Campbell Dodgson
Campbell Dodgson, CBE DLitt Hon RE (13 August 1867 – 11 July 1948) was a British art historian and museum curator. He was the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum in 1912–32.[1]
Biography
Student
Campbell Dodgson was the eighth and last child of William Oliver Dodgson, a London stockbroker, and Lucy Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Henley Smith who owned the Priory on the Isle of Wight which had been passed into the Grose-Smith family after the death of
Dodgson was a scholar at
In 1934 Dodgson was given the honorary degree of DLitt at Oxford Convocation. The Times of London reports: "Mr. Dodgson was described as ex animo Wiccamicus, Collegii Novi quondam scholaris et Custodis illustrissimi, nuper perempti, gener. His long and distinguished record as Keeper of Drawings and Prints at the, British Museum testifies to his expert knowledge, as does also his editorship of the Print' Collectors' Quarterly. The Ashmolean has to thank him not only for a catalogue of woodcuts but for training Dr. Parker, the present Keeper of the Department of Fine Arts. He has recently been awarded the Hindenburg Prize for Kunst und Wissenschafft."[5]
Curator
Dodgson initially worked as a
On the retirement of Sir Sidney Colvin[1] in 1912 Dodgson was appointed Keeper of Prints and Drawings. Dodgson specialized in early modern Flemish and German prints, and published extensively on the works of Albrecht Dürer, but he also applied his expertise to works of many other schools and periods. During the First World War (1914–18) he worked in Intelligence for the War Office; his 1918 CBE was a recognition of this work (DNB, 1941-50 : 216).
In 1913 Dodgson married Frances Catharine Spooner, an artist who trained at the Slade School and became known as Catharine Dodgson.[6] Catharine Dodgson was the eldest daughter of William Archibald Spooner (Warden of New College and the eponymous author of 'Spoonerisms'), in 1913 (DNB, 1941-50 : 216).
Dodgson was the editor, in the 1920s, of
Dodgson gave generously to the British Museum during his Keepership, but at the same time amassed a very large collection of over 10,000 prints which he bequeathed to the Museum.[7] This included the first works by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí to enter that collection. The same bequest included also the box file Dodgson used to document his acquisitions, which have recently been added to the British Museum’s online database.[8]
He wrote about and championed women artists, including his wife Catherine Dodgson, Gwen Raverat, and Margaret Pilkington.
References
- ^ a b c "Dodgson, Campbell". arthistorians.info. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
- ^ Birth certificate for Campbell Dodgson, Lucy Elizabeth Smith
- ^ "John Arthur Dodgson".
- ^ Oxford Men and Their Colleges, 1880-1892, 2 Volumes, pg 123
- ^ Dodgson, Campbell (28 February 1934). "University News". The Times of London.
- ^ "Marriage. Mr Campbell Dodgson and Miss Spooner". The Times. 25 September 1913. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ British Museum Collection
- ^ Genevieve Verdigel, 'Campbell Dodgson's box file', Print Quarterly, vol.XXXV, no.4, December 2018, pp. 446–48.