American art historian
Walter Arthur Liedtke, Jr. (August 28, 1945 – February 3, 2015) was an American art historian, writer and Curator of Dutch and Flemish Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was known as one of the world's leading scholars of Dutch and Flemish paintings. He died in the 2015 Metro-North Valhalla train crash.
Early life.
Liedtke was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, and grew up in Livingston, New Jersey. Liedtke studied Art History, receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1967 from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, a Master of Arts degree in 1969 at Brown University 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, then at the University's villa in Florence. In 1974 he was working at the Courtauld Institute in London on his PhD dissertation, "Architectural painting in Delft, 1650–1675," in which he discussed work of Gerrit Houckgeest, Pieter Saenredam, Hendrick Cornelisz. van Vliet and Emmanuel de Witte. From 1975 till 1979 he joined the faculty at Ohio State University.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
After receiving a Mellon Fellowship he began studying at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 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 and Vermeer, 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 and the Frick Collection 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 neighborhood of New York City to what he called "the countryside," Bedford Hills, New York in Westchester County. 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 crash, at the age of 69. Thomas Campbell, 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.
References.
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