流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

之前抄袭菌发过几篇文章讲述国际著名策展人徐教授（可见文末相关阅读），但是万万没想到呀，他还是一位功夫boy，真是失敬了～

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

Kung Fu Boy — Xu

本文授权转载自：MelanieWang2018，作者：王木木，感谢原创，©️版权及责任属于原作者，不代表本平台和抄袭菌观点，本平台只为呈现观点并客观发布，再次感谢🙏

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关于《张晓刚：困扰的记忆》，2020年1月20日，王木木电邮采访费城艺术大学哲学博士项目总监乔纳森•费恩伯格教授（Jonathan Fineberg)，1月25日费恩伯格教授回复。

乔纳森•费恩伯格教授（Jonathan Fineberg)，前伊利诺伊大学艺术史教授，现任费城艺术大学哲学博士项目总监。图片/ucpress

王木木：费恩伯格教授，您好，我是王木木，一位艺术媒体人。关于您写的《张晓刚：困扰的记忆》，我有几个问题请教您。

费恩伯格: 好的，我会尽力回答你的问题。很抱歉之前问“你是谁”，但如果你与徐钢接触过，我想你也会感到恐惧而倍加谨慎。我在你的问题下回复。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

《Zhang Xiaogang：Disquieting Memories》（张晓刚：困扰的记忆），2015年由费顿出版社出版，图片/费顿出版社

王木木：徐钢是该书的合著者，在美国地方法院被赵星女士指控为“强迫劳动”。请参考以下87页“起诉状”接。

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51aa3973e4b0c88fb2006744/t/5d77c244d377dd7a3df35a93/1568129608654/DOCKET+-+0001+-+投诉+ against + Gary + Xu.pdf，该诉讼案（案号：2：19-cv-2242）于2019年9月10日立案。

您是否知道该法律诉讼案？如果是，这是您2017年5月去费城艺术大学设立一个哲学博士项目的原因吗？

伊利诺伊大学香槟分校前东亚语言文化系教授徐钢，图片/梨视频截屏

费恩伯格：当一位中国朋友告诉我有关徐钢在一个中国艺术博览会上殴打一名女性的报道时，我第一次了解到徐钢涉嫌一系列攻击及欺诈行为。然后有人发给我王敖的文章。 那是我第一次明白徐钢在做什么。那时我离开伊利诺伊大学已好几年了。

我被徐钢愚弄了，以为他是一个严肃的青年学者，真心想让我教他如何写一本艺术书。我看他就像我看过去五十年来我教过的许多研究生一样。我没有想到他就是你提到的起诉状中描述的魔鬼。但回想起来，根据徐钢最终对待我的方式，我认为起诉书中所指控的一切都是真的。不幸的是，我没有亲眼目睹任何徐虐待女性的行为。我对受害女性的律师表示愿意以任何方式帮助她们，但除了徐对我的欺诈及威胁的行为外，我没有任何目击的直接证据。直到2015年我的书出版后，我才知道关于徐钢在东亚语言文化系对女性的虐待。如果当中有任何一位女性对我说了什么，我早就向大学举报了他，并立即中断与徐钢的工作联系。但是他非常狡猾，对我百般利诱还很有说服力，就像一开始他对那些女性一样。后来，他开始将魔爪伸入我的生活中，开始对我进行威胁，以获取他自己想要的东西，尽管他对我的威逼利诱没有性动机，但这与他虐待那些女性的做法相同。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

费恩伯格教授著《心与智边界上的现代艺术》（MODERN ART AT THE BORDER OF MIND AND BRAIN），图片/University of Nebraska Press

2011年我从伊利诺伊大学退休，打算花几年的时间来写我已经开始但尚未完成的书。我当时正在写一本关于罗伯特·阿纳森（Robert Arneson）的专著和一本名为《心与智边界上的现代艺术》的书，这本书是根据2014年我要做的讲座撰写的。在开始新工作之前，我必须先完成这些项目。但是在写这两本书的过程中，张晓刚要我为费顿出版社写一本关于他的专著，我非常想这么做。我知道由于其他项目的关系，我会很慢地进入张晓刚的专著书写。我也不会说中文。徐钢在这种情况下看到了一个利用我的机会，尽管我不知道他当时在做什么。

在退休前的几年里，我邀请了几位中国艺术家来伊利诺伊大学演讲。这些是我在2006年应邀访问北京电影学院时在中国遇见的艺术家。那年我的《1940年以来的艺术》一书中文版出版了，所以我2006年来中国时，许多中国艺术家知道我的著作及声誉。张晓刚2007年来美国伊利诺伊大学时，徐钢自愿为我翻译。我那时没有看到他的图谋或秉性。我向我的朋友们介绍了他的名字，这些朋友是中国最知名的艺术家（张晓刚，王广义，方力钧，岳敏君，崔岫闻，Jiang Xing等），并利用我的声誉，让自己在中国艺术界有知名度。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

