A CAUTIONARY NOTE TO THE ANOINTED

On one thing Vladimir Putin and I agree: One must exercise caution when claiming the mantle of exceptionalism. Believe me, having been born in Estonia, there is no love lost between me and the former KGB boss but his trenchant remarks on choseness have more than a balmy whiff of truth.

Take for example the subject of my doctoral dissertation, the American expatriate artist Faun Roberts. While she lived in Paris from 1919 to 1934, the idea that the center of the art world would migrate elsewhere would have been inconceivable. That the aesthetic hegemony of Picasso, Matisse, Braque and Leger would be contested seemed at the time to be about as likely as a swift French capitulation to an invading German army.    

Concentrated power, and yes, even intellectual power, tends to expire like melted ice. It's time for a radical revision of the history of Modernism. It's time to challenge the canonical narrative of the School of Paris and recognize that Faun Roberts has been unjustly dwarfed by her more famous contemporaries.

Chuchoté de Soeur, oil on canvas, Faun Roberts, 1931

It is only the entrenched interests of the hubristic academy that prevents the correction of this gross injustice. I dare say that Roberts' nationality and gender have deprived her of her rightful place as one of that generation's most important painters. I call upon both my male and my female colleagues to take a fresh look at the historical record.  Void of malice, preconception or professional anxiety I believe that after examining the precise chronologies of influence, the extensive correspondences and the unexpurgated catalogues raisonnés the inevitable conclusion will be reached.

Faun Roberts was one of the prime catalysts for the development of 20th century European painting. Without Roberts the shape of Modernism would have been dramatically different and probably less interesting. The hard truth is both vivid and damning.

 It was a truly exceptional American woman who was the father of Modern Art!