Nicholas cullinan biography

12th director of the National Portrait Gallery, London

Robert Nicholas CullinanOBE (born 29 December 1977) is an art historian and curator.

Mattias vendelmans

On 6 January 2015, he was appointed the 12th director of the National Portrait Gallery in London,^[1] a post he began several months later.^[2] It was announced on 28 March 2024 that he had been appointed Director of the British Museum.^[3]

Early life and education

Cullinan was born in December 1977 in Connecticut, United States, to British parents.

He moved to Britain aged 4 or 5 years, and grew up in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, England.^[4][5] He was home-schooled. He received his BA, MA, and PhD in art history from The Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Between 2001 and 2003, while a student, he worked as a visitor services assistant at the National Portrait Gallery, where he was later appointed director in 2015.^[6]

Personal life

Cullinan