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Brian Sewell

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Critic

The Resume

    (June 15, 1931-September 19, 2015)
    Born in Market Bosworth, England, United Kingdom
    Art critic for 'Tattler' magazine (1980-84) and 'The London Evening Standard' (1984-2015)
    Wrote the books 'The Reviews That Caused the Rumpus and Other Pieces' (1994) and 'The Naked Emperors: Criticisms of English Contemporary Art' (2012)
    Called 'Britain's most controversial art critic'

Why he might be annoying:

    During a brief career as an art dealer, he told a would-be buyer that the painting he had picked out was too good for him.
    He masturbated while Salvador Dali took photos.
    He gave Anthony Blunt refuge from the media after Blunt was outed as the 'fourth man' in the Cambridge spy ring.
    His more acerbic criticisms include calling Damien Hirst 'fucking dreadful,' describing David Hockney as 'a vulgar prankster' and saying Banksy 'should have been put down at birth.'
    He said, 'There has never been a first-rank woman artist. Only men are capable of aesthetic greatness.'
    Thirty-five figures from the art world signed a letter to the 'Evening Standard' attacking him for 'homophobia,' 'misogyny,' 'hypocrisy,' 'artistic prejudice' and 'formulaic insults.' (1994)
    He claimed to be a sex addict, saying 'My need for sex has always been as frequent as my need for coffee: so urgent, random and thrilling that love has played little part in it.'
    When he moved, he had the remains of eight pet dogs dug up and reburied in his new garden, noting 'If they'd been humans, I wouldn't have given a fig.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He said, 'Nothing matters more than intellectual probity, and on that altar the critic must sacrifice even his closest friends.'
    Twenty art world figures signed a letter supporting him and accusing his opponents of attempted censorship.
    He said the attack on him 'suggests a measure of insecurity that I find quite heartening.'
    During a TV stunt, he was the only art expert not to praise a painting that had actually been painted by an elephant (1994).
    He also wrote frequently about politics, for which he earned the George Orwell Prize (2003).
    He dressed as Sister Wendy for a TV Christmas special.
    He adopted over a dozen dogs from animal shelters.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 166 Votes: 53.01% Annoying