Tomory was born in Hong Kong and educated in India and the UK. In 1950 he was appointed Assistant Curator of
York Art Gallery under
Hans Hess. He left the art gallery in 1964 to take up a post in the newly formed Art History department of the
University of Auckland. He left that post to teach at
Columbia University and
Hunter College. He also worked as the Senior Curator of Baroque Art at the
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. In 1972 he was appointed Professor of the History of Art at
La Trobe University where he worked for fifteen years. He was appointed a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities in 1974 and served on its council from 1984 to 1986. He was also a founding member of the
Art Association of Australia. In 1987 he retired and returned to the UK. ==Select publications==