Her first book, Contemporary Women Artists, was published in 1988. When Sister Wendy Beckett took a rare break from her life of solitude to visit an art gallery, the hermetic nun didn't expect to end up a celebrity. Her caravan in the grounds of the Carmel was small, cold and basic, but was crammed with postcards and calendars of works of art. Her later art-related works include Joy Lasts: On the Spiritual in Art (2006), Real Presence: In Search of the Earliest Icons (2010), and Sister Wendy on the Art of Mary (2013). She never liked her Catholic parents choice of name. We ask our visitors to confirm their email to keep your account secure and make sure you're able to receive email from us. Every contribution, however big or small, is very valuable for our future. LONDON (AP) Sister Wendy Beckett, an art historian and critic who rose to prominence on TV late in life, has died. She was 88. Theres little question that she caught a lot of peoples attention by walking around major museums in her nuns attire, looking and sounding like a conservative grandmother, and then saying perceptive and sassy things like this She had a musical written about her, so people clearly found her compelling. But her unorthodox spiritual insights suggested otherwise. Her health was never good she had suffered from a weak heart since childhood and could very quickly run out of energy in mid-take. New York: DK Publishing Inc. in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1994. In 1991, after 45 years of the cloistered life, Sister Wendy Beckett stepped out of the convent and into London's National Gallery. And Gods finger touches that of Man.. Kalai, Leonidas. Fryer, Jane. I find myself saying to myself firmly that I might not have been interested or excited or challenged by what Ive seen, she said on a rare trip to London in 2008 to see an exhibition by those on the Turner Prize shortlist, but the artists who made these installations must have been. Born in South Africa in 1930, she wanted to be a nun as a child, and joined the Sisters of Notre Dame, aged 16. She obtained papal permission to leave her congregation and to become a consecrated virgin and hermit. When asked once what the other Quidenham nuns thought about her going round the world with a camera crew, she replied, they feel sorry for me. Beckett continued writing about her interest in icons in the second volume of her Sister Wendy Contemplates series, published in July 2011. Its a trivial little name. Critics pointed to her gapped teeth and her way of pronouncing r as if it were w. Her producers were more impressed by the pithy, ad-lib analyses she could fit neatly into a soundbite, a feat that won her a reputation as one-take Wendy., From the airing of her first series, Sister Wendys Odyssey, in 1992, she evaluated artworks as if the artist were standing beside her. In view of her religious state, this came as a surprise to some viewers. Sister Wendy Beckett (1930 - 2018) was the unlikely star of art history documentary programs on the BBC. Sister Wendys American Collection. The Guardian. Two other series on art, Sister Wendys Grand Tour (1994) and Sister Wendys Story of Painting (1997), appeared on the BBC and were soon shown throughout Europe. Privacy Statement Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions. However, she occasionally made television appearances, and Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum, a TV movie commissioned by the Norton Simon Art Foundation, aired in 2002. Search by Name. 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Filmed in 100 days, the series was broadcast in Britain by the BBC in 1996 and in the United States by PBS in 1997. The routine she followed in the caravan was both simple and extraordinary. The Carmelites offered her a home on their property and took care of her for the rest of her life. She and Michelangelo are no doubt having an in depth eternal discussion about the latters art work in the Sistine Chapel. She died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham at the age of 88. Some of her art world colleagues criticized her lack of exposure to original works of art, but she had at least as many admirers. [14], Having overheard her commentary while attending an art exhibit, a film crew asked to videotape her. [3] Her programmes, such as Sister Wendy's Odyssey and Sister Wendy's Grand Tour, often drew a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience. Had she been worldlier, she used to reflect, she would never have joined the Notre Dame de Namur sisters the order that ran her own school because she was physically unsuited to the rigours of classroom teaching. After attending a teachers college in Liverpool, England, she returned to South Africa, where she taught for 15 years. To explore the Church Times website fully, please sign in or subscribe. Rapidly establishing herself as an unconventional and engaging commentator, fizzing with enthusiasm, she became a household name in the 1990s, in spite of the life of seclusion which she maintained between television recording sessions. In order to earn money for her convent, she agreed to do a television series about fine art for the BBC, and