The Duccio Dialectic

I love it when art historians get angry! So here's Columbia Professor James Beck's letter, Duccio a dud, published in today's London Times, responding to last Saturday's letter by Metropolitan Museum curator Keith Christiansen, Met's Duccio is no dud.

Here's an excerpt from Christiansen:

If Professor Beck would like to see a fake Duccio, I would be happy to show him one that the Metropolitan was given in order to compare a fake with the genuine masterpiece. It is my fervent hope that Professor Beck's allegations, which in my opinion are completely unfounded, do not diminish the public's engagement with this exquisite painting.
And from Beck's rejoinder:
When a mediocre object is classified as a great work by a great artist, that artist is unfairly diminished and the public is misled.
You say Duccio, I say Dud-cio. But there's one thing we all CAN agree on: The Times' letter department needs better headline writers!
July 13, 2006 7:59 PM | | | Comments (0)

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CULTUREGRRL , the art blog, is your inside guide to the artworld, consulted daily by the most important museum directors and curators, art dealers and auctioneers, collectors, scholars, critics, journalists and art lovers. Bringing wit and wisdom to informed, informative reviews of artworld events and issues, CultureGrrl (aka Lee Rosenbaum) is avidly read for her influential critiques of best and worst practices in the field.

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LEE ROSENBAUM LeeAcrop.jpg I'm a veteran cultural journalist who writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal's "Leisure & Arts" page. I am a regular cultural contributor on New York Public Radio (WNYC). I've appeared as an art-market commentator on BBC-TV and have published numerous Op-Ed pieces in the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. I am author of The Complete Guide to Collecting Art (Knopf) and have lectured on cultural property issues at the New Acropolis Museum and the University of Pennsylvania, on deaccessioning at Columbia Law School and on museum governance at Seton Hall University.

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This page contains a single entry by CultureGrrl published on July 13, 2006 7:59 PM.

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