Quick Facts
Biography
Donald Anthony Preziosi (born January 12, 1941) is an American art historian. Professor Preziosi is Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of California, Los Angeles. In August 2007 he became the MacGeorge Fellow at the University of Melbourne. He is a past president of the Semiotic Society of America (1985).
In his writing he combines disciplines as diverse as intellectual history, critical theory and museology. His 1998 book The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology is considered 'the most widely used English-language introduction to art history'.
At UCLA, Professor Preziosi developed the art history critical theory program and the UCLA museum studies program. At Oxford, he held the Slade Professorship of Fine Arts in 2001, where he delivered a series of lectures entitled Seeing Through Art History.
Education
Preziosi received his bachelor's degree from Fairfield University and his master's degree in Linguistics and a Ph.D. in art history from Harvard University.