Letter: Women do win art prizes

Sir: Suzanne Moore ("Masters and mistresses", 29 November) tub- thumps about "male privilege" in what is in the end a weak endorsement of a quota system in which both sexes will automatically be represented on shortlists such as the Turner Prize. Providing judges make nominations and award prizes only on the basis of the quality of the work, such absurd tokenism is unnecessary,

Last year, as a judge of the most valuable open art competition in the country, the NatWest Prize (totalling pounds 35,000), I sat with five other jurors, all men (in suits), and we awarded all five prizes, including the pounds 25,000 first prize, to those we considered the five best artists from over a thousand entrants. They were all women.

DAVID LEE

Editor, Art Review

London EC1