Wendy Beckett

Wendy Mary Beckett (25 February 1930 – 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British Catholic religious sister and art historian In 1946, she entered the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, a Catholic congregation of religious sisters dedicated to education. She was sent to England where she completed her novitiate and then studied at St Anne's College, Oxford, where she was awarded a congratulatory first class honours degree

Art and media career Beckett spent many years translating Medieval Latin scripts before deciding, in 1980, to pursue art. Her first book, Contemporary Women Artists, was published in 1988.

Works Beckett narrated the following documentaries: Sister Wendy's Odyssey (1992) Sister Wendy's Grand Tour (1994) Sister Wendy's Story of Painting (1996) Sister Wendy's American Collection (2001) Sister Wendy at the Norton Simon Museum (2002) In 2006 she narrated an audio commentary for tourists to the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican: Sister Wendy's Sistine Chapel Artineraries Tour (2006)

Additionally, she features in the following: Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers (1997) Three appearances on Charlie Rose (3 October 1997; 18 November 1997; 19 September 2000) are available on DVD. The Art of Dying (2009) (Dan Cruickshank interviews Sister Wendy on the helpfulness of art in the face of death)

Death Beckett died on 26 December 2018 at the Carmelite Monastery in Quidenham, Norfolk. She was 88. (2022) The Christ Journey – the art of Greg Tricker (2011) Sister Wendy Contemplates the Iconic Jesus (2011) Encounters With God: In Quest of Ancient Icons of Mary (2009) Sister Wendy Contemplates Saint Paul in Art (2008) Bernard of Clairvaux: Sermons for Advent And the Christmas Season, with John Leinenweber (Editor), Irene Edmonds (Translator), Wendy Mary Beckett (Translator), Conrad Greenia (Translator) (2008) Sister Wendy on Prayer (2007) Sister Wendy's Meditations on the Mysteries of Our Faith (2007) Speaking to the Heart: 100 Favourite Poems (2006) Sky-blue Is the Sapphire' Crimson the Rose: Stillpoint of Desire in John of Forde by John, abbot of Forde, translated by Wendy Beckett (2006) Joy Lasts: On the Spiritual in Art (2006) Sister Wendy's Impressionist Masterpieces (2001) Sister Wendy's American Masterpieces (2000) In the Midst of Chaos, Peace (with Mary J. Dorcy and Dan Paulos) (2000) Sister Wendy's Book of Muses (with Justin Pumfrey) (2000) Sister Wendy's 1,000 Masterpieces (with Patricia Wright) (1999) My Favourite Things: 75 Works of Art from Around the World (1999) Sister Wendy's Nativity (1998) Inner Life: A Fellow Traveler's Guide to Prayer (by David Torkington; foreword by Sister Wendy) (1998) Sister Wendy's Odyssey: A Journey of Artistic Discovery (1998) Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations (1998) Sister Wendy's Book of Saints (1998) The Mystery of Love: Saints in Art Through the Ages (1998) Sister Wendy's Story of Christmas: Adventures in Art (1997) Sister Wendy in Conversation with Bill Moyers: The Complete Conversation (edited by Karen Johnson) (1997) The Wisdom of the Apostles (compiled by Philip Law; introduction by Sister Wendy) (1997) The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle Ages (with Jean De Berry) (1997) Max Beckmann and the Self (1997) Sister Wendy's Grand Tour: Discovering Europe's Great Art (1996) Pains of Glass: The Story of the Passion from King's College Chapel, Cambridge (with George Pattison) (1996) Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Joy (1995) Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Love (1995) Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Peace (1995) Sister Wendy's Meditations: Meditations on Silence (1995) A Child's Book of Prayer in Art (1995) The Story of Painting (1994) The Gaze of Love: Meditations on Art and Spiritual Transformation (1994) The Mystical Now: Art and the Sacred (1993) Contemporary Women Artists