Brian Sewell has always delighted in controversy. Now, he’s set to ruffle a few more feathers. According to the BBC, the outspoken Evening Standard art critic told The Lady he convinced Tate to buy a painting mistakenly attributed to Hogarth, when he was working at Christie’s. He even admitted adding extra brushstrokes to render the piece more credible.
“For a few years, it was the earliest Hogarth in the Tate,” he said, “until some Hogarth scholars came along and it was demoted. I haven’t seen it for years, but I was jolly chuffed when they bought it.”
Entitled The Doctor’s Visit and dated from c.1725, the painting was in fact the work of a much lesser-known painter, Egbert Van Heemskerk. It is now listed as such on the Tate collection records.
—arnet News