Walter Arthur Liedtke, Jr. (August 28, 1945 – February 3, 2015)
was an American
art historian
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
, writer and Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
.
He was known as one of the world's leading scholars of Dutch and Flemish paintings.
He died in the 2015
Metro-North
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut D ...
Valhalla train crash
On the evening of February 3, 2015, a commuter train on Metro-North Railroad's Harlem Line struck a passenger car at a grade crossing near Valhalla, New York, United States, between the Valhalla station, Valhalla and Mount Pleasant station (Metr ...
.
Early life
Liedtke was born in
Plainfield, New Jersey
Plainfield is a city in Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, known by its nickname as "The Queen City." ,
and grew up in
Livingston, New Jersey
Livingston is a township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the ...
.
Liedtke studied
Art History
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...
in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat, seat of government of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.[Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...]
in Providence, Rhode Island.
He received a Doctorate at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. Liedtke said that his interest in Dutch paintings began because he was focused on images as a child from hours and hours of watching a lot of TV.
He described his aesthetic as that of having a focus on how he responded to visual patterns compared to a more typical perspective focused on story and narratives.
Career
Academia
Liedtke planned on a career in academia.
For two years Liedtke taught at the
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
, then at the University's villa in Florence. In 1974 he was working at the
Courtauld Institute
The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
in London on his PhD dissertation, "Architectural painting in Delft, 1650–1675,"
in which he discussed work of
Gerrit Houckgeest
Gerard Houckgeest (c. 1600–August 1661) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of architectural scenes and church interiors.
Biography
Houckgeest is thought to have been born in The Hague, where, according to the RKD, he learned to paint from Bar ...
,
Pieter Saenredam
Pieter Jansz. Saenredam (9 June 1597 – buried 31 May 1665) was a painter of the Dutch Golden Age, known for his distinctive paintings of whitewashed church interiors such as ''Interior of St Bavo's Church in Haarlem'' and '' Interior of the ...
,
Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet and
Emmanuel de Witte
Emanuel de Witte (1617–1692) was a Dutch perspective painter. In contrast to Pieter Jansz Saenredam, who emphasized architectural accuracy, De Witte was more concerned with the atmosphere of his interiors. Though few in number, de Witte als ...
.
From 1975 till 1979 he joined the faculty at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
After receiving a
Mellon Fellowship
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...
he began studying at
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...
, where he was appointed in 1980 as curator and would spend the rest of his career. He organized numerous exhibitions, wrote seven books, including several on
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
and
Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...
, and produced catalogues of the Museum's Dutch and Flemish paintings.
Liedtke served as a curator of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for thirty-five years. Liedtke specialized in the paintings of Vermeer and the
Delft School. The 2001 Liedtke-curated show, "Vermeer and the Delft School" was said to be the most popular art exhibition that year, attracting 555,000 visitors during its three-month run.
At the time of his death he was preparing a catalogue of the museum's collection of Spanish paintings of the 15th to 18th century.
Most recently, he worked on "El Greco in New York," a collaborative project that was co-curated with Keith Christiansen,
with the
Hispanic Society of America
The Hispanic Society of America operates a museum and reference library for the study of the arts and cultures of Spain and Portugal and their former colonies in Latin America, the Spanish East Indies, and Portuguese India. Despite the name, i ...
and the
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection (normally at the Henry Clay Frick House, currently at the 945 Madison Avenue#2021–present: Frick Madison, Frick Madison) features Old Master paintings and Europe ...
held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 4, 2014 to February 1, 2015.
Personal life
Liedtke was married to Nancy Liedtke a math teacher, artist, and equestrienne.
He commuted daily from the Metropolitan Museum of Art on the
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park/Fifth Avenue to the wes ...
neighborhood of New York City to what he called "the countryside,"
Bedford Hills, New York
Bedford Hills is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Bedford, Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 3,001 at the 2010 census.
Two New York State prisons for women, Bedford Hills Correctional F ...
in
Westchester County
Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population o ...
.
He said that he thought there was something "Dutch" about the way he lived: the idyllic countryside, his 100-year-old home, and his art collection, which he said was quintessentially Dutch in character.
Death
Along with five others, Liedtke died in the February 3, 2015
Metro-North
Metro-North Railroad , trading as MTA Metro-North Railroad, is a suburban commuter rail service run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), a public authority of the U.S. state of New York and under contract with the Connecticut D ...
crash
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
,
at the age of 69.
Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet
* Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor
* Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...
, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, described him as "one of the most distinguished scholars of Dutch and Flemish painting in the world."
[ Many in the art and museum community posted reflections and appreciation of Liedtke's work.] Memorial statements were widespread, and were both local and international in scope.
