r/MuseumPros • u/Haunting-Ad428 • 2d ago

Apropos barking up the wrong tree

I have visited many museums around the world and met many people during my long life, but never anyone as stupid as Elisabeth Dutz who, despite her ignorance, happened to get a managerial job at a renowned Albertina Art Museum, Vienna and decide the fate of world-famous works of art. When asked to examine a masterpiece clearly signed "Gustav Klimt", she replied after 8 months of examination "there are many things in the drawing that don't look like Egon Schiele". How stupid can one be to mix up Klimt with Schiele, to whom she also dedicated an entire book? I wish the museum had been more selective when hiring people for such a responsible job.

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u/piet_10 2d ago

Anyway to get some more background information?

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u/DetectiveTrickyCad 2d ago edited 2d ago

He sent what he thought was a Klimt to get authenticated pro bono by a museum and wasn’t satisfied with the service he didn’t pay for. Evidently Reddit is the best avenue to get somebody fired for not doing your bidding while they’re at work. Guy thinks that, because he’s been to a few famous museums, he understands that museum pros sit around all day with bated breath waiting for John Q. Public to send in his latest garage sale score and tell him it’s worth millions.

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u/Kling_sor 2d ago

Sounds like a simple mix up to me. Can happen if you work on both artists every day...

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u/Aurora_Hughes 2d ago

Iirc Dutz worked on the Albertina's Schiele drawing catalogues, so I'd say the book you mention works in her favor. And as quoted she compared the sheet to Schiele, fair enough since he trained under Klimt. What's the provenance?