Alastair Sooke

Alastair Sooke (/suːk/; born 1981) is an English art critic, journalist and broadcaster, most notable for reporting and commenting on art for the British media and writing and presenting documentaries on art and art history for BBC television and radio. His BBC documentaries include Modern Masters for BBC One and three three-part series, Treasures of Ancient Rome, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, and Treasures of Ancient Greece, for BBC Four.[1]

Alastair Sooke
Born1981 (age 41–42)
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Courtauld Institute of Art (MA)
Occupation(s)Journalist, broadcaster
AwardsQueen's Scholar

Sooke is chief art critic at The Daily Telegraph, writing on art and art history, including on the Turner Prize and contemporary art. He is also a regular presenter on The Culture Show.[2]

Biography

Sooke was born in west London[3] in October 1981[4] and educated at Westminster School,[5] an independent boarding school in Central London, where he was a Queen's Scholar,.[6] At the age of fourteen Sooke starred as Kay Harker in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of John Masefield's children's fantasy novel, The Box of Delights.[7][8] Sooke won a Westminster Scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford,[5] where he read English language and literature and won the university's Charles Oldham Shakespeare Prize. After graduating with a First, he studied for an M.A. at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London.

Sooke lives in London with his wife and three children.[9]

Sooke is known as a writer and presenter of documentaries on art and art history for BBC television and radio.[10] His BBC documentaries include Modern Masters (for BBC One), exploring four artists who shaped modern art; the tripartite series Treasures of Ancient Rome in 2012, Treasures of Ancient Egypt in 2014, and Treasures of Ancient Greece in 2015, all for BBC Four, and How the Devil Got His Horns, a history of depictions of the Devil in Western art (also for BBC Four).[11]

Sooke also serves as an art critic, and writes periodical-length pieces on art theory, history and criticism, as well as penning investigative pieces that have appeared in journals, and newspapers. These include The Telegraph, where he is a deputy art critic after joining the paper as a trainee journalist in 2003.[12] He appears regularly on BBC2's The Culture Show.[2] In addition, Sooke has written books on pop art, Henri Matisse and Roy Lichtenstein.[13]

Filmography
Television
YearWorkChannel
2010Modern Masters[1]BBC One
2011Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture[2]BBC Four
2011The Perfect SuitBBC Four
2011The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal AcademyBBC Two
2011The World's Most Expensive Paintings[1]BBC One
2012How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical TaleBBC Four
2012Unfinished MasterpiecesBBC Two
2012The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal AcademyBBC Two
2012Treasures of Ancient Rome[1]BBC Four
2013Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball[1]BBC Two
2013The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal AcademyBBC Two
2013Whaam! Roy Lichtenstein at Tate ModernBBC Four
2014Constable: A Country RebelBBC Four
2014Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop ArtBBC Two
2014The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal AcademyBBC Two
2014The World’s Most Expensive Stolen Paintings[1]BBC Two
2014Treasures of Ancient Egypt[1]BBC Four
2015Soup Cans and Superstars: How Pop Art Changed the WorldBBC Four
2015Treasures of Ancient Greece[1]BBC Four
2016Lichtenstein: A RetrospectiveBBC Two
2016Robert Rauschenberg: Pop Art Pioneer
2017An Art Lovers' GuideBBC Two
2017Trump on Culture: Brave New WorldBBC Two
2018An Art Lover's GuideBBC Two
2020Museums In Quarantine: Warhol BBC Four

Bibliography
  • Postcards from Vegas (2011) ISBN 9780955819513
  • Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art was Saved by Donald Duck (2013) ISBN 9780241965061
  • Henri Matisse: A Second Life (2014) ISBN 9780241969090
  • Pop Art: A Colourful History (2015) ISBN 9780241973073

References
  1. "Treasures of Ancient Greece". BBC Four. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. "The Culture Show - Alastair Sooke". BBC Two. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  3. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  4. "The Ampersand Foundation ... People". Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  5. "Oxford University Gazette, 26 October 2000: Colleges". ox.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  6. "In Conversation: Stephen Chambers RA and Alastair Sooke .... About Alastair Sooke". What's On, University of Cambridge, Cambridge. 17 April 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  7. Fordy, Tom (21 December 2020). "Inside The Box of Delights". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  8. "Box of Delights". Genome—Radio Times 1923–2009. BBC. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  9. "Alastair Sooke". United Agents. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  10. "lBBC: Modern Masters, About Alastair Sooke". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  11. "How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical Tale". Radio Times. January 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  12. "Alastair Sooke". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 July 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  13. "Penguin authors - Alastair Sooke". Retrieved 15 July 2021.
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