Gerard Vaughan (art historian)

Gerard Ronald Vaughan AM (born 27 September 1953) is an Australian art historian and curator. He has been director of the National Gallery of Australia since 2014, and was director of the National Gallery of Victoria from 1999 to 2012.

Early life and education

Vaughan was born in Devonport, Tasmania in 1953. He was educated in Melbourne at Christian Brothers College, St Kilda and the University of Melbourne where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours and a Master of Arts, writing his thesis on French symbolist painter Maurice Denis.^[1]

Oxford

In 1981, Vaughan researched neoclassicism for a doctorate at the University of Oxford. He remained in England for eighteen years, holding several academic positions there as a visiting scholar, resident fellow at Wolfson College, London-based consultant for the Felton Bequest at the National Gallery of Victoria, and private secretary to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Richard Southwood. In 1991, Vaughan was made deputy director of Campaign for Oxford, the university's fundraising appeal. In 1994, Vaughan was appointed as Director of the British Museum Development Trust.^[2]

Australia

In 1999, Vaughan returned to Australia, where he was appointed as director and CEO of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). At the NGV, he prioritised fundraising from the private sector for the gallery's foundation, increasing its capital reserves from $9 million in 1999 to $50 million in 2011.^[1] In 2011, Vaughan was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours, for services to the arts.^[3]

In 2014, Vaughan was announced as the new director of the National Gallery of Australia, replacing Ron Radford who had headed the gallery for ten years.^[4]

References