It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Andrew, after a short illness. He was associated with the European Museum Academy for 15 years and was a valued member of our Pool of Experts, visiting candidates for our awards with his customary enthusiasm and insight, and responding to our requests for assistance even when in Australia.

Andrew read English and History of Art at Emmanuel College Cambridge and then trained as a painting conservator at the Courtauld Institute in London. He worked on medieval paintings in Switzerland and then as a paintings conservator at the Tate Gallery before going to Australia as Head of Conservation at the Australian National Gallery in Canberra. Returning to the UK he worked at English Heritage, then for nine years at the Conservation Centre in Liverpool. In 2005 he became director of ArtLab Australia in Adelaide, Andrew’s death was all the more untimely as he had recently moved into a part-time capacity to focus on honouring First Nations art and artefacts, one of his great interests, and to spend more time with his wife Linda and family.

His long-term friend and colleague, Patrick Greene, shares his thoughts:
‘Andrew was committed to high quality standards of conservation of cultural materials in the UK and Australia. I got to know him when he took the reins at the Conservation Centre of the National Museums on Merseyside. Andrew led the development of the Centre that not only provided facilities designed to care for the outstanding collections of the museum but did so in a way that made its work visible to the public. The team of conservators adopted the approach that took them out of the labs to talk with visitors who proved to be fascinated by the skilful and demanding techniques of conservation. This open approach was revolutionary and was recognised by the jury of the European Museum of the Year Award in 1998. The success was celebrated at the ceremony on the Greek island of Samos where I had the opportunity to congratulate him and his director, Richard Foster. Regrettably the Centre closed in 2010, as a result of cuts to funding. Andrew’s vision found a new opportunity in Australia, where we were able to continue our friendship, both of us working in the cultural sector – and both of us sharing a love of Liverpool Football Club! Andrew made ArtLab an outstanding success, providing conservation expertise to South Australia and nationally. Andrew was a leader whose approach was friendly and passionate, a genuine innovator who left his mark on the practice of conservation internationally.’
Dr J. Patrick Greene OBE FSA
Formerly CEO of Museums Victoria and chair of the board of the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation of the University of Melbourne

His colleagues and friends at the European Museum Academy will remember Andrew with great affection – a gentle man and a gentleman.