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Walter Pater

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The Resume

    (August 4, 1839-July 30, 1894)
    Wrote ‘Studies in the History of the Renaissance (1878),’ ‘Marius the Epicurean (1885),’ ‘Imaginary Portraits (1887)’ and ‘Appreciations, with an Essay on Style (1889)’
    Popularized the concept of ‘art for art’s sake’ in England

Why he might be annoying:

    His mustache was as big as a broom bristle.
    He was bookish and nerdy.
    He was a lousy student.
    He became fanatically religious, then fanatically pagan, then fanatically religious again.
    His writing style is incredibly wordy.
    His theories about literature and art are nutty.
    He claimed that the Mona Lisa was supposed a vampire, a mermaid, a goddess, the mother of the Virgin Mary, and a lot of other crazy things.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His point about the Mona Lisa was that art says different things to different people.
    He felt a lot of people misunderstood his ideas.
    He influenced writers like Oscar Wilde, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.
    He is considered a founding father of modern criticism.
    His father died when he was a baby.
    He led a quiet life.

Credit: Wieland Kalligaro


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 24 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 17 Votes: 70.59% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 24 Votes: 70.83% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 20 Votes: 55.00% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 49 Votes: 75.51% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 51 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2006, Out of 91 Votes: 64.84% Annoying
    In 2005, Out of 46 Votes: 56.52% Annoying