Robin Nicholson has been director of the Frick Art & Historical Center in Point Breeze since September 2014, overseeing a five-acre museum that includes one of the best-preserved Gilded Age mansions in America, a car and carriage museum and an art museum with exceptional examples of Renaissance to 19th-century European paintings and decorative arts.
Previously, Nicholson, a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, was deputy director for art and education and head of exhibitions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, where he oversaw many major exhibition projects, including a multiyear collaboration with the Palace Museum, Beijing. Nicholson has led a number of other international collaborations, including working with museums in Russia, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. Prior to coming to Virginia in 2006, he spent 14 years directing and curating the corporate art collection of the Drambuie Liqueur Co., headquartered in Edinburgh.
Nicholson was educated at Queen's University, Ontario, Canada, and the University of Cambridge, England. He is a renowned scholar of the art of the 18th-century Stuart royal courts in Paris and Rome.
The star who would play me in the movie version of my life:
Tom Hiddleston, as long as he doesn't make me behave like Loki; or Leslie Howard for the black-and-white version of my life (my two favorite colors)
Childhood hero:
Spiderman — long before the movie re-boot, when he was still just a cartoon character
Favorite ethnic food:
Chicken Tikka Masala (Yes, I know it is a British reinvention of Indian food.)
The dessert that matches my personality:
I never eat dessert or anything sweet — so that probably says something odd about my personality.
My favorite TV or movie villain:
Jason Isaacs as Colonel William Tavington in “The Patriot”: “You know, it's an ugly business doing one's duty... but just occasionally, it's a real pleasure.”
Movie I could watch every time it appears on cable:
“Inception,” a truly multilayered movie
The movie that always makes me cry:
“Mary Poppins”
The best concert I've ever seen:
The Michael Nyman Band, Edinburgh Festival, 1995
Celebrity crush:
Marlene Dietrich — her signed autobiography is a treasure of my book collection.
Favorite lunchtime spot:
The Frick Cafe, of course
My first job:
Art dealer. I wasn't a success. I am good at acquiring art, not selling it.
Place I'd most like to visit:
Outer space or another planet, preferably in a Tardis
One word my mother would use to describe me:
Pretentious
In five years, I'd like to:
Have confirmed the place of the Frick Pittsburgh as one of the best mid-sized museums in America
My most embarrassing junk food:
About once a year, I have a craving for a Big Mac.
I wish I had more time to:
Read. I used to absorb fiction like a sponge. Now I barely read it.
My favorite thing about Pittsburgh:
The light. It is always changing (although I realize that may have something to do with the pollution particulates in the atmosphere).
Three people I'd love to have dinner with:
The Shelleys and Byron that evening in Geneva in 1814 when the modern horror story was born
When I was 10, I wanted to be:
A naturalist — working with plants and animals in the open air. The complete opposite of what I do now.
Favorite Pittsburgh-area landmark:
The Cathedral of Learning — I mean seriously, a 42-story skyscraper that looks like a Cathedral!
My childhood nickname:
Dep
My most memorable fashion mistake:
Going punting in white tie and tailcoat at a ball in Cambridge (Yes, I fell in.)
What you'll always find in my glove compartment:
Sunglasses that I never remember to wear
If I wasn't director at the Frick Art & Historical Center, I'd be:
A billionaire art collector (I have no idea where the money would come from.)
The last book I read:
“Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation” by Judith Mackrell
My most treasured fashion accessory:
Purple socks
My favorite website:
My photography site: nicholsonphotography.org
Happiness is:
A chilled glass of Chablis
My personal motto:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty”
The overused phrase I hate most:
“Touch base” — I say it all the time, much to the annoyance of my fiancee, Dianne.
People would be surprised to know that I:
Have tattoos. Quite a few.
