Background
James Beck was born in 1930 in New Rochelle, New York, a short distance away (as he was known to boast) from Thomas Paine"s former house in that city.
(This work deals with one of the most important and conten...)
This work deals with one of the most important and contentious issues in the world of fine art. Starting in the 1970s a flood has developed of restorations of works of art. London's National Gallery (first in this field by several decades), Washington's National Gallery, the Metropolitan, the Louvre, the Prado, the Uffizi, and others besides, are restoring their collections on a wholesale basis. Much of what is being done is radical and, in its effects, irreversible. Yet a generation from now, or less, the assumptions and most advanced technologies of today may well be regarded as backward, misconceived or plain wrong. James Beck discusses the recent restoration of three Renaissance masterpieces including Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling, one of the high points - and perhaps now also one of the tragedies - in the history of Western art. New evidence is presented of what has been done, and why, and it is certain to be controversial. Professor Beck also inquires into the social, cultural and, increasingly, commerical factors that underlie the recent spate of restorations that has produced what amounts to a restoration establishment with its own networks, priorities and interests. Last, he offers hope not only that change is possible but that the need for change is beginning to be recognized, and he puts forward ideas for hastening the process. Professor Beck is the founder and Director of Artwatch International.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393036707/?tag=2022091-20
James Beck was born in 1930 in New Rochelle, New York, a short distance away (as he was known to boast) from Thomas Paine"s former house in that city.
Bachelor of Arts, Oberlin College, 1952; Master of Arts, New York University, 1954; Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University, 1963.
He was an outspoken critic of many high-profile restorations and re-attributions of artworks, and founded the pressure group ArtWatch International to campaign against irresponsible practices in the art world. After graduating from Oberlin College in 1952 he trained as a painter, firstly at New York University and then at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Florence. At Columbia University he undertook his doctoral dissertation, on the sculpture of Jacopo della Quercia, under the supervision of Rudolf Wittkower.
He remained on the art history faculty at Columbia for his entire life, serving as Professor of Italian Renaissance painting and sculpture from 1972.
A turning-point in Beck"s career came in 1991 when, as the world"s authority on Jacopo della Quercia, he was invited to comment on a recent restoration of one of the sculptor"s works, an effigy of Ilaria del Carretto in Lucca Cathedral. Beck"s enraged response was recorded by two reporters for newspapers based in Florence and Livorno, and in further interviews published in Louisiana Stampa (of Turin) and Il Giornale dell"Arte (based in Alessandria) he continued to voice his indignation at what he deemed a ruinous cleaning job.
The sculpture"s restorer filed lawsuits against him in the courts of all four cities citing criminal defamation, an offence punishable by three years" imprisonment in Italy. The organization"s other founding member was Michael Daley, a British art historian with whom Beck co-wrote Art Restoration: The Culture, the Business and the Scandal in 1993.
The book was an attack on the profession of art restoration, and was especially critical of the cleaning of Michelangelo"s Sistine Chapel frescoes which was at that time nearing completion.
Beck also publicly criticised the attribution of both the Metropolitan Museum"s Stroganoff Madonna (which it bought in 2001) to Duccio and the Madonna of the Pinks (the National Gallery"s major acquisition of 2004) to Raphael. He argued for the de-attribution of these works in his study From Duccio to Raphael: Connoisseurship in Crisis, published posthumously in 2007.
(This work deals with one of the most important and conten...)
(Recognising the precocious talent of Raphael, then aged t...)
(Will be shipped from US. Used books may not include compa...)
(Book by Beck, James)
(Book by Beck, James)
(Book by Beck, James)
( “The book is fair. It attacks, not restorations (which ...)
Member Renaissance Society American, Mediaeval Academy American, College Art Association, Artwatch International (president since 1992).
Married Darma Tercinod, April 9, 1956. Children: Eleonora M., Lawrence C.