费恩伯格教授著《Art Since 1940》（1940年以来的艺术），图片/佩斯画廊

徐钢没有接受过艺术或艺术史方面的培训，也从未发表过任何重要的著作。他一直坚持要越来越多的参与我在中国的关系，因为我不会说中文，我以为他可以帮到我，所以我愚蠢的允许他这样做。然后我允许他和我一起去中国旅行，并和我一起去拜访艺术家。我仍然没有看到他有什么不好的性格。我在伊利诺伊见到他的学生时，他只是让我和他一起教一堂中国当代艺术有关的课，但他很小心，确保我在课外没有与他们接触。他们从不向我透露他对他们做了什么。我让他为我的书翻译张晓刚的信，他告诉我他可以起草书的一部分，那时我正忙着完成阿纳森的书和作为内布拉斯加讲座的《心与智边界上的现代艺术》。我说过，如果他帮助草拟可用的部分章节，使张晓刚的书尽快完成，我将在书里注明他的贡献。但是，一年多他没做任何工作，那时我已完成阿纳森的书和“心与智”的书，我开始全职写张晓刚的书，我完全是自己完成的。我一边写一边发给徐钢部分章节，他回复时给了我一些建议。但当我看到他发给我的信息时，我意识到他并没有经过有用的培训；他完全不懂如何书写艺术。不管怎样，徐钢还是给我发了信件的翻译。到2014年春，我开始意识到徐钢在欺骗我。然后，他开始威胁要起诉我，并阻止出版我对朋友张晓刚承诺的书。我需要那些翻译的信件，徐钢告诉我他是在不知名的学生的帮助下翻译的。我没有想到学生们在做所有的工作，他还在攻击他们。

在没有任何预警的情况下，就在这本书准备出版时，徐钢开始威胁要再次起诉我，他开始声称他是合著者，并要求我把他的名字写在封面上。他从未写过该书的任何内容，现在我看到学生们说他强迫他们去翻译，我意识到没有必要把他当作合著者。那时我已经从伊利诺伊大学退休，打算卖掉我的房子，接受另一份工作，所以我就没有时间了，而且在我这个年龄，我不想卷入诉讼。我已经74岁了，我要写的时间非常宝贵。我感到身体上的威胁，徐钢比我年轻很多，他威胁我，说他会武功。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

他多次来我家，我很怕他。在王敖文章发表后，你提到的诉讼的律师联系了我，那是我开始看到他用恐吓我的方式恐吓那些女性，尽管他对她们做的显然更加卑劣。2012年秋天，我接受了内布拉斯加州大学一年的教授职位，写了一本关于艺术与大脑的书，在我开始写张晓刚的书之前（我之前对张晓刚做过研究），这本书也必须在最后期限完成。然后在2014年，我接受了加州大学一个杰出的教授职位，任期5年，在这期间，我得到了费城艺术大学的一份工作，创建了一个博士项目，我现在正在指导这个项目。 我已经发表了大约30本书和展览目录，并且是现代和当代艺术领域中的一位杰出的教授，所以我不太在乎在张晓刚的书里提及他，即使他其实配不上这样的署名和贡献，我用此代价得以远离他避免陷入耗时的诉讼。除此之外，任何读过我其他任何一本书的人都会立刻认出是我写的张晓刚的书。我的写作风格和方法都是我独有的，而且徐钢也没有能力写这样一本书。他之所以与费顿出版社签订了合同，是因为我告诉他们我不想亲自和他谈，我同意让他们把他的名字写在我的书皮上，以避免与他进一步接触和冲突。现在，我真希望我没有同意。但我只是想让他离开我的生活。那时我还不知道有人侵害那些女性。

王木木：根据起诉书第39页，您似乎是该书的作者，而徐钢只负责翻译工作。

“114. 徐钢还要求赵同学翻译中国艺术家张晓刚的数十封信，用于徐钢和UIUC的另一位教授乔纳森·费恩伯格（Jonathan Fineberg）合著的图书项目。费顿出版社于2015年出版了《张晓刚：困扰的回忆》一书。总之，赵同学8该项目上，而这些都是无偿的。由于当时赵同学的英语还不太好，因此徐钢用她的翻译来使基本文字正确无误，然后让另一个学生（同样是无偿的）来检查语法和拼写。徐钢的翻译工作充其量是微乎其微的，不过费恩伯格教授后来告诉赵同学说，徐钢声称这都是他翻译的。”

费恩伯格：我想出版一本没有徐钢名字的新版本，给那些做翻译工作的女性以荣誉，但是我无法请律师来解决这个问题，而费顿出版社也不会接受。我确实问过费顿他们是否愿意帮忙，他们说现在受与徐钢所签合同所约束。

王木木：在2012年8月和2013年3月，赵同学进行翻译工作时，她是否还与张晓刚一起进行了一些核对工作，例如展览的标题，1980年代张晓刚的工作单位的名称等？

费恩伯格：我不知道这件事，我想将她的工作归功于她。

王木木：从您这么长而令人印象深刻的简历看，您已经在美国伊利诺伊大学香槟分校（UIUC）工作了近40年。按起诉书，徐钢从2000年代初担任UIUC的副教授，直到他2018年辞职。2012年，UIUC任命徐钢为东亚语言文化系（EALC）的系主任。根据芭莎艺术对徐钢的采访，2011年12月，您邀请徐钢参与《张晓刚：困扰的记忆》图书项目。

