Thierry de Duve /// Critical Reflections

Something came home to me not long ago, when a friend and colleague said to me, with a hint of irritation, "Oh Thierry, you're really like an artist." I had done something a decent professional art historian wasn't supposed to do, and her exclamation was a friendly blameÑbut I of course took it as a compliment, and blushed with pride. Only later did I ponder what she might have meant, and whether I deserved the compliment even if she hadn't intended it as one, and how embarrassing it was to have been made self-conscious about something I would rather have ignored. In any case it was too late. I couldn't erase what I'd heard, and my friend's remark has stayed with me, prompting me to respond probably much too personally to your invitation to reflect on the activity of the art critic: I feel bound to dissect what I myself do (or what I think I do–the risk of self-delusion is enormous) when I practice art criticism.