Oxford’s Art-Historical Circus: Life as a Henry Fellow at Magdalen College 1952–3

Colin Eisler
Institute of Fine Arts, New York University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2866-9761

Volume 3, October 2022

Abstract
It has often been stated that art history began in Oxford with the establishment of a chair of art
History in 1955. That is far from true as shown in this essay. There were multiple possibilities for
the study of art history in Oxford before then, with significant collections and outstanding scholars
in subjects that intersected with art history. In one year abroad the author took seminars with Jean
Seznec on Diderot, Sir John Beazley on Attic Vase Painting, Alessandro Passerin d’Entrèves on
Dante’s Divine Comedy, had consultations with the then Slade Professor Ernst Gombrich and spent
many hours studying drawing in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

Keywords
Art history; Oxford; Ernst Gombrich; Ashmolean Museum

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