In Memoriam Max Imdahl

As today is the anniversary of  Max Imdahl 's death, which I only now realise and somebody only recently has been reminding me of him, I present a short eulogy on why I admire this man.

First of all young Max Imdahl wanted to become an artist, a painter, so he rented a studio and worked for hours until he was satisfied with the outcome, then he would leave. Yet when he returned in the morning to have a second look at his painting, he would find everytime that it was not as great as he had imagined or remembered. Thus he simply quit painting and instead became an insightful art historian and more than this a true mediator of art. In this function he would not just remain in the exclusive territory of academic discours but would rather seek to educate people, also those from the working classes. And reading accounts of his seminars the brilliant effect of him not lecturing anybody but instead asking questions and having respond his audience was that he would get the most amazing and true comments on modern art, the result being that he enabled people to make up their own minds about art and gave them the self-confidence to do so. Keep the spirit alive!