Ernst Gombrich is the first art historian to be honoured with one of London’s Blue Plaques, which was unveiled last month by the sculptor Antony Gormley. In 1936, Gombrich fled from Vienna to London, where he wrote his bestseller The Story of Art (1950). Its proceeds helped to fund his move to Hampstead; he bought 19 Briardale Gardens in 1952 and lived there until his death in 2001. Gombrich chose the 1890s Arts & Crafts house because he admired the architect, Charles Quennell. But the art historian and former director of the Warburg Institute never hung paintings on its walls, saying that the best works were in the National Gallery and there was no point in trying to compete.
