| Abstrakt: |
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Romanian painter of Greek descent, Kimon Loghi, enjoyed great success among art lovers and art collectors. Critics, on the other hand, were divided between his enthusiastic supporters, who constantly praised him, and his very harsh opponents, who relentlessly panned his work. But, in spite of what the art critics write or say, most of the time the emergence of household names isn't indicative of aesthetic or artistic standards. The article presents the considerations around the ideas of artistic quality, commercial value, and popular success and the manner in which the discourse of art criticism contributes to the validation or to the discrediting of an artist. In the first two segments of the article, I will review positions and arguments given by Kimon Loghi's admirers and critics, whereas in the third part I shall put forward some more nuanced remarks in order to open up new possible directions for the historiographical re-evaluation of Kimon Loghi's work and career. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
