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On Monday, October 24, IUB was host to Dr. Gert-Rudolf Flick. The collector and art expert Dr. Flick lectured on the stimulating subject "Missing Masterpieces - Lost Works of Art, 1450-1900".
Dr. Flick's lecture as PDF can be viewed here
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Oct
25, 2005]
In his introduction to the speaker, Prof. Dr. Brendan Dooley, Professor of History, emphasized that Dr. Flick was a true Renaissance Man. The quality of such a person who excels in multiple fields, particularly in both arts and sciences, are required for seeking out masterpieces.
Throughout Dr. Flick's lecture it was proved that these talents , together with curiosity and detective skills, are necessary for tracking lost masterpieces through time. Seeking out missing paintings is about " Location and Timing " , movement of pictures, characteristics of owners as well as the overall taste of a time. Of the known masterpieces about 80 % are accessible , an estimated 10 % have been destroyed while the remaining 10 % are lost. Dr. Flick stated the diverse reasons for the losses: wars and family history can be responsible as well as simple neglect or change of taste. The masterpieces are moved from main rooms to side rooms to the proverbial attic. The loss of knowledge and connoisseurship are major causes in the disappearance of paintings.
Having set the ground work , Dr. Flick presented the literally colourful case history of the painting "Le Pelletier" by Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) as an example of a missing masterpiece. This Martyr-Portrait was painted in 1793. As the story goes, Le Pelletier voted for the execution of Louis XVI. After the king's death he was stabbed to death by a loyal former bodyguard of the King . Le Pelletier enjoyed a period as a martyr of the French Revolution , his portrait hanging alongside Marat's in the Assembly Hall of the Convention. After some time Le Pelletier fell out of fashion and was eventually seen as a traitor to the cause. The painting was returned to the painter, David , who sold it to Le Pelletiers daughter. SInce her death there exist s no further testimony about the whereabouts of the painting. The fate of this masterpiece remains a mystery.
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Dr. Gert-Rudolf Flick |
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Dr. Gert-Rudolf Flick was born on Mai 29, 1943. He earned his doctorate degree in law at the Universität München. After graduating he began his own company. Gert-Rudolf Flick lives in London. He collects paintings from the old master s and was formerly the owner of Apollo art magazine. Being a collector and art expert, he has written the Book Missing Masterpieces - Lost Works of Art, 1450 - 1900 which was praised by the Spectator as being a highly scholarly and lucid biography of a dozen or so great paintings.
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