Dr Nicholas Penny, Director of the National Gallery. Photo: Nick Crettier

People: Director
Dr Nicholas Penny

Nicholas Penny (born 21 December 1949) was Clore Curator of Renaissance Painting at the National Gallery between 1990 and 2000.

He returns to Trafalgar Square from the National Gallery of Art in Washington where he was Andrew W. Mellon Professor at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts and, from 2002, Senior Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts.

After obtaining his doctorate from the Courtauld Institute, Nicholas Penny began his career as a lecturer in art history at the University of Manchester. His first museum position was that of Keeper of the Department of Western Art at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

He is the author of many books and articles on both painting and sculpture, and on the history of collecting and taste. His works include scholarly catalogues, introductory texts for the student, and critical reviews for the general reader.