Charles Saumarez Smith

Charles Saumarez Smith is the Chief Executive of The Royal Academy, London. He studied at Cambridge University, Harvard University and the Warburg Institute. In 1979, he was elected Christie’s Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge and, in 1982, he joined the staff of the Victoria & Albert Museum as an Assistant Keeper with special responsibility for the MA in the History of Design.  In 1990, he was appointed Head of Research at the Victoria & Albert Museum.   In 1994, he was appointed Director of The National Portrait Gallery and, in 2002, Director of The National Gallery.  Charles took up his appointment at The Royal Academy of Arts in September 2007 and was awarded a CBE in 2008.

Dr. Saumarez Smith is a Governor of the University of Arts, London, an Honorary Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge, and has received honorary degrees from the Universities of London, Westminster, Sussex, East Anglia and Essex. In 2002, he was Slade Professor at Oxford University.

BOOKS

THE BUILDING OF CASTLE HOWARD
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY DECORATION:DESIGN AND DOMESTIC INTERIOR IN ENGLAND
THE RISE OF DESIGN
THE NATIONAL GALLERY