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Bruce Museum Mourns Curator Who Died In Valhalla Train Crash

GREENWICH, Conn. -- The Bruce Museum in Greenwich is mourning the death of a friend, the esteemed art historian Walter Liedtke, who died in the Valhalla, N.Y., train crash this week. 

Walter Liedtke

Walter Liedtke

Photo Credit: Contributed

Liedtke, a resident of Bedford, N.Y., was the curator of European Paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 35 years.

"The Bruce Museum tragically lost a great friend this week. ... Walter was one of our lecturers at the symposium and panel discussion that we held in October in conjunction with Northern Baroque Splendor," said Bruce C. Sutton, executive director of the Bruce. "Indeed one of the last things that he wrote was a review of the show."

Sutton also remembered his friend on a personal level. 

"Walter was a witty man, who enjoyed scholarly jousting, the thrust and parry of debate, held and voiced strong opinions, and was always impeccably dressed and groomed," Sutton said in a statement. "He leaves his wife Nancy, who taught mathematics, and shared his passion for raising horses. Among his extensive bibliography is a title that attests to his own equestrian interests, 'The Royal Horse and Rider.'"

Liedtke was an authority on Dutch and Flemish art, who published prodigiously, organized major exhibitions, and lectured widely, Sutton said. He was an authority on Rembrandt, Vermeer and architectural painting, wrote the catalogs of the Flemish and Dutch paintings in the Metropolitan, and was working on the Spanish catalog at the time of his death. 

Liedtke also wrote a review of Northern Baroque Splendor at the Bruce. It can be read online here

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