December 26, 2018. At lunchtime, her waiter sang to her on bended knee beside her chair. Some of her art world colleagues criticized her lack of exposure to original works of art, but she had at least as many admirers. But, she added: Nothing is more humiliating than being on television. As well as more shows, she now gained opportunities to be a published writer on specifically religious subjects, such as the saints, icons, and prayer. [8], Outside her academic work, she lived in a convent which maintained the strict code of silence typical in convents prior to the changes following the Second Vatican Council (19621965). It was to her that we turned, in 2009, for a review of a book about the darkness in Mother Teresas life: This woman who felt that there was no God and lived in emotional anguish was also profoundly aware, intellectually, that God was her total life and that she lived only to love him. Sister Wendy Beckett during her visit to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham in 2004. Sister Wendys Book of Saints, published in 1998, was well received. At 16, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame in England and began religious life as Sister Michael. God looked at his creation and said, It is good. In another interview she added, Theres too much puritanical fear of pleasure., She was fully aware that a woman of the cloth could scare some people off. LONDON (AP) Sister Wendy Beckett, an art historian and critic who rose to prominence on TV late in life, has died. Sister Wendy eventually wrote some 25 books, including collections of poetry and meditations, and made a dozen documentaries, many released on DVD. The Republican Homepage. But her insightful, unscripted commentaries a blend of history, criticism and observations on Leonardo da Vinci, van Gogh, Botticelli, Rembrandt, Monet and other Western masters connected emotionally with millions in Britain and America. When they overheard Sister Wendys musings on the art, the crew members trained their camera on her, kickstarting her unlikely career on the small screen, as host of a series of beloved programs about the worlds greatest artworks. Submit an Obituary . She was a hit, a natural if eccentric personality with a gift for drama that made art accessible to the general public. Afflicted by stress-induced epileptic fits, she returned to England and became a consecrated virgin, moving into a caravan in the grounds of the Carmelite convent at Quidenham, in Norfolk, and working on Latin translation. Interview with Clive Anderson, BBC Radio 2, 28 January 2007, Postcards from God: The Sister Wendy Musical, "World of Sister Wendy Beckett, nun and art historian", "Sister Wendy Beckett, Nun Who Became a BBC Star, Dies at 88", "Sister Wendy Beckett British nun and art critic", "Sister Wendy Beckett | British nun and art critic", "Sister Wendy At The Norton Simon Museum", "500 Years On, The Vatican Museums Go Digital", "Sister Wendy's American Collection About the Series Buy the Book", "BBC Four Churches: How to Read Them, Reformation: Chaos and Creation", "BBC Four Arena, Sister Wendy and the Art of the Gospel", "Arena Sister Wendy and the Art of the Gospel", "She May Not Get Out Much, but She Does Know a Lot About Art", "BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs, Sister Wendy Beckett", "Sister Wendy Beckett, TV art historian, dies at 88", "Wendy Beckett Books List of books by author Wendy Beckett", "Publication: The Christ Journey Sister Wendy Beckett reflects on the art of Greg Tricker", "Sister Wendy Contemplates Saint Paul in Art 9780854397525 by Beckett, Wendy- St Pauls Publishing of 0/11/2008", "Speaking to the Heart: 100 Favourite Poems by Wendy Beckett - Books", "Sister Wendy Beckett - British nun and art critic", "Inner Life: A Fellow Traveler's Guide to Prayer", "The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle Ages (Adventures in Art Series)", "Nonfiction Book Review: Mystical Now C by Sister Wendy Beckett, Author, Wendy Beckett, Author Universe Publishing(NY) $25.95 (160p) ISBN 978-0-87663-647-3", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wendy_Beckett&oldid=1126090621, This page was last edited on 7 December 2022, at 13:18. The BBC said it commissioned Beckett in 1991 to host a TV documentary on the National Gallery in London. Sister Wendy Beckett Obituary. Her insights into the artists she encountered on screen struck a chord with many who had previously lacked the vocabulary and the confidence to feel at home in art galleries. In Sister Wendys Grand Tour, she wrote: I look forward to the day when it will dawn upon everybody that they can have odysseys and Grand Tours and share the fruits of the world. At the British Museum, standing beside a Greek wine jar painted 2,500 years ago, she embroidered the portrayal of Achilles slaying Penthesilea, the Amazon queen, at the fall of Troy. This book, entitled The Iconic Jesus, takes the reader through scenes from the New Testament, accompanied by Beckett's reflections. He spoke with her in late 2000, shortly after they had completed their visit. 