Alastair Sooke

Alastair Sooke is a writer and broadcaster. He is The Telegraph’s chief art critic, and has presented more than 60 hours of television and radio for the BBC. He is also the author of three books published by Penguin.

His most recent television series, China’s Greatest Treasures, a major production for BBC World News, attracted tens of millions of viewers internationally. The Way I See It, his 30-part BBC Radio 3 series about modern art, made in collaboration with New York’s Museum of Modern Art, was repeated on BBC Radio 4.

Since 2017, he has served as a trustee of The Ampersand Foundation and judged the biennial Ampersand Foundation Award (worth £125,000). He has also sat on the British Council’s Venice Biennale selection committee and the Courtauld Association alumni committee; judged the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture; served on the advisory board of the Classical Art Research Centre at the University of Oxford; and moderated many events at festivals and national institutions.

In addition, he has presented award-winning short films for various galleries, charities, companies and brands, including Tate, Art Fund, and Christie’s, and has led tours of modern art on the Côte d’Azur for Martin Randall Travel. Prior to his appointment as The Telegraph’s chief art critic, he wrote a column for the BBC Culture website.

He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and the Courtauld Institute of Art, and lives in London with his wife and three children.

Television credits include:

The Culture Show (presenter, BBC Two, 2009-14)

Modern Masters (4 x 1 hour, BBC One, May 2010)

The Art of World War Two: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, Sept 2010)

Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, Feb 2011)

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2011: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, June 2011)

The World’s Most Expensive Paintings (1 hour, BBC One, July 2011)

The Perfect Suit (1 hour, BBC Four, July 2011)

Unfinished (1 hour, BBC Two, Jan 2012)

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, June 2012)

Into Orbit: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, June 2012)

Treasures of Ancient Rome (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, Sept 2012)

How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical Tale (1 hour, BBC Four, Oct 2012; shortlisted for a Broadcast Digital Award)

Whaam! Roy Lichtenstein at Tate Modern (1 hour, BBC Four, Feb 2013)

Going Underground: A Culture Show Special (30 minutes, BBC Two, March 2013)

Your Paintings: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, March 2013)

Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball (1 hour 30 minutes, BBC Two, May 2013)

Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Culture Show Special (30 minutes, BBC Two, June 2013)

The Culture Show: Venice – A Tale of Two Cities (30 minutes, BBC Two, Aug 2013)

The Culture Show at Edinburgh: Leonardo da Vinci – The Anatomist (30 minutes, BBC Two, Aug 2013)

The Culture Show: A Portrait of Jonathan Yeo (30 minutes, BBC Two, Sept 2013)

The World’s Most Expensive Stolen Paintings (1 hour, BBC Two, Dec 2013)

Treasures of Ancient Egypt (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, Jan 2014)

The Culture Show: Henri Matisse – A Cut Above the Rest (30 minutes, BBC Two, March 2014)

The Culture Show: ARTiculation – For the Love of Art (30 minutes, BBC Two, March 2014)

Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop Art – A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, May 2014)

The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy (1 hour, BBC Two, June 2014)

The Battle for Stonehenge: A Culture Show Special (1 hour, BBC Two, June 2014)

Constable: A Country Rebel (1 hour, BBC Four, Sept 2014)

Treasures of Ancient Greece (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, April 2015)

Soup Cans & Superstars: How Pop Art Changed the World (1 hour 30 minutes, BBC Four, Aug 2015)

Myths of Britain (30 minutes, BBC World News, May 2016)

Robert Rauschenberg: Pop Art Pioneer (1 hour, BBC Two, Dec 2016)

An Art Lovers’ Guide Series 1: Amsterdam, Barcelona, St Petersburg (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, May 2017)

Trump on Culture: Brave New World? (40 minutes, BBC Two, May 2017)

An Art Lovers’ Guide Series 2: Lisbon, Beirut, Baku (3 x 1 hour, BBC Four, April 2018)

China’s Greatest Treasures (6 x 30 minutes, BBC World News, Oct 2019)

Luxury Through the Ages (1 x 30 minutes, BBC World News, Dec 2019)

Museums in Quarantine: Warhol (1 x 30 minutes, BBC Four, April 2020)

Radio credits include:

I Heart Milton Glaser (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, Feb 2011)

Smiley’s People (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, Feb 2012)

Ampers-Fan (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, April 2012)

The Essay: The Piano in Five Pieces (15 minutes, BBC Radio 3, Sept 2012)

Sarah Lucas at the Venice Biennale (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, May 2015)

The Art of Now: Greek Revival (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, Feb 2018)

The Way I See It (30 x 15 minutes, BBC Radio 3, Oct 2019)

Iran’s Secret Art Collection (30 minutes, BBC Radio 4, April 2021)

Sunday Feature: The Primitivism of Primitivism (45 minutes, BBC Radio 3, May 2022)

Books

Roy Lichtenstein: How Modern Art Was Saved by Donald Duck (Penguin Special) (Penguin, 2013)

Henri Matisse: A Second Life (Penguin, 2014)

Pop Art: A Colourful History (Viking, 2015)