Draft:Alexander Potts

Potts received his bachelor's degree (with honors) in mathematics, physics and chemistry, University of Toronto, Canada in 1965.^[1][2] He then moved to England to pursue studies at the University of Oxford^[3] as a Rhodes Scholar (1965-68).^[4] At the University of London, he completed his PhD in art history in 1978.^[5][6]

After completing his PhD, he worked at a variety of schools across the UK, Europe, and the USA. In 1981, Potts began teaching at Camberwell College of Arts in London (Senior Lecturer in the history of art from 1984, Principal Lecturer; Acting Head of Department (Art History and Conservation) in 1987 and 1989).^[7][8]

In 1996, he became a professor at the University of Reading where he held the position of Head of the Department of History of Art from 2000-2002.^[9][10]

In 2002, he moved to the USA to serve as Chair of the Department of History of Art at the University of Michigan with a named chair position Max Loehr Collegiate Professor.^[10] He served as chair until 2007,^[11] but remained teaching at UMich until 2019.^[12] He was awarded emeritus status in 2020 (Max Loehr Collegiate Professor Emeritus).^[13]

Potts has also worked in a variety of other academic capacities. For example, he served as Editor of the History Workshop Journal (from 1984, still serves as an Associate Editor today)^[14] and Juror for the Nasher Prize at the Nasher Sculpture Center (2014-18).^{[15][16][17][18]}

In addition to receiving a Rhodes Scholarship, Potts has received a long list of awards including Visiting Scholar, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2005),^[19][20] Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington (2007),^[21] Slade Lecturer of Fine Art at the University of Oxford, Hilary Term (2008),^[22][20] Kirk Varnedoe Visiting Professor, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, (2009),^[23][24] Member, School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton (2014-15),^[6] and CAA, Distinguished Teacher of Art History Award (2017.)^[25][20]

Potts was elected as an International Fellow of the British Academy in 2015.^[26][27][28]

Potts is primarily a scholar of modern sculpture. However, his work spans a wide range of topics from historiography to theories of realism and periods from the 18th century to today (list of selection publications below).

His 2000 book The Sculptural Imagination received attention, in part, because (as Patrick Elliott pointed out) there had been a dearth of scholarly work on modern sculpture and is development.^[29] In addition, as Jack Flam noted "he sees this history as having a specific direction that reached a crucial turning point in the 1960s, when sculptors freed themselves from painterly models and rethought the presentation, or 'staging', of sculpture."^[30] Pamela M. Lee wrote that though the book reflects the "conditional and, therefore, heterogeneous approaches to objects" while connecting this variety through a series of organizing principles.^[31] However, not everyone agreed this was the right way to consider sculptural history. As art historian David Raskin pointed out, his work often reflects the integration of aspects of criticism into art history.^[32]