I was very angry. I was wounded. There was… and I’ve never… When I was buying and selling things to pay my bills, I never deserted Christie’s. Christie’s was where I sold things, I didn’t go to Sotheby’s, but I could so easily have done. But my loyalty to the firm as a whole did not die. But I… you know, I did feel wounded. However, my leaving was the making of the career of Noël Annesley, so at least somebody came out of the situation with some benefit.

[Q] But it was also making of the career for which we all know and love you, isn’t it?

That may be, that moving from the backwaters of the art market into very public criticism in a newspaper may have turned me into a public figure, but it’s not… being a public figure is something that in no way attracts me. I don’t see myself as a public figure or any… or one with influence. Well, I know perfectly well I have no influence, because I… but there we are, that’s another problem.

As a critic, you can’t be as outspoken as I am and expect to be part of the establishment.