It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Sir Angus Stirling, who played a significant role in the evolution of the Courtauld both as a trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust and as a member of the Courtauld’s Governing Board in the period from the early 1980s to 2014. The Courtauld will always be deeply grateful for his commitment, support and close friendship, and hold his memory in great affection.
Angus Stirling – an arts administrator and conservationist who led some of the UK’s most significant arts organisations – was a man of high intelligence, careful thought and great articulacy, who was passionate about the value of the arts and the natural world and made invaluable contributions to the cultural life of this country. Whether as Director-General of the National Trust (1983-1995), as Chairman of the Royal Opera House (1991-1996), as Chairman of the Foundation for the Royal Naval College at Greenwich (1997-2004), or as trustee of or advisor to the many other organisations that he supported, his involvement and impact have been profound. This was certainly the case in his engagement with the Â鶹TVÍøÕ¾ of Art. Without Sir Angus, the Courtauld simply would not be the success it is now. We are deeply indebted to him.
Angus Stirling was educated at Eton College and Trinity College, Cambridge before taking a diploma in the history of art at London University as an extramural student. After a brief period in the City, he joined the Arts Council in 1971, becoming its Deputy Secretary-General before joining the National Trust as Director General in 1983. While still there he also served as Chair of the Royal Opera House, and was serving on other boards, not least being those of the Courtauld.
Angus’s engagement with the Courtauld was multi-faceted. In the early 1980s, he served on the Courtauld’s pre-independence Advisory Board. Later in the decade, when he also served as Chairman of the Greenwich Foundation of the Royal Naval College, he was heavily involved in the thinking, practicalities and funding of the Courtauld’s move to Somerset House. From 1990 became a Trustee of the Samuel Courtauld Trust, which owns the Courtauld art collection. Then, in 2002 when the Courtauld sought to become a self-governing college of the University of London, he was a key member of the impressive team that included Sir Nicholas Goodison, Nicholas Ferguson, and Lord Rothschild, along with then Director Eric Fernie, who at great speed put together a complex package of support and collaboration to make this possible. It was Angus who mediated the complex tripartite agreement between the Samuel Courtauld Trust, the evolving new Courtauld Board and the Getty Trust – a critical element in the complicated jigsaw required to make this all happen. Then, as the Samuel Courtauld Trust’s ex-officio member, he served on the new Governing Board from 2002 until 2014. He was chair of its Estate Committee, leading the critical early phases of the Courtauld’s ongoing redevelopment of its Somerset House site, and working closely with the then Director, Deborah Swallow, and the project’s architects Witherford Watson Mann. Angus suffered badly from Covid and was unable to visit site during the building works, but together with his lifelong friend Christopher McLaren, for many years Chair of the Samuel Courtauld Trust, he continued to support the project and was thrilled to see the renovated buildings, restored Great Room and galleries. In 2015, he became an Honorary Fellow – a reflection of our deep gratitude for all he had done for the Courtauld.
The list of organisations that Angus supported and influenced includes the World Monument Fund in Britain, Gresham’s School, Stowe House Preservation Trust, City and Guild’s of London Art School, Trinity Laban, the Joint Nature Conservation Trust, and the Friends of Holland Park. But his influence ranges well beyond this country. When India was considering setting up a national trust, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sought his advice and invited him for discussions. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage is now an established organisation with chapters throughout India.
Angus’s love of the arts spanned all media and forms and, in his later decades, he found time to go back to painting, his greatest love. He trained at the Lydgate Art Research Centre and had a number of exhibitions. He evolved a distinctive, semi abstract style, creating pictures imbued with vivid colour and suggestive of both figures and landscape, which give great pleasure to these works’ owners. In his last year, he took great pleasure in creating cutouts with his daughter, the artist Kitty Stirling, inspired by the work of Matisse, an artist he had met.
Angus Stirling’s close association with the Courtauld is amongst the most significant in its history – his quiet but passionate articulation of its deep purposes inspired the Board, persuaded donors, and both challenged and reassured staff and students. He held memories of the past but remained enthusiastic about the future and was delighted to learn of the next phase of the Courtauld’s redevelopment plan from current Director Mark Hallett.
Angus remained at the heart of a close network of Courtauld supporters and staff for the rest of his life and was a wonderful friend and mentor. He will be greatly missed.
Our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Morar, his daughters Emma and Kitty, his son Duncan and the whole wider family.
