Elizabeth Senior

Elizabeth Senior (29 June 1910 – 11 May 1941) was an art historian and Assistant Keeper in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. She was also a book editor for Penguin Books.

Early life Elizabeth Senior was born on 29 June 1910 in the village of Dore in Derbyshire (the village is now in South Yorkshire) to Sally Gertrude ( Ashworth, 1876–1963) and Oliver Senior (1880–1943). She had two siblings, Derek and Margaret Leonie "Peggy" (1916–2006). Her father was the author of How to Draw Hands, which was published by Studio in 1944.

Elizabeth Senior was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge; Munich and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Her main field of study was in medieval art.

Career In the early 1930s she spent a year studying art history in Munich.

In 1934 Senior was chosen over Alec Clifton-Taylor for the role of Assistant Keeper in the Department of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum. She also co-authored with Kitzinger the book Portraits of Christ from the same series.

At the outbreak of the Second World War she was seconded from the British Museum to work for the Treasury. at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London.

A number of tributes have been made to Senior. Ernst Gombrich, in the preface to his work The Story of Art, makes this comment:

In similar vein, Thomas Kendrick, who was to become Director of the British Museum in 1950, included this comment in the preface to his book Late Saxon and Viking Art,

A more recent article by Helen Southworth sets out "to piece together the life story of a remarkable young woman". Portraits of Christ (1941). St Manchan's Shrine (1937).

Book reviews The following books were reviewed by Senior: Painting in the Netherlands: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries by E. G. Troche, Burlington Magazine 70:411, 1937 pp. 307–8. Drawings made by Fragonard in Italy, British Museum Quarterly, 11:1, 1936, pp. 5–9.

As editor Senior was editor of the following books: A Book of Roses by John Ramsbottom, 1939. A Book of Ships by Charles Mitchell, 1941. British Birds on Lake, River and Stream by Phyllis Barclay Smith, 1939. Caricature by E. H. Gombrich and E. Kris.