David Anfam, an art historian and curator whose research into Abstract Expressionism added new chapters to the history of the movement, died in London on Wednesday, sources close to him said. ARTnewsHe was 69.
Anfam’s thorough and in-depth studies of Abstract Expressionism have been highly acclaimed. His 1998 Catalogue Raisonné of the paintings of Mark Rothko, a 1,000-page work that critic John Russell once called “a book for all seasons,” is a foundational text for scholars of the movement. His 2016 survey of Abstract Expressionism for the Royal Academy of Arts in London was called by the magazine “the most entertaining and provocative exhibition of American art in Britain this century.” Financial Times‘s Jackie Wullschläger.
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In his writings, Anfam revealed the diversity of Clyfford Still’s magnificent abstractions and previously unknown aspects of Jackson Pollock’s paintings, and made a wide audience aware of the value of Abstract Expressionism. In 1990, a book on this subject was published for the “World of Art” series by Thames & Hudson, which is now in its second edition.
“Without denying the depth and breadth of Cubism, Surrealism or later Pop Art, some would say that Ab Ex at least matches and arguably surpasses their complexity and variety,” Anfam once said in an interview for the Royal Academy. “That alone sets Ab Ex apart from anything that came before. It has absorbed most of those earlier things – and more.”
Most importantly, his writing remained straightforward and accessible, even when some of his scholarly work was aimed at readers already versed in art history. Technical jargon, he once said, was “illegible writing.”
At the same time, Anfam curated exhibitions for a wide range of artists, from Lynda Benglis to Bill Viola, the video artist whose work Anfam showed in a church during the 2007 Venice Biennale.
David Anfam was born in London in 1955. He recalls that although his parents knew nothing about art themselves, they borrowed books about it from the library. From a young age, he immersed himself in books by Phaedo and Skira, absorbing all this art history while battling bouts of bronchitis. By the age of 15, he was determined to become an art historian.
He attended the famous Courtauld Institute of Art in London, first as an undergraduate and then as a graduate student, studying under the art historian John Golding. Anfam decided to write his dissertation on Still, an artist admired for his paintings reminiscent of torn wallpaper and feared for his cold demeanor. Anfam never managed to meet his idol, but his research brought him into contact with others who were well versed in abstract expressionism.
Despite having already proved himself by the time he graduated in 1984, he was initially unable to establish a career in art history. Instead, he took a part-time job driving Volvos from the factory to clients. Unusually for an art historian of his stature, he continued to talk about the job, listing it on LinkedIn alongside his various teaching roles. “It’s great fun driving fancy cars all over Britain at high speed… never thinking,” he wrote.
But other artists continued to believe in him, and Nikos Stangos, an editor at Thames & Hudson, commissioned him to write Abstract Expressionism. Then, in 1989, he began work on the Rothko catalogue raisonné, a project that took nearly a decade. “If there is one task I take with absolute, deadly seriousness, it is every word that is put on the page,” he told critic John Yau.
Anfam continued to devote himself to Still, serving as senior consulting curator of the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver and directing that institution’s research center. “Still was practically a sleeping giant of the twentieth century – now, I hope, he has fully awakened,” said Anfam. Hyperallergic in 2013, two years after the museum opened.
In addition to writing books and essays for institutions and galleries, Anfam has also contributed to art publications such as Art Forum and the Art Newspaper.
He was not afraid to hold controversial opinions. When the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, postponed the exhibition of a Philip Guston piece in 2020 because of concerns that viewers might misunderstand the artist’s painting of Klansmen, Anfam was one of many who spoke out against the decision, calling it “shocking.”
In an interview with Artist Commenting on the move, Anfam said: “Don’t go back. Be brave. Stick to your opinion.”
Daniel Cassady contributed reporting.
