I love Brian Sewell - he's unafraid, uncowed by fashionable consensus, his connoisseurship undoubted, never shallow, ever stimulating. I shall be most upset if his current ill-health continues. 10 more years of his presence in the World will benefit us all.
Well done Brian. When the cleaners tidy ‘art’ away because they think it was trash left behind by the builders, no amount of preaching can convince us that it was art in the first place.
Brian is one of those people you would really enjoy sitting down with for a good long discussion. He had courage and Un afraid of his convictions. I really wish he were with us today , even though he would be shunned by the jackal’s in the media .
@@kenboydart F***wit. Your homework for tonight is to find out the names of the newspapers and magazines he wrote for. Jesus. He'd laugh at the likes of you. And rightly so. Your other homework is to research the use of the apostrophe. You will be amazed.
Wrong. You're talking about a museum. A gallery can be a commercial enterprise if it doesn't necessarily "maintain" a collection, but maintains a vast network of connections between artists, collectors, and art experts. You can't get that from a "shop." Don't disparage the man's livelihood just because he doesn't share your reactionary views on art.
Who knew he took the time to talk to prisoners about art. I've got ten years of archives from the Evening Standard of his art criticism. Well, well, sadly missed.
He 'taught' art in Brixton prison for over a decade. I suppose that must have involved some talking though. His accent can be hard to understand at times. There is a lot to this man, one of his great passions, besides art was stock car racing...His honesty, and frank, no nonsense attitude to speaking his mind, no matter was always refreshing. I may not agree with him on many things, but he was always interesting, intelligent and witty. The fact that he called Damian Hirst 'fucking awful' alone made me like him. Ha ha...
@@AnthonyMonaghan "His accent can be hard to understand at times" - what?!? You will hardly find anyone in the commonwealth with a clearer accent, perhaps not even Her Majesty herself.
Last time I looked he was pretty much consistently sat behind a mac laptop, looking glum, in his empty gallery. The north is not a good place for contemporary art - even though the people enjoy seeing it, they cant afford to buy it. I'm surprised that gallery is even still going.
Grayson Perry made the interesting observation that art is a job for artists and a recreation for everyone else. He went on to say that when the public has been at work all week and surrounded by horror stories on the news when they come home, the last thing they want or need is a lecture from an artist on how bad the world is. They already know, and there's something very patronising about artists who presume they don't. A second point is that Brian Sewell appreciated technique, something non-artists can also do. That, and his obvious relish in annoying contemporary artists, were what made him so understandable to the layman, and such a joy. While I'm on a roll, it's worth bearing in mind that one of the first observations about Conceptual Art was that it tends to fail because people hardly ever have truly original ideas. (How bored Sewell must have been by the old chestnut where an artist sticks a piece of scrunched up paper on a table and challenges the viewer to explain exactly why it's not art; it's a valid point, but hardly original.) We all sometimes think we've come up with some great insight into the human condition, only to realise it's just a rehash of something someone said a lot better thousands of years ago.
It makes sense that people would generally root for a painter to win the Turner prize because apart from being opposed to the perceived self indulgence of other types of modern art, a painting is tangible and has a sense of permanence that is missing from installations or performance art. I appreciate it is subjective though.
"Anything that smells of 2013 smells good to me." 0:30 So looking back from 2022, is all that 2013 art now just junk and no longer contemporary? A very narrow-minded approach to art. I'm sure for Sewell, for art to be good it has to stand the test of time and not just a fad.
***** - Not sure how this adding a name to a post thing works, There doesn't seem to be a reply button attached to the post I've just read, so hope this finds its way to the correct person. I'm sorry to hear Brian Sewell isn't well, and like you hope he recovers soon. He's a blazing light in the world when it comes to being outspoken on the subject of art, and I've always found him, his voice and his opinions fascinating. His three volumes of autobiography are a good read - Outsider 1, Outsider 11, and Sleeping With Dogs (a peripheral autobiography) reveal him to be a man with a wildness within him, but also a gentle man. Let's hope for many more years of insight from him.
Greg McGee starts off faux rebelliously challenging Bian Sewell to "love äll things that smell of 2013" and then capitulates utterly to Sewell's contention that people are only interested in paintings of landscapes and people "doing things". Greg McGee: Knobule?
