Brian Davey was a respected music teacher and authorA victim of a paedophile teacher has asked for his music textbooks for children to be banned. Does the work, or the art, of someone who has committed such a crime have to be condemned?
Brian Davey was a respected music teacher and authorA victim of a paedophile teacher has asked for his music textbooks for children to be banned. Does the work, or the art, of someone who has committed such a crime have to be condemned?
To some within the music fraternity, there are two Brian Daveys.
To some within the music fraternity, there are two Brian Daveys.
One a devious paedophile jailed last year for sexually abusing girls as young as four. The other was a respected music teacher who wrote books on the recorder that many tutors regard as among the best textbooks for children.
One a devious paedophile jailed last year for sexually abusing girls as young as four. The other was a respected music teacher who wrote books on the recorder that many tutors regard as among the best textbooks for children.
To his step-daughter Antoinette Lyons, now 33, the two are inseparable. She has waived the anonymity accorded to victims of sexual abuse to call for his books to be withdrawn: "In my opinion they were written with one aim - to get to children."
To his step-daughter Antoinette Lyons, now 33, the two are inseparable. She has waived the anonymity accorded to victims of sexual abuse to call for his books to be withdrawn: "In my opinion they were written with one aim - to get to children."
This echoes an age-old conundrum from the world of art. Can you value work produced by someone whose private life and acts you find appalling? Do the proclivities of those responsible for artistic or intellectual works have to be taken into account in their appreciation?
This echoes an age-old conundrum from the world of art. Can you value work produced by someone whose private life and acts you find appalling? Do the proclivities of those responsible for artistic or intellectual works have to be taken into account in their appreciation?
Fiona MacCarthy wrote a biography of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill in 1989 that dropped a small bomb on the art world.
Fiona MacCarthy wrote a biography of the sculptor and typographer Eric Gill in 1989 that dropped a small bomb on the art world.
Gill was one of the most respected artists of the 20th Century. His statue Prospero and Ariel adorns the BBC's Broadcasting House and the Creation of Adam is in the lobby of the Palais des Nation, now the European HQ of the United Nations in Geneva.
Gill was one of the most respected artists of the 20th Century. His statue Prospero and Ariel adorns the BBC's Broadcasting House and the Creation of Adam is in the lobby of the Palais des Nation, now the European HQ of the United Nations in Geneva.
But MacCarthy's book revealed that he regularly had sex with two of his daughters, his sisters and even the family dog. These encounters he recorded in his diary.
But MacCarthy's book revealed that he regularly had sex with two of his daughters, his sisters and even the family dog. These encounters he recorded in his diary.
Piece of work
Piece of work
For some of Gill's fans, even looking at his work became impossible. Most problematically, he was a Catholic convert who created some of the most popular devotional art of his era, such as the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral, where worshippers pray at each panel depicting the suffering of Jesus.
For some of Gill's fans, even looking at his work became impossible. Most problematically, he was a Catholic convert who created some of the most popular devotional art of his era, such as the Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral, where worshippers pray at each panel depicting the suffering of Jesus.
Gill's work remains popular In 1998, spurred on by a cardinal's praise for Gill, Margaret Kennedy, who campaigns for Ministers and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, called for the works to be removed.
Gill's work remains popular In 1998, spurred on by a cardinal's praise for Gill, Margaret Kennedy, who campaigns for Ministers and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors, called for the works to be removed.
"Survivors couldn't pray at the Stations of the Cross. They were done by a paedophile. The very hands that carved the stations were the hands that abused.
"Survivors couldn't pray at the Stations of the Cross. They were done by a paedophile. The very hands that carved the stations were the hands that abused.
"He abused his maids, his prostitutes, animals, he was having sex with everything that moved - a very deranged man sexually."
"He abused his maids, his prostitutes, animals, he was having sex with everything that moved - a very deranged man sexually."
But the Catholic Church would not budge an inch. Administrator Bishop George Stack retains an unequivocal view.
But the Catholic Church would not budge an inch. The former Westminster Cathedral administrator, Bishop George Stack, retains an unequivocal view.
"There was no consideration given to taking these down. A work of art stands in its own right. Once it has been created it takes on a life of its own."
"There was no consideration given to taking these down. A work of art stands in its own right. Once it has been created it takes on a life of its own."
It might easier to make this argument for the Stations of the Cross than for nude sketches of Gill's teenage daughter.
It might easier to make this argument for the Stations of the Cross than for nude sketches of Gill's teenage daughter.
Thoughts and deeds
Thoughts and deeds
Gill is not the first artist to have committed terrible misdeeds. Travel back a few hundred years and you have the moral conundrums of the work of Caravaggio [painter, killer, supposed homoerotic depiction of boys] or Gesualdo [composer and double killer].
Gill is not the first artist to have committed terrible misdeeds. Travel back a few hundred years and you have the moral conundrums of the work of Caravaggio [painter, killer, supposed homoerotic depiction of boys] or Gesualdo [composer and double killer].
Do we turn our eyes away from his wonderful works of art or do we try to explore further and see how they were arrived at Fiona MacCarthy And if attitudes count as well as deeds then there are Wagner [composer, raging anti-Semite] and Larkin [poet, supposed racist and sexist].
