Wendy Beckett

Wendy Beckett or as she is better known Sister Wendy Beckett (February 25 1930 - 26 December 2018) was a South African-born British art expert, consecrated virgin and contemplative hermit who became an unlikely celebrity during the 1990s, presenting a series of acclaimed art history documentaries for the BBC.

Quotes

• Agnes Martin often speaks of joy; she sees it as the desired condition of all life. Who would disagree with her?... No-one who has seriously spent time before an Agnes Martin, letting its peace communicate itself, receiving its inexplicable and ineffable happiness, has ever been disappointed. The work awes, not just with its delicacy, but with its vigor, and this power and visual interest is something that has to be experienced.
  • Sister Wendy Beckett, in her book American Masterpieces, about American painter Agnes Martin.

• I believe in loyalty. We should respect our church, but never believe that the church has the last word. The church is saying 'this', but I believe that sooner or later 'this' will change. 'This' is not the mind of our Lord. God is all love. It's a delicate balancing thing. The Church has changed its position over the years, and because the spirit is with the Church, in the end the Church will always get it right. But in the end. The spirit of the Church is the meaning of love, which hasn't yet, perhaps, been fully understood.
  • Sister Wendy Beckett, on same-sex marriage, from a Huffington Post interview titled 'Sister Wendy, My Semi-Spiritual Guide' dated 17 November 2007.

• Love is a practical desire for the good of another. It is much easier to talk about than to carry into action because it requires such sensitivity and unselfishness.
  • Sister Wendy Beckett, from a The Telegraph interview titled 'Culture Clinic: Sister Wendy Beckett' dated 8 May 2009.

Documentaries

In addition to writing more than a dozen books, Sister Wendy has narrated the documentaries:

• Sister Wendy's Odyssey (1992)
• Sister Wendy's Grand Tour (1997)
• Sister Wendy's Story of Painting (1997)
• Sister Wendy's American Collection (2001)
• Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum (2001)

External links

• Interview with Sister Wendy