Sir Lawrence Gowing (1918–1991) was an English painter, writer, curator and teacher. Recognised first for portraits and landscapes, he later became a leading educator and museum figure. He studied with William Coldstream at the Euston Road School and was a conscientious objector during the war. His first solo exhibition was at the Leicester Galleries in 1948.

Gowing is best known for incisive portraits of eminent sitters and for open-air landscapes shaped by close looking. In parallel he built a major writing career, publishing monographs on Vermeer, Turner, Cézanne and Matisse, and editing and catalysing landmark catalogues. He organised large exhibitions including Turner and Matisse at MoMA in 1966 and Cézanne at the Royal Academy in 1988–89.

He held senior posts across art schools: Professor of Fine Art at King’s College, Durham (1948–58), Principal of Chelsea School of Art (1958–65), Professor at Leeds (1967–75), and Principal of the Slade School, UCL (1975–85). He served as trustee of the Tate, the National Portrait Gallery and the British Museum; became Honorary Curator of the Royal Academy collections in 1985; and was knighted in 1982.

Exhibitions spanned four decades, including a Serpentine Gallery show in 1983, alongside regular museum and gallery displays in Britain.

His work is held by major collections including Tate; the National Portrait Gallery, London; the Royal Academy of Arts; the Arts Council Collection; the Government Art Collection; and the British Council.