Controversial art critic for the London Evening Standard, Brian Sewell is notorious for scathing and outspoken views. The Scotsman described him as "easily the most hated man in the arts". Brian Sewell described Whistler's Portrait of the Painter's Mother as "a wretched picture, ill-balanced, haphazard and clumsy" and said the Turner prize was "a scurvy little exhibition". But the Althrop memorial to Diana got off more lightly - the art critic said it was "perfection". He planned to be a painter himself but gave up because he had "nothing to say". Instead he studied art history at the Coultauld institute under Anthony Blunt, who was later exposed as a spy. Thirty-five powerful art world critics wrote to the Evening Standard in 1994 demanding Sewell be sacked on the grounds of "intellectual posturing and artistic prejudice". But his weekly column continues to be popular with Tube passengers for its direct opinions.