Professor John House
Emeritus Professor
After taking an MA at The Courtauld Institute, John House taught at
the University of East Anglia (1969-76) and University College London,
before returning to teach at The Courtauld Institute of Art in 1980. He was Slade
Professor at the University of Oxford in 1987. His PhD, on Claude Monet,
formed the basis of his monograph Monet: Nature into Art (Yale
University Press, 1986). His most recent book is Impressionism: Paint
and Politics (Yale University Press, 2004), and he has published many
articles and essays on French mid to later nineteenth-century painting.
He has also been involved in the organisation of many exhibitions, including Impressionism (Royal
Academy of Arts, London, 1974), Post-Impressionism (Royal Academy
of Arts, London and National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1979-80), Renoir (Hayward
Gallery, London, Grand Palais, Paris and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1985-6), Renoir (Brisbane,
Sydney, Melbourne, 1994), Landscapes of France / Impressions
of France (Hayward Gallery, London and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,
1995-6), Turner Whistler Monet (Tate, London, Grand Palais, Paris,
Toronto, 2004-5), and Impressionists by the Sea (Royal Academy
of Arts, London, Phillips Collection, Washington, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford,
2007-8).
research interests:
- ‘Realist' painting in nineteenth-century France (he is currently working on a book on this)
- The interaction between artistic institutions / practices and wider socio-political developments in nineteenth-century France
- Key nineteenth-century French Salon painters
publications Include:
Impressionism: Paint and Politics, Yale University Press, 2004
‘Face to Face with Le Déjeuner and Un Bar aux Folies-Bergère', in J. Cuno and J. Kaak (eds), Manet Face to Face, Courtauld Institute Gallery, 2004
Essay titled ‘Tinted Steam: Turner and Impressionism', ‘chapeau' for
section ‘From Realism to Impressionism' and 12 catalogue
entries in Turner Whistler Monet, exhibition catalogue, Toronto,
Paris, London, 2004-5.
‘Towards a 'Modern' Lavater? Degas and Manet',
in Physiognomy in Profile: Lavater's
Impact on European Culture, edited by M H Percival and G Tytler, University of Delaware Press, 2005
‘Visions of the Thames', lead essay in Monet's London, exhibition catalogue, St. Petersburg (Fla), Brooklyn, Baltimore, 2005.
The Thames Transfigured: Derain's London', in Derain in London, exhibition catalogue, Courtauld Institute Gallery, 2005-6
'Henri Rousseau as an Academic', in Henri Rousseau: Jungles in Paris, exhibition catalogue, Tate London, Paris, Washington, 2005-6
'Women out of Doors', in Women and Impressionism, exhibition catalogue, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 2006-7
'The Imaginative Space of the Impressionist Garden', in The
Painter's Garden, exhibition catalogue, Städel,
Frankfurt, 2006-7
Impressionists by the Sea, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy of Arts, London, Phillips Collection, Washington, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, 2007-8