Bedford Hills Resident Walter Liedtke Among Victims in Metro-North Tragedy

Walter Liedtke, 69, a Bedford Hills resident has been identified as one of the victims killed in the Metro-North tragedy when a train collided with an SUV in Mount Pleasant, NY. He was a passenger on the train.

A curator of European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, Liedtke brought over 300 Dutch and Flemish paintings to the museum since 1980.

According to Codart, Liedtke earned his B.A. at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and his M.A. at Brown University. Liedtke went on to get his doctorate at the Courtauld Institute at the University of London. Liedtke received a Mellon Fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art after four years of teaching at Ohio State from 1975-79.

Liedtke published several articles and books including Vermeer: The Complete Paintings (2008) and Flemish Paintings in America (with Guy Bauman; 1982).

“Walter was one of the preeminent scholars of Dutch and Flemish painting, whose contribution to the field lives on in a range of scholarly and popular publications,” President of the Metropolitan Museum Thomas Campbell wrote in an Instagram post.

Several members of the art community posted their condolences, Art Net wrote on their website, “it has been discovered that Walter Liedtke, a curator in European paintings at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was among those killed in the accident.”

He is survived by his wife, Nancy.

Liedtke was featured in an episode of the museum’s online video series 82nd & Fifth where 100 curators from across the museum spoke about 100 works of art that changed the way they see the world.

HARLEM LINE TRAGEDY:

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• On Twitter: News and Reaction to the Harlem Line Tragedy
• Tough Weather Conditions for Train Accident Investigation
• Bedford Resident Eric Vandercar Among Victims in Metro-North Tragedy
• Edgemont Resident Ellen Brody Among Victims in Metro North Tragedy

Image via YouTube