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Born in Britain, art critic Brian Sewell (1931-2015) wrote for the "London Evening Standard" and made numerous television appearances throughout his distinguished media career. He was known for his outspoken and erudite reviews of art. [Listener: Christopher Sykes]
TRANSCRIPT: It is a lonely path, and I knew that, right from the very beginning. If you are going the other way, you are going it alone. And I’m constantly going the other way. I look at the big figures of the contemporary art world, and in my mind, compare them with the big figures of the past. And make a judgement. How have you got here? You’ve got here because you’ve been supported by critics who’ve never been able to go back on their opinion, never reversed. You’re… because they’ve always supported you, you are followed by the Arts Council and the British Council. You have no idea, unless you’re in the business, how hugely influential these two bodies are. They determine who shall become a national figure. The British Council determines who shall become an international figure. And with that nationalism and internationalism, comes money. Money in vast quantities. There are artists who now command millions for a single picture, and they got there because of this combination of critics in support, and then the institutions in support. We all laugh at the Turner Prize, but that Turner Prize establishes artists who have no business to be established, they are so bad. That prize is given every year. Nobody on the Tate Gallery committee for the Turner Prize has ever said, we didn’t get a suitable entry this year. There was nothing good enough worth 25,000 quid. There was nothing worth the fuss and bother of the party and the exhibition and all the rest of it.
The whole machinery of the Turner Prize is thrown away on a rubbish artist. Whereas it would be so good if they just said, there was no-one this year, so we’re holding back the funds. They don’t do that. They should.