Do we turn our eyes away from his wonderful works of art or do we try to explore further and see how they were arrived at Fiona MacCarthy And if attitudes count as well as deeds then there are Wagner [composer, raging anti-Semite] and Larkin [poet, supposed racist and sexist].
"If you actually stop looking or listening to people whose moral conduct you disapprove of, you are not left with all that much," MacCarthy says.
"If you actually stop looking or listening to people whose moral conduct you disapprove of, you are not left with all that much," MacCarthy says.
"Gill's behaviour was obviously reprehensible. He was a child abuser and he did completely renege on his Catholic principles.
"Gill's behaviour was obviously reprehensible. He was a child abuser and he did completely renege on his Catholic principles.
"But what do we do? Do we turn our eyes away from his wonderful works of art or do we, as I think we should, try to explore further and see how they were arrived at."
"But what do we do? Do we turn our eyes away from his wonderful works of art or do we, as I think we should, try to explore further and see how they were arrived at."
Censor or celebrate
Censor or celebrate
There are those who would defend Davey's books. Teachers who value the texts explain their position on internet forums. Essentially, the books are useful and contain nothing untoward - it's only the association with Davey that casts a shadow over the content.
There are those who would defend Davey's books. Teachers who value the texts explain their position on internet forums. Essentially, the books are useful and contain nothing untoward - it's only the association with Davey that casts a shadow over the content.
And perhaps it could be argued that there is an important distinction between an intellectual work like this and art. A manual does not demand a sense of allegiance. It does not provoke exalted feelings in the user or a sense of celebration as some art does.
And perhaps it could be argued that there is an important distinction between an intellectual work like this and art. A manual does not demand a sense of allegiance. It does not provoke exalted feelings in the user or a sense of celebration as some art does.
But to Davey's step-daughter the issue is simple. The books are used with children, despite it being known that he used teaching - and by extension his books - to get close to his victims.
But to Davey's step-daughter the issue is simple. The books are used with children, despite it being known that he used teaching - and by extension his books - to get close to his victims.
Ms Kennedy says the feelings of the victims are as important as any philosophising - and to them a ban is a "marker of his abuse, a tangible, public statement that we find what he has done horrendous".
Ms Kennedy says the feelings of the victims are as important as any philosophising - and to them a ban is a "marker of his abuse, a tangible, public statement that we find what he has done horrendous".
Artists questioned the Nazi experiments in this Berlin showPhilosopher Mark Sheehan, of Oxford University's James Martin 21st Century School, says moral complexities do arise because of the relationship between the artist and the art in the mind of the audience.
Artists questioned the Nazi experiments in this Berlin showPhilosopher Mark Sheehan, of Oxford University's James Martin 21st Century School, says moral complexities do arise because of the relationship between the artist and the art in the mind of the audience.
But in Davey's case, and whether an intellectual work can be intrinsically immoral, there are echoes of a debate on the ethics of scientific data.
But in Davey's case, and whether an intellectual work can be intrinsically immoral, there are echoes of a debate on the ethics of scientific data.
Ethicist Baruch Cohen once wrote that using data from Nazi experiments that involved cruelty and torture was like washing with a bar of soap made from concentration camp dead.
Ethicist Baruch Cohen once wrote that using data from Nazi experiments that involved cruelty and torture was like washing with a bar of soap made from concentration camp dead.
But Sheehan says it's possible to make a distinction between the quality of a piece of science and the ethics of how it was obtained. This might apply to Davey's work.
But Sheehan says it's possible to make a distinction between the quality of a piece of science and the ethics of how it was obtained. This might apply to Davey's work.
More is known about the private lives of artists - not least because many draw on their experiences for their art - so moral dilemmas will continue to arise. In Gill's case the outrage has not significantly undermined his status. The BBC uses Gill Sans typefaces in corporate branding and Westminster Cathedral retains its Stations of the Cross.
More is known about the private lives of artists - not least because many draw on their experiences for their work - so moral dilemmas will continue to arise. In Gill's case the outrage has not significantly undermined his status. The BBC uses Gill Sans typefaces in corporate branding and Westminster Cathedral retains its Stations of the Cross.
"There are people who said I destroyed the work for them because of what we now know. The feeling that what they knew had made those abhorrent as works of art," MacCarthy says.
"There are people who said I destroyed the work for them because of what we now know. The feeling that what they knew had made those abhorrent as works of art," MacCarthy says.
"Since the book was published in 1989 his reputation has in fact increased. The [campaigners'] attitude was probably in the minority."
"Since the book was published in 1989 his reputation has in fact increased. The [campaigners'] attitude was probably in the minority."
But for every viewer who can separate the art and the artist, there will be another who can't. For every dispassionate critic, there is another who can't ignore the crimes of the artist. For every philosophical purist, another with a gut feeling that the work of paedophiles should be shunned.
But for every viewer who can separate the art and the artist, there will be another who can't. For every dispassionate critic, there is another who can't ignore the crimes of the artist. For every philosophical purist, another with a gut feeling that the work of paedophiles should be shunned.
