James Beck; Guardian obit (art historian)
Hyfler/Rosner
Distinguished art historian who railed against the
restoration culture and cast doubts on a Raphael masterpiece
Michael Savage
Saturday June 2, 2007
Guardian
James Beck, who has died of lung cancer aged 77, was a
revered scholar of the Italian Renaissance, a professor of
art history at Columbia University, New York, and a
well-loved teacher. But he drew the ire of the art
establishment for his outspoken criticism of the damage
caused by art restoration and his relentless questioning of
the optimistic attribution of second-rate paintings.
Most notably, he revealed the damage caused by cleaning
Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and restoring Leonardo's Last
Supper. His last book, From Duccio to Raphael:
Connoisseurship in Crisis (2006), has attracted attention
for claiming that the most expensive purchase ever made by
the National Gallery in London, a small Raphael Madonna and
Child bought in 2003 for £35m and known as the Madonna of
the Pinks, is a 19th-century fake.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Beck studied history and
politics before training as an artist, taking an MA in
studio art in New York and pursuing further studies in
Italy. He gained his PhD from Columbia in 1963, studying
under Rudolf Wittkower, one of the giants of the art
historical tradition.
Columbia was a thrilling place in the 1960s - a fertile
melting pot enriched by European émigrés bringing diverse
traditions to bear on art history, as well as many other
disciplines. Alongside Wittkower were the great Rubens
scholar Julius Held and the critic and theorist Meyer
Schapiro, whose expertise ranged from Romanesque art to Van
Gogh. Beck learned a rigorous historical approach, which he
combined with a deep respect for the artist's craft that
always coloured his scholarship.
He was, in his own words, "an art historian of a fairly
traditional bent". In the 1960s and 70s he meticulously
researched articles and monographs on Renaissance artists.
While some art historians scrabble around in the undergrowth
of minor artists, Beck was temperamentally attracted to the
commanding heights of the Italian Renaissance -
Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo. His other great passion
was for the sculptors of the 14th and 15th century, such as
Jacopo della Quercia, who are less well known, perhaps
because much of their work has remained in Italian churches
rather than public galleries.
Beck enriched our knowledge of many artists through his
indefatigable archival research, identifying new documents
and sources that he related back to the artists' work. As
well as many works for specialists, he wrote books for a
general audience, including Raphael (1993) for the Thames
and Hudson Masters of Art series, and Italian Renaissance
Painting (1981, new edition, 1999).
Aside from his reputation as a scholar, Beck owes his
notoriety to his courageous criticism of the ruinous
"conservation" of works of art. He criticised the cleaning
of the Sistine Chapel, which he thought destroyed
Michelangelo's shadows and modelling. At the time, critics
were bowled over by the "new look" of the ceiling, although
the restoration was shielded from scrutiny by the sponsors,
Nippon Television, which had been awarded exclusive rights.
For his efforts, Beck suffered "rather ugly attacks and
ridicule from colleagues and former friends". On reflection,
many scholars have come to agree with his view that the
restoration caused great harm to one of the world's greatest
cultural monuments.
Much was at stake in criticising the Sistine Chapel
restoration, but Beck ran an even greater personal risk in
1990 when he expressed his horror at the treatment of della
Quercia's Ilaria del Carretto, a tomb in Lucca, Tuscany,
that inspired one of Ruskin's most lyrical passages. Beck
was a uniquely qualified critic; della Quercia had been the
subject of his doctoral dissertation, and his two-volume
catalogue raisonné is perhaps his most important book. He
showed that the restoration - involving harsh, abrasive
techniques - destroyed the fine details of the sculpture.
The oily coating applied by the restorer ("polished with
Johnson's wax," said Beck) destroyed the delicate surface
and penetrated the marble, losing for ever something of the
beauty of the original.
The restorer sued Beck for criminal libel, carrying a
potential sentence of three years' imprisonment and
unlimited damages. But Beck stood by his claims.
Capitulation would have had a chilling effect on art
historians and critics writing about restoration, so against
the best advice he fought and won the case - and wrote about
the dramatic legal proceedings in Art Restoration: the
Culture, the Business and the Scandal (1993, with his
British colleague Michael Daley). Daley and Beck went on to
found ArtWatch, an organisation dedicated to campaigning
against aggressive restoration programmes that damage works
of art.
Beck's writing calls to account the cosy relationship
between art experts and the art market in "upgrading" minor
works to the status of masterpieces. In doing so, he reveals
the secrets of his trade; it is based not on magical
intuition, but diligence. Careful scholarship, close
observation, exact description; this book is an inspiring
object lesson in the art-historical discipline.
Here again Beck defends the artist against the art world:
"the life works of an artist, his oeuvre, should not be
dependent upon the manipulation of tale spinners, academic
snobs, museum fundraisers and public relations operatives."
Even those who do not agree with all his conclusions will
recognise the problem he identifies.
As well as a brilliant scholar and a passionate critic, Beck
was an inspiring teacher in the Socratic tradition,
encouraging students to discuss and develop their research
through collective discussion. He led by example, leaving a
body of meticulous, methodical scholarly work. And he took a
stand, showing us the tragic consequences of what happens
when the art establishment tries to create new spectacles by
restoring old masters. It is a lesson unlearned; the
National Gallery boasts that its forthcoming exhibition of
Renaissance art from Siena includes paintings "specially
cleaned and restored for this show". Beck still has much to
teach us.
He is survived by his wife, Darma, and children, Eleonora
Maria and Lawrence.
· James Beck, art historian, born May 14 1930; died May 26
2007