Obituaries of John Gordon Beckwith

From The Times, 27 February 1991

John Gordon Beckwith, Keeper of the Department of Architecture and Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum from 1974 to 1979, died on February 20 aged 72. He was born on December 2, 1918.

John Beckwith formed part of the group of scholarly curators who after the Second World War established the English national museums as centres of academic excellence with a steady stream of erudite articles and more wide-ranging books aimed at the educated public.

After Ampleforth, his studies were interrupted by wartime service with the Duke of Wellington's Regiment. As the result of serious injury during the Normandy landings he suffered the effect of damage to his right hand thereafter. After convalescence he resumed his education at Exeter College, Oxford, where he read modern history with special studies in medieval history. When the time came to make a decision concerning his future career he briefly considered diplomatic service; he was a gifted linguist but eventually decided to embark on museum work.

He joined the Victoria and Albert Museum as one of the first intake of Assistant Keepers after the war, in 1948, and was assigned to the Department of Textiles. By 1955 he had established himself as a leading authority on Medieval and Byzantine textiles, and although he transferred to the Department of Architecture and Sculpture in 1955 he continued to publish seminal articles in the textile field. After 1955, however, his scholarly energies were directed more towards medieval ivory carvings and together with Kurt Weitzmann in Princeton and W F Volbach in Mainz and Rome he refined the canonical work of the great Adolph Goldschmidt in a series of detailed articles and monographs.

Alongside these specific studies he was involved in some of the most remarkable exhibitions of medieval art to be held in Europe, including the important and influential exhibitions of Byzantine art in Edinburgh and London in 1958 and the Council of Europe exhibition devoted to the art of Charlemagne which took place in Aachen in 1965. The books he wrote during this period (The Art of Constantinople, 1961, and Early Medieval Art, 1964) complemented and grew out of these exhibitions. And together with his other publications they testify to his intimate knowledge of the works of art he discussed and an unsurpassed awareness of their historical background.

Beckwith was at the height of his powers in the 1960s, in demand as an exceedingly entertaining lecturer and as a visiting professor at Harvard and the University of Missouri. His expert knowledge allowed the Victoria and Albert Museum to make a number of inspired acquisitions of medieval sculpture, and his flair for display transformed many of the museum's galleries. He was to say later that these were his happiest days, working in a department with such internationally recognised scholars as John Pope Hennessy, Terence Hodgkinson, and the young Michael Baxandall.

His pre-eminence was recognised when he was invited to write the 'Early Christian and Byzantine Ar't volume, in the Pelican History of Art series, which was published in 1970; and his many years of studying ivory carvings culminated in his Ivory Carvings in Early Medieval England of 1972 which so captivated Lord Clark that he suggested it be translated into an exhibition. This duly came to pass two years later in a beautifully presented exhibition of the same name at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Further honours came Beckwith's way in the later years of his career: he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1968, a fellow of the British Academy in 1974 and was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University in 1978-79 where he lectured on 'Early Medieval Art and the Imperial Ideal'. The subject of the Slade lectures, the art of the imperial court both in the west and the east, was at the heart of Beckwith's studies.

Reproduced with kind permission of The Times
© Times Newspapers Limited

From The Daily Telegraph, 25 February 1991

John Beckwith, a former Keeper at the Department of Architecture and Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert Museum, who has died aged 72, was a remarkably accessible scholar.

He was one of the few writers able to break through the complexities of early Christian art and succeeded in making the subject intriguing to a lay audience. His most important work was 'Ivory Carvings in Early Mediaeval England' (1972), which was a pleasing combination of elegance and erudition and has become a standard work.

It was hailed by one critic as 'a landmark in the literature of art' and was followed up by a memorable exhibition of ivory carvings, organized and catalogued by Beckwith, at the V&A.

The 'Art of Constantinople' (1961) was beautifully illustrated, with a text both persuasive and reliable. It gave one of the best accounts of the Iconoclast Controversy to be found in any art book ever.

John Gordon Beckwith was born on December 2, 1918 and educated at Ampleforth and Exeter College, Oxford where he read history. He served in the army during the Second World War and then joined the V&A in 1948.

He worked first in the Textile Department before moving, in 1955, to architecture and sculpture, where he remained for the rest of his career. He was appointed Deputy Keeper in 1958 and Keeper in 1974. He retired five years later.

Beckwith served as Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford from 1978 to 1979 and was a Fellow both of the Society of Antiquaries and of the British Academy.

He was, in many ways, the ideal antiquary - vastly well-informed and urbane and witty to boot. He was in some demand as a lecturer, both at home and abroad. In 1964 he was Visiting Professor at Harvard.

His other books included 'Coptic Sculpture' (1963) and 'The Adoration of the Magi in Whalebone' (1966).

John Beckwith was an outstanding example of what those in our national and other major museums could do and be. He was a connoisseur. Good food and intelligent conversation counted for much with him, while music he found a joy.

He was unmarried.

Reproduced with kind permission of The Telegraph
© The Telegraph

From The V&A News, 25 February 1991

Staff will be saddened to learn of the death of John Beckwith, Keeper of Architecture and Sculpture in the Museum between 1974 and 1979.

John Beckwith joined the Textile Department of the Victoria and Albert Museum as one of the first intake of Assistant Keepers after the war, in 1948. By 1955 he had established himself as a leading authority on Medieval and Byzantine textiles and although he transferred to the Department of Architecture and Sculpture, he continued to publish seminal articles in that field. After 1955 he directed his scholarly energies towards Medieval ivory carvings. He was involved in some of the most remarkable exhibitions of Medieval art to be held in Europe and published 'The Art of Constantinople' in 1961 and 'Early Medieval Art' in 1964, books which grew out of and complemented those exhibitions.

In the 1960s Beckwith was in demand as an entertaining lecturer and a visiting professor at Harvard and the University of Missouri. His expert knowledge allowed the V&A to make a number of inspired acquisitions of Medieval sculpture and his flair for display transformed many of the Museum's galleries. He was to say later that these were his happiest days, working in a department of such internationally recognized scholars as John Pope-Hennessy, Terence Hodgkinson and the young Michael Baxandall.

He was invited to write the 'Early Christian and Byzantine Art' volume in the prestigious Pelican History of Art series, which was published in 1970; and his study of ivory carvings culminated in 'Ivory Carvings in Early Medieval England' of 1972, which was translated into a beautifully presented exhibition of the same name at the V&A in 1974. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1968, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1968, a Fellow of the British Academy in 1974, and was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University in 1978-79.

'Early Medieval Art and the Imperial Ideal', the subject of the Slade Lectures, was at the heart of Beckwith's studies; always concerned with high quality, he cared less for humbler products and could be scornfully dismissive of what he considered to be second rate works of art. He wrote beautifully, in contrast to the dryness of much academic writing and in conversation he was renowned for his witty and often wicked asides.