Considered one of the most eminent historians of British art, knighted in 1956, Professor Blunt, also known for having been a double agent for the Soviet Union during the Cold War, is a leading expert on Poussin, and he has devoted many books to him.
He is the Executive Commissioner of the Louvre Museum and wrote the catalogue of the major exhibition on Nicolas Poussin organised at the Louvre in 1960, which also involved André Chastel and Jacques Thuillier. The exhibition’s exposure contributes to the (re)discovery of the artist by the public.
After the revelations about his past spy scandal in 1979, his title of Sir was withdrawn, and upon his death the state denied his legacy of Poussin’s paintings.
Among his books, his Art and Architecture in France 1500-1700 is always a reference point. Poussin is described as follows:
“… Poussin is the cornerstone of any subsequent developments of art in his native country, his painting sums up all the qualities traditionally associated with French classicism, and his influence was to dominate the artistic life of France from his time onwards: many artists see him as an ideal artist, and an almost equal number react against him with a violence that is in itself a recognition of his importance.”
Further reading:
• Anthony Blunt in the dictionary of historians of art
• Courtauld Institute