Sir Alan Bowness, former director of the Tate and art critic, has died aged 93.

His family said he died at home on Monday.

Sir Alan served as the director of the galleries from 1980 to 1988.

Liverpool stock
Tate Liverpool (Lynne Cameron/PA)

A statement from his family said: “It is with great sadness that the family report the death of Sir Alan Bowness earlier today peacefully at home in London.”

In the early part of his career Sir Alan worked as an art critic, writing for publications including The Observer and The Spectator.

After moving into curation and becoming the Tate director, Sir Alan oversaw the opening of Tate Liverpool in 1988 and acquisitions including David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash and Francis Bacon’s Triptych–August 1972.

He was knighted in the year he left the group of galleries and went on to become director of The Henry Moore Foundation, an organisation which aimed to encourage public appreciation of the arts.

He set up the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds, which was named after the famous artist.

The gallery opened in 1993.