Bryan Robertson OBE (April 1, 1925 in London – November 18, 2002) was an English curator and arts manager described by Studio International as the greatest Director the Tate Gallery never had.
Robertson was educated at Battersea Grammar School and for three years curator at a gallery in Cambridge. From 1952 to 1968, as curator of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, he created an influential programme that gave major presentations of works by Jackson Pol...
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Bryan Robertson OBE (April 1, 1925 in London – November 18, 2002) was an English curator and arts manager described by Studio International as the greatest Director the Tate Gallery never had.
Robertson was educated at Battersea Grammar School and for three years curator at a gallery in Cambridge. From 1952 to 1968, as curator of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, he created an influential programme that gave major presentations of works by Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg and the 1956 exhibition This Is Tomorrow. He also revived interest in the work of Barbara Hepworth and organised exhibitions of Turner and Stubbs. Robertson was key in promoting the careers of many emerging British artists; Anthony Caro, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, William G. Tucker, and Phillip King. Robertson placed public education at the heart of the Whitechapel programme giving space to exhibitions of work from schools.
Robertson's period at the Whitechapel transformed the profile of the Gallery...
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