Sister Wendy Beckett, Nun and Art Critic, Dies at 88

Wendy Beckett, the nun and art historian known for her television series, passed away on 26 December 2018 at age 88. Born in South Africa in 1930, she entered religious life at 16 and later studied at Oxford during the 1950s. After teaching in South Africa, health issues prompted her return to Britain in 1970, where she joined a Carmelite monastery in Norfolk and lived in a caravan on its grounds. Her art criticism career began in the 1980s with her first book, 'Contemporary Women Artists,' published in 1988, featuring artists like Cindy Sherman, Louise Bourgeois, and Alice Neel. Beckett gained fame through BBC programs such as 'Sister Wendy's Odyssey,' which attracted large audiences with her accessible, enthusiastic approach to art history, covering works from the Renaissance to contemporary periods. Other series included 'Sister Wendy's Grand Tour' (1994) and 'Sister Wendy's Story of Painting' (1996). In the 1990s, she contributed 'Masterclass' articles to ArtReview, profiling living artists; the publication is now republishing her October 1993 piece on British painter Prunella Clough. Health problems in the 2000s reduced her television work, though she continued writing and occasional appearances.