When the sculptor Grenville Davey won the Turner prize in 1992 the Guardian described him as the “rank outsider”. The Wall Street Journal was even blunter in its headline: “Brit Art-Prize Fiasco: Grenville Who?” The media bewilderment was in part because Davey, who has died suddenly aged 60, beat the favourite, Damien Hirst, to the award.
Nor did Davey make particularly good tabloid column inches. When Hirst eventually won two years later he claimed he spent the prize money in one night behind the bar at the Groucho Club in Soho; Davey told reporters his plan was a “couple of days off” and beyond being grateful for the cash prize, “what I have to say is probably not worth anything. I think there will be turkey on the table this Christmas.”
