Sir: Possibly the long article written by Richard Shone about
the current state of art criticism in Britain needs placing in a wider context. Mr Shone was one of the sig- natories to a recent letter to the editor of
the Evening Standard calling for the sacking of their art critic Brian Sewell. My own edi- tor has recently received letters from two employees of another of the signatories, Karsten Schubert, calling for my removal from this paper. The grounds are that I am not sympathetic to the sort of art that Mr Shone and his kind find quite wonderful, as exemplified by the current exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery 'Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away', for which Mr Shone has written a eulogistic catalogue essay. The fact that I think this last is composed large- ly of hot air, however elegantly written, will not be causing me to write to the editor of Burlington Magazine, of which Mr Shone is deputy editor, calling for the latter's instant dismissal. The fact that I do not do so may reflect differences in my character as well as writing from those of Mr Shone. I do not feel any need to defend myself against any of Mr Shone's charges except one, being content to let the 428 articles I have written for this journal on a very wide variety of artistic topics, including the old Masters, make my case.
Mr Shone hints that critics grow increas- ingly unsympathetic to the sillier excesses of the avant-garde as they grow older. This is not my case at all; if anything, I have mel- lowed. The logical conclusion to this argu- ment is that only an unintelligent teenager could write rewardingly about unintelligent teenage art. In spite of Mr Shone's boyish appearance, I would be alarmed to believe he thinks anything so silly.
Giles Auty
14, Riverbank, East Molesey, Surrey
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