The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the controversial art critic Brian Sewell. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how he did not go to school until he was 11, hated it when he got there, but managed, much against the wishes of the school, to teach himself history of art. He'll also be describing how he felt when his friend and mentor, Sir Anthony Blunt, the Keeper of the Queen's Pictures, was denounced as a spy in 1979. Sewell was thrust into the public eye as Blunt's protector. He's been there ever since - attacking what he regards as the excesses of contemporary art, and attracting much criticism himself as a result of his attitudes.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Fidelio Aria - 'Komm Hoffnung' by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: Songs from the 1880s with piano accompaniment by Franz Schubert
Luxury: Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo