Dr. Richmond began his career as an archaeologist, but found that he preferred classifying and analysing the artifacts recovered rather than the process of excavating. He changed fields, moving into art history, theory and analysis, plunging ahead with his characteristic single-mindedness. His studies of the lives of famous artists earned him a reputation as something of a maverick in the staid world of art history, but the dynamism and romance he infused into the work earned him a degree of public acclaim. He had a fairly long-lasting relationship with his publisher, a woman around his own age, but a vicious spat over the proceeds from his fourth book lead to the vindictive end of that romance. Richmond was made head of the university's art history department at the unusually young age of 32.

Tall and lean but still well-built, Paul Richmond's body retains the evidence of his early work digging up ruins in its tight muscles, rough hands and sun-browned skin.