About
Photo © Chris Schneider
David Anfam (1955–2024) was a writer, art historian and international curator, based in London, UK. Share a memory of David here.
A leading authority on Abstract Expressionism and modern American art, Anfam's scholarship encompassed a wide range of art movements and cross-cultural references.
In particular, Anfam had a lifelong involvement with Clyfford Still's art and legacy. As such, he was an Advisory Board member for the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver (2006–10). There,
he subsequently became the Senior Consulting Curator (2013) and initiated the CSM's Research Center to broaden
and diversify the institution's
intellectual horizons.
Born in Kensington, London, Anfam cited childhood illnesses (measles also left him profoundly deaf at the age of five) as a catalyst to his scholarship: “Being stuck in bed propelled me into the world of art”. His approach to art remained multi-disciplinary, seeking to make constant connections with world literature, poetry, music, the cinema, psychology, and so forth.
Lecturing globally, he acted as
an external Ph.D. examiner for the University of Essex; the University
of St. Andrews, Scotland; New York University's Institute of Fine Arts; and the University of Texas at Austin.
Anfam’s life partner of forty years,
Frederick Bearman (1949–2016), was
a noted conservator, bookbinder and educator in the field of rare books and archives. In 2017 the Institute of Conservation (ICON) established
the Frederick Bearman Research
Grant in his memory.
A documentary on Anfam, Of First and Last, by French filmmakers Ron Kenley and Meriel Kenley, is in production. For excerpts, see: