MELVIN M. TUMIN
557
T umin:
How ? Give us some clues.
R osenberg:
Well , tha t is to say, o ft en they're no t tellin g th e truth ,
th ey' re trying
to
delude you. Nevertheless they say thin gs th a t a re o f
utmos t impo rtan ce.
T lImin:
Can you know without ea tin g dinn er with th em 200 times
how to interpret them?
R osenberg:
Yes, you can tell by lookin g a t what they do a nd compa r–
ing it with what they say. Between the two , I'd an ytime ta ke a lyin g
a rti st ...
Tumin:
To a truth-t ellin g cr iti c?
R osenberg:
To a truth -telling cr iti c, sure.
T umin:
At leas t th e a rti st's li es are o f interes t in the total body of art ?
R osenberg:
Sure.
Tumin:
Are you o f th e same mind with rega rd
to
lit era ry criti cism ?
R osenberg:
Literary criti cism is a to ta ll y different mattel'.
Tumin:
You think it's much more respon sibl e and impo rtant ?
R osenberg:
It 's an an cient act ivit y and it comes o ut o f people readin g
books and stud ying litera ture. Most rev iewers, of COLIrse, han' no
ta lent, but so mu ch o f it goes on that some people
WlTl'
bound to do
something wo rthwhile. T here are pl enty o f fa irl y decent literary
cr iti cs.
T umin:
I ta ke it you a lso don ' t count the mu seums o f today, includ in g
th e Museum o f Modern Art, as a n y grea t assets in the production of
'interes tin g things in th e world o f art.
R osenberg:
Yo u mean in terms o f th eir writing?
Tumil?:
No, in terms o f wh a t they ha ng.
In
terms o f the kind o f
relationship to the a rt world that they promote.
R osenberg:
Their reco rd h as been very bad in the las t twent y years.
The grea t thing, as fa r as a rt in the mu seum is con cern ed, "vas the
Museum o f Modern Art in th e thirti es, when its functi on was " ery
clear. That was
to
enli ghten th e savages in North America a bout
what was going on in Europe. They did a wonderful job, a nd th ey
h ad the best co ll ecti on o f modern a rt in the world. And w itho ut th e
Museum o f Modern Art th ere wo uld n o t have been a n y grea t
developments
in
American painting and scu lpture. T ha t goes with–
ou t sayin g.
Tumin:
Wait a minute. You mean a whole grou p o f European
pa inters who came over would no t have been a bl e to be shown ,
wou ld n o t h ave hit a ma rket?
R osenberg:
No . They weren't known .
Tumin:
Would they h ave di ed una ttended to, you think ?
R osenberg:
Whether they would have died una ttended to or n ot, th ey
