February 14, 2004
Rudi Fuchs on (mis)understanding contemporary art
"Here the misunderstanding is complete. Imagine a gallery acquiring a Frans Hals portrait, and another gallery protesting that it already has such a portrait, actually the same thing, only the position of the hands is somewhat different--for the rest it is always mainly black. This would be unthinkable; but regrettably with contemporary art, such superficial judgements are all too common. It shows that we still find it generally very difficult to accept that a work by a contemporary artist might be of the same excellence as any great Old Master painting. That is a weakness in our society; and it allows the casual and facile perception of new work to continue as it does, to our detriment."
"Here the misunderstanding is complete. Imagine a gallery acquiring a Frans Hals portrait, and another gallery protesting that it already has such a portrait, actually the same thing, only the position of the hands is somewhat different--for the rest it is always mainly black. This would be unthinkable; but regrettably with contemporary art, such superficial judgements are all too common. It shows that we still find it generally very difficult to accept that a work by a contemporary artist might be of the same excellence as any great Old Master painting. That is a weakness in our society; and it allows the casual and facile perception of new work to continue as it does, to our detriment."
- Rudi Fuchs, in "Donald Judd (Artist at Work)," Donald Judd