Brian Foss

Brian Frederick Foss (born 1955) is a Canadian art historian, academic, curator, and writer who specializes in the art history of Canada and British war art, especially of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Some of the works Foss and partners in relation. these subjects have gained some notoriety. Receiving prizes for their commendable work.

Career Foss was born in Aklavik, Northwest Territories and grew up in Winnipeg. He received his BA Honours in History from the University of Winnipeg (1979), his MA in Canadian Art History from Concordia University, Montreal (1985), and his PhD in the History of Art from University College at the University of London (1991). From 1982, he taught art history in Montreal including in the Department of Art History at Concordia University (1988-2009; Full Professor from 2004), where he was also Associate Dean in the Faculty of Fine Arts (2002-2006, 2007-2009). In 2009 he became Professor of Art History, and Director of the School for Studies in Art and Culture (2009-2021), at Carleton University. and which the Globe and Mail said dispelled the mythology surrounding the group and placed the artists in their proper context. He also wrote for the Beaver Hall exhibition catalogue the chapter on "Out on the Town: Modernism, Arts and Entertainment in Montreal, 1920-1933" and was featured in the CBC 1 documentary on the show.

His book War Paint: Art, War, State and Identity in Britain 1939-45 was published by Yale University Press (2007) and was one of the five books shortlisted for that year’s international William M.B. Berger prize for British Art History. This is the first publication to present a thorough analysis of Reid's career.

Awards 2003: Distinguished Teaching Award, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, Montreal. 2022-2027: Chancellor’s Professor, Carleton University, Ottawa.