she quickly became famous. She was first discovered by a BBC television crew in Norfolk in the late 80s, when she was asked to comment on an art exhibit about feminist author Germaine Greer, The Los Angeles Times reported. In his great flying cloak theres a world. In 1988 her first book, Contemporary Women Artists, was published. But persistent heart trouble and a history of epilepsy drained her strength. She soared to international stardom with her BBC documentaries on the history of art. All of her earnings were also assigned to the Carmelite order. After graduating in style, however, she soldiered on for 17 years in convent schools in South Africa, feeling she had no alternative, until finally her health collapsed. We never missed her in our house. She was a sister of the Catholic Church who became prominent in the 1990s presenting BBC shows about art history. Beal sent it to her without charge. [32], In 1993, Sister Wendy recorded an abridged audio version of Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich. You can find a full list of her works here. It was a slightly daunting task to contact her, but no less daunting was the tiny handwriting in which her contributions returned. Visit her at A Scholarly Skater and The Art Museum Insider. Whether thats Eve or not, theres a human face there looking straight at Adam with the eyes daring him to respond to the challenge. She even used to promise to enlist the nuns of Quidenham to pray that some of the unmarried women producers she worked with would find suitable partners. Speaking to PBS in 2000 about her U.S. series, Sister Wendys American Collection, she said, I hope that everybody who watches it will realize what art has for them; that this is their heritage, that they are foolish not to explore it, and that the exploration is pleasurable., Brigit Katz Mobile Register and Baldwin County. I have an electric kettle, fridge, warming oven and night storage heater, so my life is as comfortable as it needs to be., Sister Wendy Beckett, Nun Who Became a BBC Star, Dies at 88, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/26/obituaries/sister-wendy-beckett-dead.html. Three Jesuit astronomers and the 16th-century pope who commissioned the Gregorian calendar have recently been honored with having asteroids named after them. Known for her witty and eye-opening commentary on art, all made while dressed in her black nun habit, Beckett led a series of documentary programs for the BBC in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her next book, published in 2011, The Christ Journey, consists of her commentaries on the artwork of Greg Tricker. Her own preferences among the current generation featured figurative and often religious painters such as Greg Tricker, Simon Garden and James Gillick. I am prepared to marvel at their inexplicable enthusiasm.. It was as she wanted it. Four years later Sister Wendys American Collection aired, profiling six notable American museums. Sister Wendy Beckett . Logging in will also give you access to commenting features on our website. Its because of you that Im here today.. Standing before a double nude portrait by modern British painter Stanley Spencer, she observed, I love all those glistening strands of his hair. Sister Wendy Beckett (1930 - 2018) was the unlikely star of art history documentary programs on the BBC. It led in turn to an appearance on a TV arts show and eventually to five major series, scripted and presented by one-take-Wendy, as she was known to directors. There was always something contradictory about a nun, who had devoted her life to solitude and contemplation (since 1970 in a caravan in the grounds of the enclosed Carmelite monastery at Quidenham in Norfolk), but who also managed to slip away from the cloister to make large-scale TV series on (in the eyes of the world, if not Sister Wendy herself) non-religious subjects. When she's not being an art historian, she can usually be found ice skating and dancing. She had a gift for storytelling and drama, as well as a clear passion for her subject matter. She didnt like Wendy. It made her think of Peter Pan.. She dressed not as a Carmelite, but in a traditional black and white habit that she designed herself, merging features from several orders. It was inevitable that the Church Times should seek to publish extracts from her books, and even invite her to contribute. Eventually, she decided to publish an art book to earn money for the convent. Aside from the sheer novelty of having a nun on mainstream television unknown since the brief chart-topping career of Jeanine Deckers, the Singing Nun of the early 1960s Sister Wendys success rested largely on her formidable intellect (she received a congratulatory first in English from St Annes College, Oxford, in 1953) and her sure-footed ability to bridge the gulf between fine art and a popular audience. Its going to happen, whether you try to put it off or not; so why not see it as a crowning?. From an early age she wanted to be a nun, and at age 16 she joined the Sisters of Notre Dame. This article was amended on 31 December 2018. December 26, 2018. Obituaries Section. Your Privacy Rights She studied literature at