Andrew studied natural sciences and history of art at Cambridge and spent 25 years as a fine art curator in the West Midlands and North East of England, most recently as Curator of the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne. Since 2001 he has been Director of the National Inventory Research Project (NIRP), a UK-wide project based at the University of Glasgow which has been contributing to research on Old Master paintings in Britain’s museums and galleries, particularly regional museums. Its outcome, the National Inventory of Continental European Paintings (NICE Paintings) is available online at www.vads.ac.uk/collections/NIRP/index.php.
Andrew is particularly interested in the processes of fine art research and cataloguing and in public access and engagement. To this end, he has helped Art UK develop Tagger and Art Detective. Outside the office his main interest is architecture, and the long, slow restoration of his home – the architect Alexander Thomson’s house in Glasgow – closely followed by his allotment and Masterchef.
Too many artists meet his aesthetic needs; this week one of Constable’s extraordinary sketches of the British weather will do the trick.
