On being at art-school

The composition of the Raft is, of course, two triangles, namely the figures on the right and the sail on the left, with its steeply left- leaning mast.

When I was an art-student at a less-than-prestigious art-school in the 199o's, my paintings were sometimes damned for their poor composition, but when I shot back with a perfectly reasonable request to tell me exactly what the problem was I got no reply. In fact, I got no reply whatever the question was, and the Head of Year, who was not obviously bright, had the temerity to patronise and disparage me, simply because, as Head of Year, he could.