David Sylvester

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Anthony David Bernard Sylvester CBE , (born September 21, 1924 in London ; † June 19, 2001 ibid) was an English author , art critic and curator . He was a thought leader in modern art in Britain, promoting the artists Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud . Sylvester coined the term kitchen sink realism (sink-realism) .

Life

David Sylvester came from a wealthy Jewish family from north London. After difficulties at the University College School, he was kicked out of the home. He initially wrote for the democratic-socialist weekly magazine The Tribune . In 1947 he went to Paris , where he met Alberto Giacometti , who had a great influence on him. In the following years, Sylvester wrote for various publications, including for the Observer and the weekly New Statesman . A constant focus of his art-critical writings was the direct reaction to works of art. In 1954, Sylvester coined the term Kitchen Sink Realism in an article of the same name on trends in modern English art, referring primarily to an expressionist painting by John Bratby showing a sink . Although Sylvester had used the term in a negative context, it was nonetheless adopted by other artists, writers and theater makers. During the 1950s Sylvester worked as an exhibition organizer with Henry Moore , Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon, and he supported Richard Hamilton and other representatives of the emerging British Pop Art . Above all, however, he admired the English modernist David Bomberg, who died in 1957 . In the 1960s, Sylvester became a prominent figure on the British art scene; he held important advisory positions in the Arts Council of Great Britain and in many bodies of the English art scene. In 1969, together with Nicholas Serota , he curated the Renoir exhibition at the newly founded Hayward Gallery in London.

Sylvester wrote artist monographs and exhibition catalogs, which are often held in the context of interviews , and designed numerous exhibitions. In 1993 he received a Golden Lion at the Venice Biennale for the Francis Bacon retrospective, which he curated .

David Sylvester was married to Pamela Briddon for the first time, and the connection resulted in three daughters. He was also the father of the artist Cecily Brown (* 1969; from the relationship with the Scottish writer Shena Mackay ).

Books (selection)

literature

  • David Sylvester: The Private Collection, Sotheby's, London, Feb. 26, 2002, Sale L02959. With: Robert Rosenblum: David Sylvester (1924-2001) pp. 8–13. Below: Select Bibliography, pp. 145-148.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME New Year's Eve, David
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sylvester, Anthony David Bernard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English author, art critic and curator
DATE OF BIRTH September 21, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 2001
Place of death London