Dr Alexandra Loske FSA is an art historian, writer and curator with a particular interest the history of colour in Western art, print culture, and architecture. She was born and grew up in Germany and came to the UK in 1997. She has been working in various roles at the University of Sussex since 1999.

Alexandra is the Curator of the Royal Pavilion and Historic Properties at Brighton & Hove Museums, and the author of several books and book chapters on art and culture. Her latest book on colour is The Artist's Palette (Thames & Hudson, 2024) and has been translated into several languages. In 2025 ahe published a major new book about the Royal Pavilion in its historical context,  published by Yale University Press.

Alexandra obtained an M.A. in Linguistics and English Literature from Humboldt University Berlin in 1997 and ten years later added an M.A. in Art History from the University of Sussex. She then received an AHRC funded doctoral scholarship, and received her DPhil in 2014. Her research was based at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton, from which her post as Curator developed.

Alexandra is a researcher and associate director at the University's Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research. Her main research project is the lives and work of women in colour history. She has published and lectured widely on one of the earliest female colour theorist, the English botanical artist Martha (also known as Mary) Gartside (c.1755-1819). Alexandra also created an oral history of the Art History Department at Sussex University.

Alexandra is an experienced lecturer and regularly gives public talks for many institutions and a wide range of audiences. She has significant media experience and has appeared and contributed to many TV and radio programmes, both nationally and internationally.

In 2024 she was elected to the board of trustees of the Deutsches Farbenzentrum (Central Institute of Color in Science and Design), and became a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, London.

Curated exhibitions include:

Colour: A Chromatic Promenade through the Royal Pavilion (2025)

A RIght Royal Spectacle: The Coronation of George IV (Royal Pavilion, 2023)
Designing an Enchanted Palace – The Crace Decorators at the Pavilion (Brighton Museum, 2020-21)
All the King's Horses: George IV and the Royal Stables in Brighton (Brighton Museum, 2019)
Visions of the Royal Pavilion Estate, at (Brighton Museum, 2016-17)
Jane Austen by the Sea (Royal Pavilion, 2017-18)

Regency Colour and Beyond (Royal Pavilion, Brighton, 2013)
Frederick Delius (Royal Albert Hall, London, 2012)


Alexandra has served on the board of trustees of the Regency Society of Brighton and Hove.