He doesnt sound like he knows what hes talking about. "What smells of 2013"... what the hell is he talking about? Just because something is _new_ doesn't automatically make it GOOD. "Paint is liquid, its tactile"... fucks sake... put down your catalogue and pick up an art theory book. This man runs a gallery?
What can you Brian is a lovely lovely man I could listen to him always listening to Brian talking is like listening a beautiful piece of classical music so sadly missed a one off he is heaven now talking to god about beautiful paintings.Jeremy Allfrey.
The artist's job is not solely make pieces hung over couches or reaffirm a person's comfort zones that is boring and doesn't make people think and grow. Art should push people into a uncomfortable place and challenge the preconceived notions. We grow as people when walk in another person's shoes that means seeing the tragedy of poverty and the ugliness of greed and power. Dignity is not how much money you have in your pockets; yes it helps, its just a tool of survival and seeds for future generations. Dignity is walking down the street and people respecting you a person, as you are; no matter what side of the street you call home, skin color, faith, person you share your life with, or who you vote for. Art that doesn't force people to think or grow is not worth the time or the money.
Art is subjective, so anything you call art is art. In the real world it comes down to what someone is prepared to buy. Without sales the artist starves and can't afford to continue, therefore the successful artist is down to longevity driven by the popularity of their work. When I was at art school there's was this guy who seemed relatively sane but his work was so outlandish the tutors didn't know what to make of it. He was chosen by an art college largely because they couldn't decide if he was completely crap and mad or a total genius, so they hedged their bets. I guess time is the great decider. If in 200 years people are still paying top money for your work, you are a great artist. If not, you managed to con your way through the art market and good luck to you. Everyone has to put a crust on the table..
RIP Brian. Sadly missed, undervalued and irreplaceable.
I don’t see ‘titans’, plural. Only one Titan here, and sadly he is no longer with us.
hear! hear!
I love Brian Sewell - he's unafraid, uncowed by fashionable consensus, his connoisseurship undoubted, never shallow, ever stimulating. I shall be most upset if his current ill-health continues. 10 more years of his presence in the World will benefit us all.
Integrity. Intelligence. Dangerous combination.
Well done Brian.
When the cleaners tidy ‘art’ away because they think it was trash left behind by the builders, no amount of preaching can convince us that it was art in the first place.
Brian is one of those people you would really enjoy sitting down with for a good long discussion. He had courage and
Un afraid of his convictions. I really wish he were with us today , even though he would be shunned by the jackal’s in the media .
@@kenboydart F***wit. Your homework for tonight is to find out the names of the newspapers and magazines he wrote for. Jesus. He'd laugh at the likes of you. And rightly so. Your other homework is to research the use of the apostrophe. You will be amazed.
"runs a gallery" - you mean he runs a shop. A gallery is where you display art - a place you buy it is a shop.
Wrong. You're talking about a museum. A gallery can be a commercial enterprise if it doesn't necessarily "maintain" a collection, but maintains a vast network of connections between artists, collectors, and art experts. You can't get that from a "shop." Don't disparage the man's livelihood just because he doesn't share your reactionary views on art.
Brian Sewell was just one of a kind. Rip, old fellow.
How we miss you, Brian, how we miss you!
So much
Who knew he took the time to talk to prisoners about art.
I've got ten years of archives from the Evening Standard of his art criticism.
Well, well, sadly missed.
He 'taught' art in Brixton prison for over a decade. I suppose that must have involved some talking though. His accent can be hard to understand at times. There is a lot to this man, one of his great passions, besides art was stock car racing...His honesty, and frank, no nonsense attitude to speaking his mind, no matter was always refreshing. I may not agree with him on many things, but he was always interesting, intelligent and witty. The fact that he called Damian Hirst 'fucking awful' alone made me like him. Ha ha...
@@AnthonyMonaghan "His accent can be hard to understand at times" - what?!? You will hardly find anyone in the commonwealth with a clearer accent, perhaps not even Her Majesty herself.
Greg McGee- a titan? Really?
Last time I looked he was pretty much consistently sat behind a mac laptop, looking glum, in his empty gallery.
The north is not a good place for contemporary art - even though the people enjoy seeing it, they cant afford to buy it. I'm surprised that gallery is even still going.
+ Mr Wolfe "...sitting behind a macbook looking glum": too funny. I'm tired of vacuous, talentless poseurs. "Titan"? Absurd - come off it.
Greg McGee, "titan"... more like "no one knows or cares who you are"
I agree Barry Mak, people are too hard on Brian and take him too seriously but he does come from a great love of art and you can learn a lot from him.
