solitude, without commentary.

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