Christopher Baker is an art historian, curator and author. He is the Editor of The Burlington Magazine (from January 2024) and an Hon. Professor at Edinburgh University. He served as a Director at the National Galleries of Scotland for ten years and has also worked in curatorial and research roles at Christ Church, Oxford, and the National Gallery in London. His research has focused on 18th and 19th-century British and European art, works on paper, portraiture and the history of collecting and display. He has curated numerous exhibitions across the U.K. and internationally.
Christopher is a member of the Advisory Board of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art, The Spoliation Advisory Panel and the Recognition Committee of Museums Galleries Scotland, as well as being a Trustee of the Compton Verney Collection Settlement and the Paxton House Trust.
His publications include: co-author, Füssli, The Realm of Dreams and the Fantastic (2022);J.M.W. Turner: The Vaughan Bequest (2018, revised ed.);Landseer: The Monarch of the Glen (2017); co-author, John Ruskin: Artist and Observer (2014); co-author, Companion Guide, The Scottish National Portrait Gallery (2014); Catalogue of English Drawings and Watercolours, 1600-1900, National Gallery of Scotland (2011); co-author, The Discovery of Spain: British Artists and Collectors (2009); co-author, Turner and Italy (2008); co-editor, Collecting Prints and Drawings in Europe, 1500-1800 (2003); Christ Church Picture Gallery (2002); co-author, The National Gallery [London] Complete Illustrated Catalogue (1995).