Grayson Perry made the interesting observation that art is a job for artists and a recreation for everyone else. He went on to say that when the public has been at work all week and surrounded by horror stories on the news when they come home, the last thing they want or need is a lecture from an artist on how bad the world is. They already know, and there's something very patronising about artists who presume they don't.
A second point is that Brian Sewell appreciated technique, something non-artists can also do. That, and his obvious relish in annoying contemporary artists, were what made him so understandable to the layman, and such a joy.
While I'm on a roll, it's worth bearing in mind that one of the first observations about Conceptual Art was that it tends to fail because people hardly ever have truly original ideas. (How bored Sewell must have been by the old chestnut where an artist sticks a piece of scrunched up paper on a table and challenges the viewer to explain exactly why it's not art; it's a valid point, but hardly original.) We all sometimes think we've come up with some great insight into the human condition, only to realise it's just a rehash of something someone said a lot better thousands of years ago.
The inimitable Brian Sewell ! What a man ! Sadly missed in a world of increasing dross ! xxxxxxx
It makes sense that people would generally root for a painter to win the Turner prize because apart from being opposed to the perceived self indulgence of other types of modern art, a painting is tangible and has a sense of permanence that is missing from installations or performance art. I appreciate it is subjective though.
"Anything that smells of 2013 smells good to me." 0:30 So looking back from 2022, is all that 2013 art now just junk and no longer contemporary? A very narrow-minded approach to art. I'm sure for Sewell, for art to be good it has to stand the test of time and not just a fad.
***** - Not sure how this adding a name to a post thing works, There doesn't seem to be a reply button attached to the post I've just read, so hope this finds its way to the correct person.
I'm sorry to hear Brian Sewell isn't well, and like you hope he recovers soon. He's a blazing light in the world when it comes to being outspoken on the subject of art, and I've always found him, his voice and his opinions fascinating.
His three volumes of autobiography are a good read - Outsider 1, Outsider 11, and Sleeping With Dogs (a peripheral autobiography) reveal him to be a man with a wildness within him, but also a gentle man. Let's hope for many more years of insight from him.
Very diplomatic of Brian Sewell . RIP
Greg McGee starts off faux rebelliously challenging Bian Sewell to "love äll things that smell of 2013" and then capitulates utterly to Sewell's contention that people are only interested in paintings of landscapes and people "doing things". Greg McGee: Knobule?
He doesnt sound like he knows what hes talking about. "What smells of 2013"... what the hell is he talking about?
Just because something is _new_ doesn't automatically make it GOOD. "Paint is liquid, its tactile"... fucks sake... put down your catalogue and pick up an art theory book. This man runs a gallery?
Well said.
What can you Brian is a lovely lovely man I could listen to him always listening to Brian talking is like listening a beautiful piece of classical music so sadly missed a one off he is heaven now talking to god about beautiful paintings.Jeremy Allfrey.
2013? Oh dear! lol
The artist's job is not solely make pieces hung over couches or reaffirm a person's comfort zones that is boring and doesn't make people think and grow. Art should push people into a uncomfortable place and challenge the preconceived notions. We grow as people when walk in another person's shoes that means seeing the tragedy of poverty and the ugliness of greed and power. Dignity is not how much money you have in your pockets; yes it helps, its just a tool of survival and seeds for future generations. Dignity is walking down the street and people respecting you a person, as you are; no matter what side of the street you call home, skin color, faith, person you share your life with, or who you vote for. Art that doesn't force people to think or grow is not worth the time or the money.
Clash? They are in agreement
Art is subjective, so anything you call art is art. In the real world it comes down to what someone is prepared to buy. Without sales the artist starves and can't afford to continue, therefore the successful artist is down to longevity driven by the popularity of their work.
When I was at art school there's was this guy who seemed relatively sane but his work was so outlandish the tutors didn't know what to make of it. He was chosen by an art college largely because they couldn't decide if he was completely crap and mad or a total genius, so they hedged their bets. I guess time is the great decider. If in 200 years people are still paying top money for your work, you are a great artist. If not, you managed to con your way through the art market and good luck to you. Everyone has to put a crust on the table..
Greg McGee co-runs a contemporary art gallery in York. Thanks for watching.
Traditional art is timelessly beautiful, a statement which doesn't describe modern conceptual art.
Sewell.