{{Short description|Australian art historian and curator (1964–2022)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}} '''Angus Alexander Geoffrey Trumble''' (6 October 1964 – 8 October 2022) was an Australian scholar, art curator, and author. He was the director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, a senior research fellow at the National Museum of Australia, a curator at the Yale Center for British Art at Yale University, and at the Art Gallery of South Australia. His books include ''A Brief History of the Smile'' and ''The Finger: A Handbook''.
==Early life== Trumble was born in Melbourne on 6 October 1964.<ref name=Musa>{{cite news|title=Renowned gallery director dies|url=https://citynews.com.au/2022/renowned-gallery-director-dies/|first=Helen|last=Musa|date=11 October 2022|access-date=11 October 2022|publisher=Canberra CityNews}}</ref> He was the youngest of four sons of Peter Campbell Trumble, a lawyer, and Helen Trumble.<ref name=Musa/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Angus Trumble |url=https://www.wheelercentre.com/people/angus-trumble/ |access-date=11 October 2022 |publisher=Wheeler Centre}}</ref> He entered residence at Trinity College, Melbourne, in 1983 while studying fine arts and history at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1986. He subsequently interned at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, before studying for a master's degree at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome and the University of Melbourne.<ref name=Musa/>
==Career== Trumble worked from 1987 to 1991 as aide to the governor of Victoria, Davis McCaughey. He was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 1994 to undertake further study at the New York University Institute of Fine Arts.<ref name=Musa/> Two years later, he was appointed associate curator (and later curator in 1998) of European art at the Art Gallery of South Australia. He curated and wrote the catalogues for exhibitions including ''Bohemian London'' and ''Love & Death: Art in the Age of Queen Victoria''.<ref name="NPG bio" />
Trumble was appointed curator (later senior curator) of paintings and sculpture at the Yale Center for British Art in May 2003, where he served until 2014, when he was appointed director of the National Portrait Gallery of Australia. He was director of the National Portrait Gallery until December 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A fine portrait: the career of national art gallery director Angus Trumble |url=https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/about/news-media/news/a-fine-portrait-the-career-of-national-art-gallery |access-date=11 October 2022 |publisher=Trinity College, Melbourne}}</ref> During this period he acquired significant portraits including those of William Bligh by John Webber<ref>{{Cite web |title=William Bligh, c. 1776 |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/portraits/2015.30/william-bligh/ |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=National Portrait Gallery collection}}</ref> and Helena Rubinstein by Graham Sutherland.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Angus|last=Trumble |date=2 October 2018 |title=Study in scarlet |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/magazines/60/study-in-scarlet/ |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=Portrait Magazine}}</ref> Between 2019 and 2022 he was a senior research fellow at the National Museum of Australia. In 2015 he was named a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities,<ref>{{Cite web |title=News {{!}} News & Media {{!}} About Trinity College |url=https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/about/news-media/news/great-honour-for-alumnus-angus-trumble |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011074839/https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/about/news-media/news/great-honour-for-alumnus-angus-trumble |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in September 2022 was installed as an honorary fellow of his alma mater, Trinity College, Melbourne.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fellows and Senior Fellows – Former Fellows|url=https://www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au/about/people/fellows-of-trinity-college/fellows-and-senior-fellows |access-date=12 October 2022 |publisher=Trinity College, Melbourne}}</ref>
In addition to art, Trumble was the author of ''A Brief History of the Smile'' (2003) and ''The Finger: A Handbook'' (2010), and co-author (with Andrea Wolk Rager) of ''Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century''. At the time of his death he was working on a biography of Helena Rubinstein.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gruber |first=Fiona |date=2022-10-15 |title=Curator, gallerist and author Angus Trumble remembered as a man of great talent |url=https://www.theage.com.au/culture/art-and-design/curator-gallerist-and-author-angus-trumble-remembered-as-a-man-of-great-talent-20221014-p5bpyh.html |access-date=2022-12-23|newspaper=The Age}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=High-profile memoirs, political books, self-help guides: top nonfiction at Frankfurt|date=13 October 2022|url=https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2022/10/13/221727/high-profile-memoirs-political-books-self-help-guides-top-nonfiction-titles-at-frankfurt/ |access-date=2022-12-23}}</ref> He was a regular contributor to ''The Times Literary Supplement'', ''The Burlington Magazine'', ''The Paris Review'', ''Esopus Magazine'', and ''Australian Book Review''.<ref name="NPG bio">{{Cite web |title=Angus Trumble, b. 1964 |url=http://www.portrait.gov.au/people/angus-trumble-1964/ |access-date=11 October 2022|publisher=National Portrait Gallery (Australia)}}</ref>
==Personal life== Trumble died on 8 October 2022, two days after his 58th birthday.<ref name=Musa/><ref>{{cite news|title=Former National Portrait Gallery director Angus Trumble dies|url=https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7937923/former-national-portrait-gallery-director-angus-trumble-dies/|first=Amy|last=Martin|date=11 October 2022|access-date=12 October 2022|newspaper=The Canberra Times}}</ref>
==Published works== *''A Brief History of the Smile'' (2003) {{ISBN|9781741140729}} *''The Finger: A Handbook'' (2010) {{ISBN|9780522857696}} *''Edwardian Opulence: British Art at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century'' (2013) {{ISBN|9780300190250}}, co-written with Andrea Wolk Rager. * {{cite book|last=Trumble|first=Angus|title=Helena Rubinstein: The Australian Years|year=2023|publisher=La Trobe University Press|isbn=9781760644529|author-mask=0|ref=none|postscript=;}} with a foreword by Sarah Krasnostein
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Trumble, Angus}} Category:1964 births Category:2022 deaths Category:Australian male writers Category:Australian art historians Category:Australian art curators Category:Australian biographers Category:Writers from Melbourne Category:People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne)