Homan Potterton (9 May 1946 – 8 December 2020)[1] was an art historian and writer who was director of the National Gallery of Ireland, 1980-88.
[2] He was previously (1974–80) an assistant keeper, curator, at the National Gallery, London.
[2] He wrote several art books and catalogues: Andrew O'Connor, Sculptor (1974); Irish Church Monuments, 1570-1880 (1975); A Guide to the National Gallery (1976); The National Gallery, London (1976); Reynolds & Gainsborough: Themes & Painters in the National Gallery (1976); Pageant and Panorama: the Elegant World of Canaletto (1978); (jointly) Irish Art and Architecture (1978);Venetian Seventeenth Century Painting (1979); Dutch 17th and 18th Century Paintings in the National Gallery of Ireland: a Complete Catalogue (1986).
His memoir of growing up in Ireland in the 1950s is Rathcormick: a Childhood Recalled (2001).
The title derives from a poem, The National Gallery Restaurant by Paul Durcan the last line of which is "Who does Homan Potterton think he is-Homan Potterton?