WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ARTS?
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she appeared before congressional committees to ask for money, there
wasn't anybody on those committees who hadn't been jollied into think–
ing that she was a fine thing and it was a fine thing. Because, after all,
here was this kid from Missoula who was making good in a museum the
Endowment had given some money to. But then the statute of limita–
tions ran out, and the impulses for pork-barrel politics superseded.
Jules Olitski:
I agree with Bob's point that, as in science, even if one per–
son came through that would make it worthwhile. I myself once sug–
gested to someone who had the ear of Senator Kennedy that all artists
who could present themselves as artists, who worked at it, be relieved
of paying taxes. Kennedy did write back and said he thought it was a
good idea. The problem would be, however, that the cost of storing all
this art would be too demanding on the government. But I thought that
among all the trash you might have one great painter or sculptor.
Edward Rothstein:
I remember a news story, maybe fifteen years ago, that
the Netherlands was having a serious storage problem for that reason .
Hilton Kramer:
Yes, that program destroyed contemporary art in the
Netherlands. I remember a curator coming to see me, whom I asked
about this program. I guess it's still in effect in the Netherlands. The
government, if you publicly identified yourself as an artist, was obliged
to buy what you produced. This small country not only ran out of stor–
age space, but effectively destroyed its art life. More talented artists had
to exile themselves to other countries . Some of them came to New York,
where a milieu in which merit or some kind of standard was still in
place.
Edward Rothstein:
The artistic tradition of patronage in Europe is so
different. Here, the artist representing a particular style gets some sum
of money and somebody says, "What right do you have to choose that
style over another? After all, you're using public money; it's partially my
money." That sort of attitude didn't exist in Europe, where the tradition
of the patron was accepted as an institution shaped by the government.
Hilton Kramer:
European patronage varied from country to country.
Edith Kurzweil:
One example is Italy. They have the so-called
diritti
d'autori .
When you organize a performance, a play, an opera, or an art
show, you must give 30 percent of your take to the government. They're
