A 67-year old nun who does a review on Western art from the
Middle ages onward. You may remember her on
Public access TV, she speaks with an accent. and has
teeth like
Austin Powers; a slight
overbite.
She is funny to listen to, you really learn a lot, and she really does "bring art to life." She called Leonardo Da Vinci gay and is generally a person that people in history class laugh at because she's very eccentric but knows her stuff.
A public access TV website(http://tpt.org/BTW_folder/Sept/wendy.html) has this to say about her:
The Washington Post describes her as "a woman, plucked from another world, who had never watched TV, never been on it, who looks, acts, and talks like no one who has, who shows up on the air one day and before long becomes a phenomenon." The New York Times notes that "she is both a Consecrated Virgin and a pop star." USA Today hails her as "stuffy Britain's most beloved if wholly improbable TV art critic." And Entertainment Weekly believes she is "the only known antidote to Baywatch."
She is Sister Wendy Beckett, British nun and art maven extraordinaire whose latest tour de force, SISTER WENDY'S STORY OF PAINTING, guides television viewers through each great era of Western art: The 67-year-old self-taught "art nun" explores the cave paintings of Lascaux; the Italy of Leonardo and the Renaissance; Goya's revolutionary Spain; Monet's Giverny; Picasso's Paris; Andy Warhol's New York; and Lucian Freud's London.
Sister Wendy believes that each work of great art has a fascinating story to tell about what it means to be human. Her eloquence, originality and charm are matched only by her fearlessness; no subject in art is off-limits to her. "So often people are held back because they fear their own ignorance," says Sister Wendy. "The STORY OF PAINTING is my guide for those who want to look, but lack the courage."
One time on SNL, Nathan Lane acted as Sister Wendy and critiqued soft-core pornography, if I recall. The Catholic league did find it offensive and protested.
There are a number of videos with her on Amazon.com. She's very clear and concise. Great for the art newbie.