Oxford in the early 1950s, living in a convent and observing its strict code of silence for four years. She died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham at the age of 88. Emerging from her hermit-like . Surely, most people would be deeply moved by this programme, and drawn to the conclusion that there might be more to this Christianity stuff than they had ever thought., SISTER MARGARET DEWEY SSM, who died on 8 June, aged 94, belonged to an upstate New York family, whose ancestors arrived from England in the 17th century. In the mid-1980s Sister Wendy, who had long been interested in art, began writing essays for British journals, using only postcards and books as her primary reference material. As a hermit, she did not feel the need to belong to any particular order. He fell in love but he killed her.. (Photo by Neville Elder/Corbis/Getty Images) Share Carmen Hermo Related Articles Want to Learn Art History? She in turn contributed most of her income to the convent. The Carmelite Monastery of Quidenham said Beckett died at the . After Sister Wendys American Collection and Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum had made her name with US TV viewers in 2001-02, she declined any further offers. Reminding viewers that this child was the son of God in Christian theology, she offered her unconventional best advice. Obituaries Section. I will always be a nun. She had spent more than 20 years in a convent, perfecting the ways of religious life. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Becketts provocative and witty commentaries, Travis Scott is sought by New York Police after alleged assault and criminal mischief, Review: Michael B. Jordan is the one to fly now with Creed III, Unlike Andor, Mandalorian is going all in on Star Wars lore. She also suggested that she only said yes to the BBC because she felt the need to make a small financial contribution to the monastery for her keep and had been forced by ill health to give up her work as a translator of medieval Latin manuscripts in the late 70s. She returned to South Africa in 1954 to teach, but in 1970, with her health deteriorating, the Vatican gave permission for her to pursue a life of solitude and prayer. . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Do you have a vision for how to proclaim the Gospel afresh for this generation? Emerging from her hermit-like existence in a caravan at a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk, she hosted unscripted BBC shows from galleries across the world. From the time she appeared in her first art appreciation program on BBC in 1991, Becketts provocative and witty commentaries captured the attention of museum curators, book publishers and art critics as well as art lovers around the world. In the 1980s, Sister Wendy obtained permission from her superiors to start studying art, which she did by combing through books and examining postcard reproductions of famous works. At 16, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame in England and began religious life as Sister Michael. In the 1990s she became one of the most unlikely television stars. Password reset instructions will be sent to your registered email address. Sister Wendy Beckett (1930-2018) was the unlikely star of art history documentary programs on the BBC. Visitation was held on Thursday, February 23rd 2023 at 11:00 AM at the . The series was a hit, and Sister Wendy, a habit-wearing consecrated virgin with a speech impediment, became the most unlikeliest of stars. She stood in front of the paintings dressed in a black nun's habit and discussed the paintings without a script or teleprompter. The Daily Mail. Sister Wendy speaking about the true meaning of Christmas and iconography (video originally published in 2010). Remembering Sister Wendy Beckett: beloved Nun, art historian and accidental TV phenomenon. Postcards from God: The Sister Wendy Musical, created by Marcus Reeves, ran briefly and camply in a small West End venue. TV art historian and nun Sister Wendy Beckett has died at the age of 88, it has been announced. Menu. Beckett, who soared to international fame presenting a series of popular and unscripted art programmes for the BBC in the 1990s, died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham in Norfolk on Wednesday. She called her television debut at the Norfolk gallery the fatal moment, in her interview with the Times. She died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham at the age of 88. A surprising rise to fame catapulted her into television stardom, where she used her platform to share artistic masterpieces with the public. For all of her unique features as a commentator, it was Becketts ease in describing nude paintings that most confounded her viewers. The impact she had on audiences was so great that she even had a musical written about her. According to the Guardians Aamna Mohdin, Sister Wendys father worried that she was too young to make such a commitment, but her mother supported the decision. Brigit Katz is a freelance writer based in Toronto. Sign up and get your dose of art history delivered straight to your inbox! 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