Hugh Honour

Hugh Honour FRSL (born 26 September 1927) is a British art historian, well known for his writing partnership with John Fleming. Their A World History of Art, is now in its seventh edition and Honour's Chinoiserie: The Vision of Cathay (1961) first set the phenomenon of chinoiserie in its European cultural context.

Early life

Honour was born in Eastbourne, Sussex, to Herbert and Dorothy (Withers) Honour. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St Catharine's College, Cambridge. While at Cambridge, Honour met John Fleming, a solicitor and amateur art historian, who would become Honour's life partner. Honour accepted a position as Assistant director of Leeds City Art Gallery and Temple Newsam House but left after one year to join Fleming in Italy.

Life in Italy

Living in Asolo near Venice, Honour and Fleming began a productive writing partnership. They were commissioned by publisher Allen Lane to edit the Style and Civilisation series (begun 1967), for which Honour wrote the volumes on Neo-classicism and Romanticism; the Architect and Society series (begun 1966); and the Art in Context series (begun 1972).