He received a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Toronto in 1980 and an Master of Philisophy in international relations from Oxford University in 1982. At Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Doctor of Medicine, and in 1990 his Doctor of Philosophy from this university.
In 1984, he earned his Master of Arts Foreign some years, he was Editor-in-chief of the prestigious art journal, The Art Bulletin. He also taught art history at the University of Toronto, where he chaired the Department of Fine Artist He is currently Director of the Graduate Program and Class of 1955 Memorial Professor of Art at Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
He is also the current president of the National Committee for the History of Artist
He wrote The Plight of Emulation: Ernest Meissonier and French Salon Painting (1996) and several essays on French Romantic art, on the image of the artist, and on Orientalist painting. His more recent research centers on Henri Regnault and Orientalism and on Eugène Delacroix.
His graduate teaching encompasses nineteenth-century art, art historical methods and approaches, pedagogy in the visual arts, and related concerns.
