BlogBack: Art Historian Boldly Defends Boldini

David Wilkins, professor emeritus of the history of art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh, joining the Boldini defenders, responds to The Met’s New European Galleries: The Good, the Bad and the Dumbed Down:
I’d like to say that I think the Boldini is a good choice to exhibit—an important and respected artist at the time (yes, we need to know what they thought then, not just now, about quality) and an interesting subject as well. Surely a good portrait artist will know something about and perhaps even chose to respond to the character of the individual he/she is representing. When we can know something about that individual as well, it can help us understand what’s going on in the portrait.
About labels: Facts are useful in different ways to different viewers and I think their inclusion in labels is appropriate. What I as an art historian don’t need are comments about the art (I’ve made up the following quotes): “these vigorous brushstrokes,” “the use of black emphasizes the commemorative morality of the scene,” “the lack of perspective communicates a disassociation from the real world.” I think these kinds of brief analyses are generally not helpful to most of the general public. What I think might work better are quotes from the period about the art.