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. The programs like Sister Wendys Odyssey, Sister Wendys Grand Tour, and Sister Wendys Story of a Painting were immediate hits, often drawing a 25 percent share of the British viewing audience, according to The New York Times. Anyone can read what you share. Wendy Mary Beckett [1] (25 February 1930 - 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British religious sister and art historian [2] who became known internationally during the 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television documentaries on the history of art. Sister Wendy Beckett (1930-2018) was probably the world's most unconventional art historian. A surprising rise to fame catapulted her into television stardom, where she used her platform to share artistic masterpieces with the public. 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. 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. Returning to South Africa, she taught for 15 years at a Cape Town convent and later lectured at Johannesburgs University of Witwatersrand. In a gentle-but-enthusiastic tone, Sister Wendy delivered her commentary straight into the eye of the camera without the help of a script or autocue. According to a 1997 New York Times profile, Sister Wendy moved into a rickety trailer in the forest, where she prayed for seven hours each day and subsisted on little more than coffee, crackers and skim milk. Standing before a double nude portrait by modern British painter Stanley Spencer, she observed, I love all those glistening strands of his hair. If youre already a subscriber or donor, thank you! Terms of Use Four years later Sister Wendys American Collection aired, profiling six notable American museums. It was while attending an art exhibit that a film crew overheard her comments and asked to videotape her. 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Theyre concerned with the big, beautiful fundamentals, and there I have never had any problem. Seen on PBS. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. So in her honor, lets learn a few important things from Sister Wendy. I really didnt think it was anything, Sister Wendy recalled of her decision to talk about art on television in her book Sister Wendy on Prayer (2006). At Oxford University, as a student in her early 20s, Beckett lived in a nuns hostel and soon after graduation moved back to South Africa to teach in a religious school. Requiescat in pace, Sister Wendy. this helps us promote a safe and accountable online community, and allows us to update you when other commenters reply to your posts. There she lived in a house trailer with only the most basic amenities, working two hours a day. Quite simply, they justify her reputation as one of the foremost art critics of our time, and one of the most accessible.. She died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham at the age of 88. In the early 1970s, she was released from her vows as a Sister of Notre Dame and changed her religious status to consecrated virgin, with the blessing of the Vatican. Sister Wendy was great. At some stage, she would walk over to the Carmel to collect food and her post and then turn in for the night at 6pm. More series followed, including a ten-part documentary that saw Sister Wendy travel to visit artworks in 12 different countries. Filmed in 100 days, the series was broadcast in Britain by the BBC in 1996 and in the United States by PBS in 1997. 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. The impact she had on audiences was so great that she even had a musical written about her. Sister Wendy was well educated, but not in art history. Sister Wendys Story of Painting, which first aired in the 1990s, enclosed Carmelite monastery at Quidenham in Norfolk. In 1991, after 45 years of the cloistered life, Sister Wendy Beckett stepped out of the convent and into London's National Gallery. She was received by the local bishop as a consecrated virgin, an ancient ceremony, revived in Catholicism in the 1970s, in which she pledged her perpetual virginity and was betrothed mystically to Christ. Non-subscribers canreadfour articles for free each month. She cut an unconventional figure for a television personality with her black nuns habit and oversized eyeglasses. That is too final a word. Sister Wendy Beckett, a Roman Catholic nun who interrupted a cloistered life of prayer in England in 1991 and soared to international stardom with lyrical BBC documentaries that made her one of the most improbable art critics in television history, died on Wednesday in the village of East Harling, England. In moments of candour, though, she would admit that she liked to share knowledge she had originally joined a teaching order, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, in 1947, but had to give up the classroom after having epileptic seizures brought on by stress. Sister Wendy began stud David Willcock, executive producer for Spire Films, has worked with Sister Wendy Beckett on several of her series. Yet, this relationship between arts is not unidirectional. God is such a total mystery. In the 1990s she became one of the most unlikely television stars. I think Mother called me Wendy because she thought I would be small and pretty. Sister Wendy Beckett passed away on Boxing Day 2018. The body is Gods creation, like a tree, only better designed, she once replied. 