STEEGMAN
,
JOHN EDWARD HORATIO
(
1899
-
1966
),
author of books on art and architecture
;
b.
10 Dec. 1899
near
Brentford
, the elder son of
E.J.
Steegman
, a
naval doctor
, and his wife
Mabel
(née
Barnet
)
. He was educated at
Clifton College
and
King's College
,
Cambridge
, where he graduated
M.A.
He was a
cadet-officer
in
1918
and a
reporter
for a short time before being appointed in
1925
as a
lecturer
and
guide
at the
National Portrait Gallery
in
London
; he was an
assistant keeper
there from
1929 to 1945
. He was seconded to the
British Council
to work in
Spain
,
Portugal
,
Iceland
and
Palestine
during
World War II
. He settled in
Cardiff
after his appointment as
Keeper of the department of art
at the
National Museum of Wales
in
1945
. He left in
1952
to become
head
of the
Museum of Fine Arts
in
Montreal
,
Canada
, where he remained
until 1959
. He was
visiting professor
at the
University of Chicago
in
1950
. After his retirement he was in much demand as a
lecturer
in
Europe
, the
Middle East
,
U.S.A.
,
Canada
,
Australia
and
New Zealand
.
During his period at the
National Museum
the department of art became an important centre for the study of the work of
Richard
Wilson
(
DWB
, 1087-8)
, and he
gave encouragement to contemporary art in Wales
. Before leaving the Museum he compiled a catalogue of the
Gwendoline
Davies
(see above)
bequest. He came to
Wales
as a
specialist on British portraiture
and his main contribution to the Museum was his
survey of portraits in Welsh houses
. His
Survey of portraits in North Wales houses
(
1955
) was published after he had left
Wales
; the survey of
south Wales
was completed by
R.L.
Charles
and published in
1961
. He published a number of articles and other books on art, including
Hours in the National Portrait Gallery
(
1928
) and
The artist and the country house
(
1949
). He himself was a
watercolourist
, and his only brother
Philip
was a
portrait painter
. He was unmarried and returned to live at
9 Sloane Gardens
,
London
, but d. in
Coffinswell
,
Devon
, on
15 April 1966
. He received the
O.B.E.
in
1952
.
Bibliography:
-
Who was who?
;
-
information from
A. D. Fraser Jenkins
.
Author:
Evan David Jones, F.S.A., (1903-87), Aberystwyth
