Sister Wendy Beckett (1930–2018)

This small but provocative book by its diminutive yet unusual author -- an art-enthusiast who just happened to be a cloistered nun, and who achieved a well-deserved notoriety by leaving a hermitic convent to teach her artistic sensibility to the rest of us -- has a narrow but fascinating thesis: icons, the religious paintings, nee portals, into the spiritual realm, were nearly all destroyed during the early centuries of the ancient Church. One particular void in this ancient, artistic past show more were representations of Mary, the mother of Jesus; most extant works from posterity portray saints or popes. Sister Wendy, through her scholarship, tracked down eight surviving early [5th century +] icons of Mary, most in Rome, but a few in Sinai and Ukraine, and traveled to see them all. Part travelogue, part history, part art criticism, this little tome is wildly esoteric and a lot of fun! show less

Sister Wendy on Prayer is an interesting and short book on prayer (150+ pages). Beckett is a Roman Catholic cloistered nun, technically a hermit, but has made a name for herself as a art expositor. This book is not limited to christian readers. She currently lives with Carmelite nuns in England. Here she talks about her perspective on prayer, using again, several color art plates which are included in the book. Beckett says that many sins can coexist with apparent piety. She says that most show more sins involve pride or sloth. There is an excellent biographical introduction about Sister Wendy included. One thing I learned from this book was the inability of language itself to be adequate to speak about ordinary life situations and then use the same language to describe states of interior prayer. I can understand better the genius of Teresa of Avila who moves easily back and forth between the two worlds while building her own unique vocabulary by comparing Beckett’s chapters. Beckett seems much freer to use art, or other prayer traditions (Buddhism) or scholastic language to describe her experience. Her main theme is that prayer has to be practiced individually. Studying it is not praying. Persevering in prayer (whatever that means for us) is the only way we can encounter God and learn to trust God in the slow process of friendship. Beckett talks about ‘admirable atheists’ who have rejected a false god. She says one false god that persists is the god of misinformed religion who is cruel, suspicious, watchful and punitive. Anyone who rejects that god is correct to do so. She says that atheists, who go looking for a different God, a true God, are admirable. This is actually the official Roman Catholic position, stated in Vatican II. Karl Rahner formulated the now outdated concept of ‘Anonymous Christians’ of someone who had yet to realize that their search for the truth would end in recognition of Jesus Christ if pursued to its final conclusion. She says the real God is found in the Gospels. Jesus reveals this God as Our Father. With that everything changes in our relationship. A book well worth reading and I plan to read it again. show less

Normally I would regard books like this as cheap attempts to make a few bucks from the great masters. But I had a read of it this morning (doesn't take long) and was impressed. Sr Wendy takes old masters as well as more modern artists, and accompanies the image with a meditation on an aspect of love. And her insights are quite good. This is not a Catholic book - the insights are more a Christian-informed humanism. The sort of humanism any Christian should have. Each meditation is suitable show more for personal reflection and prayer. All in all, a surprising little book that actually has a lot to say about art and about life. show less

I have heard of Sister Wendy, but not being much of a TV watcher, never saw her TV shows on touring art museums all over the world. This book, "Sister Wendy's Grand Tour: Discovering Europe's Great Art" was for sale at the local library recently, being no longer the property of the library. Did not enough people check this out? Too bad if that's the case, but at least it's mine for now.

The paintings, with a few sculptures included, are organized by the cities (by the museums that they were show more in) that Sister Wendy viewed them in. Each painting is featured in full-color on one page, with Sister Wendy's commentary on the opposing page.

It may not come as a surprise that many of the art pieces chosen by Sister Wendy are Old Masters, although she does provide insight on Van Gogh and Matisse. Being a nun, one might expect her to favor exclusively religious paintings, but that is not the case. And, she is not fuddy-duddy in her views either but certainly not ribald. Sister Wendy provides a fresh insight that I enjoyed, particularly for the paintings that many of us are familiar with.

About "Mars" by Diego Velazquez (c. 1636-42), Sister Wendy says:

"This is how Velazquez sees Mars: the great god of war: deflated, dejected, stripped of his armour, completely vulnerable. This is not because he has been defeated, but because he has just suffered the great male humiliation of being laughed at. Nothing is more painful to vanity than mockery, and Mars has just been publicly made a fool of."

Then, she adds:

"So he slumps here, brooding and melancholy, his armour useless around him and the only thing still erect is his mustache."

About "Artist's Bedroom" by Vincent van Gogh (1888):

"... van Gogh believed he was expressing great 'tranquility and restfulness', as he wrote to his family. He is actually expressing intense anxiety and frustration, ordered, held in vigorous, trembling tension. It is this moving contrast that makes us feel close to him. We are an anxious, neurotic generation, and we warm to this neurotic man, struggling so bravely to impose calm upon the turmoil of his mental stresses." show less