13 APRIL 1974, Page 5

Sir: David Holbrook is incontestably right in claiming that a

legislative curb is needed on the present systematic debasement of public taste, in the cinematic field especially. Nonetheless I can never read any article deploring the prevalence of 'porno-kitsch' and the way it corrupts our morals without wondering whether a society that is so manifestly in decline should not be equally concerned about the corruption of its brains. What passes for art to-day is 90 per cent inspissated, if sophisticated, imbecillity — licensed cretinism in fact. The Tate Gallery at the moment is flying balloons above its entrance portico to proclaim the triumph of free admission. Admission to what? Answer: tins containing 'Merda d'artista.'

G. Reichardt 12a Mount Pleasant Road, Poole