BBC & the Arts

Andrew Marr’s reputation is for the Sunday programme in which he engages the big issues of the day with an important political figure.

Personally I find the show too Marr-driven. Often the sound bites are repeated in the subsequent news bulletins.

However, there is more to Andrew Marr than the BBC’s marquee political presenter.

On Radio 4 on Monday at 9.00am he presents Start the Week.

Generally the people on the show have something to promote but – no matter – it’s often engaging.

Yesterday it was very much an arts show.

It started with Sir Antony Poppiano, conductor at the Royal Opera House, who was interesting on their production of Fidelio with Jonas Kaufman as tenor.

There are only six performances but it will be broadcast in cinemas too.

This was followed by the curator of the Ashmolean discussing her exhibition of the Young Rembrandt.

Rembrandt was not a prodigy, he emerged as a genius through hard work and patronage.

Finally there was Mary Baird promoting her programme on the nude.

I am no fan of Mary Baird whose personality and style of presentation grates on me.

I managed to watch half of her programme. It was all over the place.

She did not engage the issue that was supposed to be its theme : is it art or is it porn?

It’s a complex subject, not least because prosecution for pornography does not always harm an artist’s reputation, for example Egan Schiele.

A few years ago I bought a Ken Howard nude and an oil of the River Deben by Marcus Ford.

A collector friend of mine came round to view both.

After examining both from various angles with a thoughtful expression, he gave me his considered view:

“I could **** her but I would not like to walk by that river.”