It is with great sadness that the Department of History of Art announces the death of Duncan Robinson, CBE, DL, FSA (27 June 1943 - 2 December 2022).
Duncan was a leading authority on modern British art, and a much-loved teacher and colleague. A graduate of English from Clare College Cambridge, he began his career as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Paintings and Drawings at the Fitzwilliam Museum between 1970 and 1976 and was then appointed Keeper of Paintings and Drawings. From 1981 to 1995, he was the Director of the Yale Center for British Art, adjunct professor of art history at Yale University, and Chief Executive of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London. He was appointed Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum in 1995 and until his retirement in 2007 he generously served as affiliated lecturer in the Department of History of Art at Cambridge as well as supervising numerous graduate students. He ensured the museum was a central, thriving, part of our department life. In 2002 he was elected Master of Magdalene College, and, despite his demanding schedule, he served as Director of Studies in History of Art for Magdalene, and Clare College too, until he stepped down in 2012. Duncan, and his wife Lisa, always welcomed colleagues and students to their home and hosted many memorable research gatherings, garden parties and post-examination lunches across the years that perfectly reflected his great passion for the sharing of art and ideas across generations as well as his kind and unwavering sense of community spirit.
We are grateful for all Duncan did for History of Art at Cambridge for over a quarter of a century, and for generations of students who remember him with lasting gratitude and admiration. We know they join us in sending our heartfelt condolences to his wife Lisa and their family.