Bendor Grosvenor (“Is AI killing the art connoisseur?”, Collecting, Life & Arts, November 29) is keen that you should not rely on artificial intelligence when looking at paintings.
It is paradoxical he should place so much importance on the connoisseur. He rightly observes that there is a scarcity of connoisseurs; for many artists they don’t exist, despite the greater spread of “art history” in further education.
Of course, it was different in the past. There were people like Joseph Duveen or Bernard Berenson who “knew”. So before installing the masterpiece in your gallery, you would ask them, or get a certificate from Giuseppe Fiocco or Maurizio Marini. But these were hazardous choices. Is it in the Wildenstein catalogue? Is it OK by Julius Held and Michael Jaffé? Does J Müller Hofstede still count?
There is no need for nostalgia for the genus. Some, like the late Sir Denis Mahon, were capable of changing their mind when new evidence came to light. Others cling to their original impression, sometimes based on no more evidence than a black and white photograph, suppressing anything that might conflict with their thesis. Specialisation does sometimes disqualify the connoisseur! But the argument that “the majority of scholars agree” is not a valid alternative.
It’s essential to do one’s own research, find the relevant comparisons, trace the history as far as one can, discover mistakes that have become attached to the painting itself, and to compare brushstrokes. Which is what Bendor is arguing for, but his hostility towards AI is actually counterproductive. We should welcome AI’s contribution in filling the void presented by “eyes past”; we should not write off the sifting that the process offers. It is all too easy, as an art historian, to formalise an idea of what one artist “would have done” and forget that he or she was a free agent. The AI scrutiny can take this into consideration, without prejudging the issue, for it is so far an alternative view, and it leads to more “looking”, not less.
Clovis Whitfield
Art Historian and Art Dealer, Whitfield Fine Art (London)
Fabro, Umbria, Italy
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