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. All he can do is lift up a flaccid finger, and out of the clouds whirls down the God of Power. We ask our visitors to confirm their email to keep your account secure and make sure you're able to receive email from us. Read about our approach to external linking. Sister Wendy. She died at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham at the age of 88. Later that year, she advised on coping with a family Christmas. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1994. Asked how she managed to read so many crime novels, Beckett had a quick answer. Her unique style drew close to 4 million viewers, mesmerized by her billowing black robes and unpretentious observations. Updates? Accessed online. Eventually, she decided to publish an art book to earn money for the convent. Sister Wendy began stud. Her first book, Contemporary Women Artists, was published in 1988. In 1950 Sister Wendy's order sent her to Oxford University, where she lodged in a convent, and was awarded a Congratulatory First Class degree in English literature. Her most ambitious series, Sister Wendys Story of Painting, took her 30,000 miles through Europe, the Middle East and the United States, to survey works ranging from prehistoric cave paintings in France to the masterpieces of Picasso and the Pop Art of Andy Warhol. They have rejected the false god. Her programmes included Odyssey, Sister Wendy's Grand Tour and Sister Wendy's Story of Painting. She assigned all her earnings to a Carmelite order that had sheltered her for decades, and she attended Mass daily, even when traveling. Of a postcoital self-portrait by Sir Stanley Spencer with Patricia Preece, Sister Wendy confessed, I love all those glistening strands of hair, and her pubic hair is so soft and fluffy., It was a sensation, widely quoted. A person can pray and read at the same time., Often in frail health, she spent most of her public life in a wheelchair and only stood up to deliver her light, witty comments before the camera. I will always be a nun. She had spent more than 20 years in a convent, perfecting the ways of religious life. So, dont ever think that you cant enjoy and understand art if you dont have an art history degree. Contemporary Women Artists, published in 1988, was followed by more books and articles. For many people, including . Viewers were astonished and delighted, especially by some of her uninhibited expressions of rapture. This recording, from the translation by M. L. Del Mastro and adapted for Sister Wendy by Donna K. Triggs, was finally released as a CD in 2021, entitled Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich read by Sister Wendy Beckett. I thought it was just a weekend here or there.. Her work has appeared in a number of publications, including NYmag.com, Flavorwire and Tina Brown Media's Women in the World. When asked once what she felt about God, she replied, sharply: I dont think anyone can feel God. 2. 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. In the 19th century, Europeans went crazy for one story: Atala, or the Story of Two Lovers in the Desert. ), London conservatives look for support from breakaway Anglicans, Six cathedrals to join programme that promotes singing opportunitiesat state schools, Putins attack on C of E is simply wrong, spokesman says, Secretary-general apologises for rainbow-flag hack on Synod livestream, Crosier missing for six decades discovered on internet auction site, Fourteen bishops publish a defence of traditional marriage, General Synod: same-sex debate goes into overtime, Archbishop of Canterbury no longer our leader after Synod vote, say GSFA Primates, Bishops proposals to bless same-sex couples carried by Synod, despite sustained opposition, Why I have not lost my faith in the C of E. She was 88.[34]. Please contact us at members@americamedia.org with any questions. I guess Im not the only one she was writing to.. The piece caught the eye of a British Broadcasting Company (BBC) producer, and in 1992 Sister Wendys Odyssey made its debut. One of her last programs was Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum, which aired in October 2002. "She was a hugely popular BBC presenter and will be fondly remembered by us all. She soared to international stardom with her BBC documentaries on the history of art. Cut an unconventional figure for a television personality with her BBC documentaries on the National Gallery in.!, Contemporary Women Artists, was published in 1998, was published in 1988 in... England and began religious life as Sister Michael her chair, accompanied by Beckett 's reflections, six. Make sure you 're able to receive email from us weekend here there! Lift up a flaccid finger, and there I have never had any problem book! 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