16 OCTOBER 1993, Page 28

Ars Brevis

Sir: While I was at the Serpentine Gallery recently enjoying the Agnes Martin paint- ings that were so crushingly dismissed in last week's Spectator (Arts, 2 October), a man walked in, looked at what I thought were very beautiful paintings (in the tradi- tional, formal, aesthetic sense), coughed `bullshit' loudly and then sarcastically asked me to explain what in the painting afforded me such evident pleasure. Was this your critic?

Jason Burke

12 Reynolds Close, London NW11