David Carritt

Hugh David Graham Carritt (15 April 1927 – 3 August 1982) was a British art historian, dealer and critic, who was described by The New York Times as being "responsible for more sensational discoveries in the field of Old Master painting since World War II than any other man".[1]

David Carritt
Born
Hugh David Graham Carritt

15 April 1927
Died3 August 1982 (aged 55)
EducationRugby School
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
OccupationArt historian, dealer and critic
Parent(s)Reginald Graham Carritt
Christian Norah Begg

Early life

Hugh David Graham Carritt was born on 15 April 1927, the only son of the musician and lecturer Reginald Graham Carritt and his wife Christian Norah Begg, of 2 Royal Avenue, Chelsea, London.[2] He had an older sister and a twin sister.[3] He attended Rugby School before reading modern history at Christ Church, Oxford where he won an open scholarship, but graduated with a third-class degree in 1948.[3][4]

Career
Jean-Honoré Fragonard – Psyche showing her Sisters her Gifts from Cupid

After university, Carritt worked for himself as an art dealer, and wrote on art for the Burlington Magazine, the Evening Standard, and The Spectator.[3]

In 1952, at the age of 25, Carritt discovered a painting by Caravaggio in the remote home of a British Navy retired surgeon captain. The Concert is now owned by New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.[4][3]

He joined the auction house Christie's in London, alongside William Mostyn-Owen, Noël Annesley, and Brian Sewell, becoming a director in 1964.[4][5] According to The Independent, Sewell "conceived a violent dislike of Carritt, a colleague who committed the dual sins of being a better connoisseur and a Rugbeian".[6]

At a "heavily attended auction" of works from Lord Rosebery's Mentmore Towers collection in 1977, Carritt realised that The Toilet of Venus, attributed to Carle van Loo, a minor painter, was a painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard, Psyche Showing her Sisters her Gifts from Cupid. He bought it for £8,000 (or about $14,000), and in 1978 it was acquired by London's National Gallery for £495,000.[1][3][7][8]

At the cottage of Joan, Lady Baird, he discovered an unrecorded painting by Rogier van der Weyden, which is now in London's National Gallery.[3] He also discovered an allegorical painting by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo on the ceiling of the dining room of the Egyptian embassy in London.[3] In a shed in Dublin, he found five large and very dirty canvases by Francesco Guardi.[3]

He founded David Carritt Limited, which is now known as Artemis Fine Arts.[9]

Personal life

Carritt was gay.[10][11] According to Michael Bloch's biography of the politician, Carritt had an affair with Jeremy Thorpe in the late 1950s.[12]

He died of cancer on 3 August 1982 in his London flat at 120 Mount Street, aged 55.[1][3]

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References
  1. "David Carritt, English art critic, historian and dealer, dies at 55". The New York Times. 5 August 1982.
  2. "Notable Abodes – Royal Avenue, Chelsea F.C., London".
  3. "Carritt, (Hugh) David Graham (1927–1982)". ODNB. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  4. "David Graham Carritt". Dictionary of Art Historians.
  5. Burton, Humphrey (20 July 2011). "William Mostyn-Owen obituary". The Guardian.
  6. "Brian Sewell: Loved and hated for insisting most modern art is rubbish". The Independent. 21 September 2015.
  7. "Previous Posts: November 2012". Art History News. 16 November 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
  8. "Artemis Fine Arts". Artemis Fine Arts. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
  9. Carter, Miranda (2002). Anthony Blunt: His lives. Macmillan. p. 390. ISBN 978-0-330-36766-0. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  10. Blond, Anthony (2004). Jew made in England. Timewell Press. p. 134. ISBN 978-1-85725-200-2. Retrieved 22 September 2016.
  11. Michael Bloch (2014). Jeremy Thorpe. Hachette. pp. 95–96. ISBN 1408706946.
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