Picasso Biographer and Billionaire Whisperer John Richardson Dies at 95
Richardson was known for his ‘Life of Picasso’ and exhibitions of the artist’s work at Gagosian that drew more than 260,000.
British art historian John Richardson poses with some of his art, including a Picasso, in New York in 2009.
Photographer: PAUL GOGUENNo matter what decade he happened to be in, John Richardson was an inspired and irreverent herald of an earlier time—and a font of gossip that was fresh right up to the minute.
Best known for his multivolume biography A Life of Picasso (Alfred A. Knopf, 1991, 1996, 2007), he opened Christie’s office in New York in the 1960s and spent the past decade as a curatorial adviser at Gagosian gallery, organizing blockbuster Picasso exhibitions and contributing to its publications. His social circles bridged the avant-garde—he appeared in one of Andy Warhol’s films and hung out with Francis Bacon—and the global jet set, where his friends included socialite-philanthropists Nan Kempner, Mercedes Bass, and Annette de la Renta. He was also a contributing editor at Vanity Fair.