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by Candace Worth
Thomas Hoving, ex-director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and renowned author and art scholar, spoke to PaintingsDirect from his home in Upstate New York about his new book Art for Dummies and art on the internet...
PaintingsDirect (PD): When did you decide to write Art for Dummies and how did it come about?
Thomas Hoving (TH): About 15 months ago, I got a letter from IDG [publisher of the 'Dummies' book series]. The president wanted to get into a new area. For me, it was a dream to do Art for Dummies. My name came up constantly in their searches for a potential author. I said I would do it only if I could include my 'Essential Guide to the World's Top Art Cities and Centers,' to make the book distinctive from the other art history books out there. They loved the idea...
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PD: What kind of feedback have you received from the public to the book?
TH: They're clearly buying it. I'm the first IDG author to be in the top 5000 on Amazon, and today the book was in the 700s.
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PD: What kind of feedback to the book have you received from the art world?
TH: Well, read the kudo in the book's preface from Ted Pillsbury, one of the most respected museum curators of the last 20 years. But the Met won't sell it. I was told the curatorial group was against it, but there is no such thing [as a curatorial group].
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PD: What are your thoughts on art online?
TH: The internet is an extremely valuable tool, and the obvious next step. [The amount of art available] will increase as people get more sophisticated monitors and equipment. Museums are already scanning drawings and prints, which they can't show because of light sensitivity and other reasons. I was just in Canada at The Art Gallery of Ontario and they have enormous interest in their site. The internet is just so convenient, and there's more and more publicity every day.
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PD: Which segment of the market do you think will benefit the most from the changes taking place now?
TH: I think prints and drawings will do the best, and photography in particular.
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PD: Do you consider what is happening online a revolution that will make history?
TH: No, maybe four years ago, but not now. It's a marvelous tool, though. It works, and its cheap, and people should just go for it! It is so convenient, and people really like that.
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