The Irreplaceable Brian Sewell
When I wrote about the controversial English art critic Brian Sewell in the May edition of Quadrant I was aware that he was already seriously ill. Sadly Brian died on September 19 in London. I find it hard to believe I will never see his witty, informed and provocative articles in the Evening Standard again. That is a very great loss after nearly thirty-one years.
Our professional lives as critics began within weeks of each other in 1984 and I have been aware of Brian’s welcome presence in the greater firmament of critics ever since. Our backgrounds may have seemed quite different yet often we reached similar conclusions about the serious shortcomings of supposedly world-class recent artists and exhibitions. I believe that was because we tended to view all art in a greater context of time than the merely recent. Thus we might see a painter described by others as a highly significant figure of the moment but both of us could not help wondering how such an artist could really be…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins