Alastair Sooke

Alastair Sooke (; born 1981) is an English art critic, journalist and broadcaster, most notable for reporting and commenting on art for the British media and writing and presenting documentaries on art and art history for BBC television and radio. His BBC documentaries include Modern Masters for BBC One and three three-part series, Treasures of Ancient Rome, Treasures of Ancient Egypt, and Treasures of Ancient Greece, for BBC Four.

Sooke is chief art critic at The Daily Telegraph, writing on art and art history, including on the Turner Prize and contemporary art. He is also a regular presenter on The Culture Show.

Biography Sooke was born in west London in October 1981 and educated at Westminster School, an independent boarding school in Central London, where he was a Queen's Scholar. At the age of fourteen Sooke starred as Kay Harker in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of John Masefield's children's fantasy novel, The Box of Delights. Sooke won a Westminster Scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford,

Sooke is known as a writer and presenter of documentaries on art and art history for BBC television and radio. His BBC documentaries include Modern Masters (for BBC One), exploring four artists who shaped modern art; the tripartite series Treasures of Ancient Rome in 2012, Treasures of Ancient Egypt in 2014, and Treasures of Ancient Greece in 2015, all for BBC Four, and How the Devil Got His Horns, a history of depictions of the Devil in Western art (also for BBC Four).

Sooke also serves as an art critic, and writes periodical-length pieces on art theory, history and criticism, as well as penning investigative pieces that have appeared in journals, and newspapers. These include The Telegraph, where he is a deputy art critic after joining the paper as a trainee journalist in 2003. He appears regularly on BBC2's The Culture Show.

Television

Year Work Channel 2010 Modern Masters BBC One 2011 Romancing the Stone: The Golden Ages of British Sculpture BBC Four 2011 The Perfect Suit BBC Four 2011 The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy BBC Two 2011 The World's Most Expensive Paintings BBC One 2012 How the Devil Got His Horns: A Diabolical Tale BBC Four 2012 Unfinished Masterpieces BBC Two 2012 The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy BBC Two 2012 Treasures of Ancient Rome BBC Four 2013 Pride and Prejudice: Having a Ball BBC Two 2013 The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy BBC Two 2013 Whaam! Roy Lichtenstein at Tate Modern BBC Four 2014 Constable: A Country Rebel BBC Four 2014 Pop Go the Women: The Other Story of Pop Art BBC Two 2014 The Summer Exhibition: BBC Arts at the Royal Academy BBC Two 2014 The World’s Most Expensive Stolen Paintings BBC Two 2014 Treasures of Ancient Egypt BBC Four 2015 Soup Cans and Superstars: How Pop Art Changed the World BBC Four 2015 Treasures of Ancient Greece BBC Four 2016 Lichtenstein: A Retrospective BBC Two 2016 Robert Rauschenberg: Pop Art Pioneer 2017 An Art Lovers' Guide BBC Two 2017 Trump on Culture: Brave New World BBC Two 2018 An Art Lover's Guide BBC Two 2020 Museums in Quarantine: Warhol BBC Four