Honors
* 1993: Knight in the Order of Leopold by King Albert II of Belgium
* 2007: Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands.
The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...
by Queen Beatrix
Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
of the Netherlands
Works and publications
Monographs
* Liedtke, Walter A. Jr. ''Architectural Paintings in Delft: 1650–1675.'' A Thesis (PhD) – University of London (Courtauld Institute of Art), 1974.
* Liedtke, Walter A. ''Architectural Painting in Delft: Gerard Houckgeest, Hendrick Van Vliet, Emanuel De Witte.'' Doornspijk, the Netherlands: Davaco, 1982.
* Liedtke, Walter A., and Anthonis van Dyck. ''Antony Van Dyck.'' New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1985.
* Bauman, Guy C., and Walter A. Liedtke. ''Flemish Paintings in America: A Survey of Early Netherlandish and Flemish Paintings in the Public Collections of North America.'' Antwerp: Fonds Mercator, 1992.
* Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Walter A. Liedtke. ''Flemish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.'' New York: The Museum, 1984. Published in association with the J. Paul Getty Trust.
* Liedtke, Walter A. ''The Royal Horse and Rider: Painting, Sculpture, and Horsemanship 1500–1800.'' New York: Abaris Books, a Woodner Foundation Company, in association with The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1989.
* Brejon de Lavergnée, Arnauld, Barbara Brejon de Lavergnée, Katharine B. Baetjer, James David Draper, William M. Griswold, Walter A. Liedtke, Anne Norton, and Annie Scottez-De Wambrechies. ''Masterworks from the Musée Des Beaux-Arts, Lille.'' New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1992.
** – 1992–1993 exhibition catalog
* Liedtke, Walter, Pieter de Hooch, Carel Fabritius, Johannes Vermeer, and Gerard Houckgeest. ''A View of Delft: Vermeer and His Contemporaries.'' Zwolle: Waanders, 2000.
* Liedtke, Walter. 2000. "The Study of Dutch Art in America". ''Artibus Et Historiae / Istituto Internationale Per Le Ricerche Di Storia Dell'Arte (IRSA).'' 2, no. 41, 2000. pp. 207–220.
* Plomp, Michiel, et al. ''Vermeer and the Delft School / Walter Liedtke.'' New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2001.
** – 2001 exhibition catalog
* Liedtke, Walter A. ''Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.'' New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007.
* Liedtke, Walter A., and Johannes Vermeer. ''Vermeer: The Complete Paintings.'' Ghent, Belgium: Ludion Press, 2008.
* Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.), and Liedtke, Walter A. ''The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer / Walter Liedtke.'' New York : The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009
** – 2009 exhibition catalog
Multimedia
* Rose, Charlie, Philippe De Montebello, and Walter A. Liedtke. '' Charlie Rose.'' "Vermeer and the Delft School." Show No. 2926. New York: Charlie Rose, April 20, 2001. TV interview.
* Liedtke, Walter.
The Age of Rembrandt
on "The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art" exhibit (September 18, 2007 – January 6, 2008). Audio. Includes transcript.
* Rose, Charlie, Philippe De Montebello, and Walter A. Liedtke. '' Charlie Rose.'' "Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings." New York: Charlie Rose, December 11, 2007. TV interview.
* Liedtke, Walter.
Special Exhibition: Vermeer’s Masterpiece, The Milkmaid
on "Vermeer's Masterpiece The Milkmaid" exhibit (September 10, 2009 – November 29, 2009). Audio. Includes transcript.
* Liedtke, Walter.
Connections: Living with Vermeer.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...
, 2011. Multimedia presentation.
* Liedtke, Walter.
The Choice.
on Aristotle with a Bust of Homer
''Aristotle with a Bust of Homer'' ( nl, Aristoteles bij de buste van Homerus), also known as ''Aristotle Contemplating a Bust of Homer'', is an oil-on-canvas painting by Rembrandt that depicts Aristotle wearing a gold chain and contemplating a ...
, 1653 by Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch). ''82nd&Fifth.'' The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 F ...
. 2013. Interactive audiovisual presentation.
References
External links
Dr. Walter Arthur Liedtke, Metropolitan Museum of Art
a
CODART
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liedtke, Walter
1945 births
2015 deaths
American art curators
American art historians
People associated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art
20th-century American historians
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
Brown University alumni
Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art
Ohio State University faculty
Railway accident deaths in the United States
Accidental deaths in New York (state)
People from Bedford Hills, New York
Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau
American male non-fiction writers
Florida State University faculty
Writers from Newark, New Jersey
People from Livingston, New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
Johannes Vermeer scholars
Scholars of Dutch art
Scholars of Netherlandish art
Rembrandt scholars
Historians from New York (state)
Historians from New Jersey