It is with great sadness that the Courtauld Institute of Art announces the sudden death on Tuesday 7 February of John House, Emeritus Professor of the Courtauld Institute of Art, at the age of 66.
One of the pre-eminent scholars of nineteenth-century French art of his generation, John served The Courtauld with great distinction from his appointment in 1980 up until his retirement as the Walter H. Annenberg Professor in 2010; we cannot think of anyone with a deeper attachment to all aspects of our community, with which his close and richly productive involvement has now been cruelly cut short.
John was a much loved and greatly respected teacher and colleague. His scholarship reached well beyond the world of academe through the many wonderful exhibitions he curated both here at The Courtauld, at the Royal Academy and throughout the world. It is almost impossible to imagine The Courtauld without his strong yet benign presence near at hand.
We shall be making arrangements for a formal tribute to be paid at a later date. In the meantime we offer our profound condolences to John’s family and friends.
Deborah Swallow, The Director of the Courtauld
The Guardian obituary: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/feb/14/john-house-obituary