Background
Monica Bohm-Duchen was born on May 10, 1957, in London, the United Kingdom, to Louis (an industrial chemist) and Dorothy (a photographer; maiden name, Israelit) Bohm.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Monica Bohm-Duchen studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Gower St, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Monica Bohm-Duchen studied English Literature and History of Art from University College London.
Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 0RN, UK
Monica Bohm-Duchen graduated with a Master of Arts in Art History from the Courtauld.
Monica Bohm-Duchen was born on May 10, 1957, in London, the United Kingdom, to Louis (an industrial chemist) and Dorothy (a photographer; maiden name, Israelit) Bohm.
Monica Bohm-Duchen studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before graduating in English Literature and History of Art from University College London, and with a Master of Arts in Art History from the Courtauld.
Monica Bohm-Duchen is an independent writer, lecturer & exhibition organizer, who has lectured on a part-time basis at Birkbeck College since 2004. The other institutions for which she has worked include Tate, the National Gallery, the Royal Academy of Arts, Sotheby's Institute of Art and the Courtauld Institute.
Working in collaboration with Janet Cook, Monica Bohm-Duchen published Understanding Modern Art. Calling it a "stimulating read" for young people, Veronica Holliday, a reviewer in Books for Keeps, considered the work an "attractively produced book." Holliday also commended Bohm-Duchen and Cook's effort to encourage young people to "look carefully, think about what they see and find out about the artist" within the "context" of their work. John Holden, a reviewer in School Librarian, called Understanding Modern Art "well documented and articulate" as well as a "useful… enjoyable read for fourteen and upwards." He considered the "selection of examples… broad and visually exciting."
In 1995 Bohm-Duchen was the curator of a traveling exhibition of art commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps. She gathered an extensive collection of the art included in that exhibition in her book, After Auschwitz: Responses to the Holocaust in Contemporary Art. Donna Seaman, a reviewer in Booklist, called After Auschwitz a "stark and harrowing" work that "depict[s] life at its bleakest." Douglas F. Smith, a reviewer in Library Journal, "highly recommended" the work, calling it "a fascinating if disturbing book that breaks new ground in art historical study."
Bohm-Duchen turned her attention to an individual artist with her book Chagall. This book focused on the "social, religious, and cultural context of Chagall's development as an artist," commented Nadine Dalton Speidel, a reviewer in Library Journal. The reviewer also classified Chagall as "recommended for public and academic libraries."
The journals to which Bohm-Duchen has contributed include The Jewish Quarterly, RA Magazine, Art Monthly, and Modern Painters. She curated After Auschwitz: Responses to the Holocaust in Contemporary Art (1995) and co-curated Art in Exile in Great Britain 1933-1945 (1986), Rubies and Rebels: Jewish Female Identity in Contemporary British Art (1996) and Life? or Theatre? The Work of Charlotte Salomon (1998).
Bohm-Duchen's many publications include Understanding Modern Art (1991), Chagall (1998), The Private Life of a Masterpiece (2001) and The Art and Life of Josef Herman (2009). Her book Art and the Second World War was published by Lund Humphries in association with Princeton University Press in late 2013.
Bohm married Michael Duchen (a research scientist) on June 25, 1978. They had two children: Hannah and Benjamin.