您和徐钢在UIUC共事了近20年，您是否听说过徐钢强奸他的女学生并要求他的学生无偿为他工作？

费恩伯格：没有。我希望学生们告诉我发生了什么，这样我就可以帮助她们了。

王木木：在2011年12月至2015年3月的图书项目中，您是只与徐钢一起工作，还是与赵同学和徐钢的其他学生一起为张晓刚的书信进行翻译工作？

费恩伯格：除了徐钢，我没有与其他任何人联系，他确定了这一点。

王木木：请参阅起诉书的39-40页。 “115. 几年后，费恩伯格教授还告诉赵同学，因为徐钢的工作极少（主要限于附录中的翻译），出版商认为徐钢的名字不应该和芬伯格教授并列为作者，而徐钢可以列为“翻译”。这激怒了徐钢。他愤怒的威胁费恩伯格教授，如果书封面没有他的名字，他会起诉费恩伯格教授。随后，徐钢开始不断给费恩伯格家打电话，还恐吓他的妻子。最终，费恩伯格教授惊恐万分不知所措，默许了徐钢的要求，出版商同意让徐钢作为合著者登上封面。”

徐钢威胁您和您妻子，如果他的名字不列在封面，他是否还以法律诉讼威胁费顿出版社？

费恩伯格：我不知道，但我怀疑他会威胁他们，因为他还想从他们那里得到什么，但他们有律师。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

王木木：艺术家张晓刚是否知晓徐钢的要求或威胁？

费恩伯格：不，我不好意思告诉他我是怎么被利用了，我觉得我在交付一本好书，所以我想让他开心。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

张晓刚与徐钢，图片/芭莎艺术

王木木：是什么让费顿出版社同意让徐钢作为合著者上封面？

费恩伯格：在他开始威胁我之后，我告诉他们把他的名字放在封面以安抚他。

王木木：费顿出版社与您和徐钢都签了合同还是仅与您签订了合同？

费恩伯格：预订合同仅与我签，与佩斯画廊签订的合同也仅与我签的。我拥有版权，徐钢签署了一份“雇佣工作”协议，该协议意味着他所做的任何工作均由佩斯画廊和我付费并拥有版权。但是他威胁我让费顿出版社与他单独签约，将他的名字放在书的封面上。

王木木：像您这样有着如此深厚学术背景的美国艺术教授，怎么会对一个才50多岁的华裔艺术教授徐钢的要求“心惊胆战、不知所措、默认”？

费恩伯格：我已经74岁了，我生命中只剩这么几年的时间来写我想写的东西。我不想在法庭上花太多时间和一个无事可做的疯子打架。我也觉得他可能会对我或我的家人造成身体伤害。所以我想安抚他，避免和他接触。

流氓会武术！《张晓刚:困扰的记忆》出版真相 |乔纳森•费恩伯格教授谈胁迫“合著者”徐钢-抄袭的艺术

Regarding <Zhang Xiaogang: Disquieting Memories>, Melanie Wang wrote an email to Prof. Jonathan Fineberg, University Professor & Director of The Ph.D. in Creativity of University of the Arts on January 20th, 2020 and he replied on Jan 25th.

Melanie Wang: Prof. Fineberg, it is Melanie Wang and I am working in art communication in China. Regarding the book <Zhang Xiaogang: Disquieting Memories> co-authored by you and Gary Gang Xu, I have a few questions:

Jonathan Fineberg: OK, I ll do my best to answer your questions. Sorry to be so cautious about who you are but if you had had any contact with Gary Xu I think you would be frightened and cautious too. I ll write in lines under your questions.

Melanie Wang: Gary Gang Xu co-authored the book and he was accused of “Forced Labor” by Ms. Xing Zhao in the United States District Court. Please find following link for the 87-page “COMPLAINT”. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/51aa3973e4b0c88fb2006744/t/5d77c244d377dd7a3df35a93/1568129608654/DOCKET+-+0001+-+Complaint+against+Gary+Xu.pdf

The lawsuit (Case No. : 2:19-cv-2242) was filed on the September 10, 2019.

Did you know anything about the case? If yes, is that the reason you went to University of Arts in Philadelphia in May 2017 to found another program Ph.D. in Creativity?

Jonathan Fineberg: I FIRST LEARNED ABOUT THE ALLEGED SERIAL ASSAULTS AND FRAUDULENT BEHAVIOR OF MR XU WHEN A CHINESE FRIEND TOLD ME ABOUT A REPORT IN THE CHINESE PRESS ABOUT XU ASSAULTING A WOMAN AT AN ART FAIR IN CHINA. THEN SOMEONE SENT ME THE ARTICLE BY AO WANG. THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I UNDERSTOOD WHAT XU HAD BEEN DOING. THIS IS SEVERAL YEARS AFTER I HAD LEFT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.

I WAS FOOLED BY XU INTO THINKING HE WAS A SERIOUS YOUNG SCHOLAR WHO SINCERELY WANTED ME TO TEACH HIM HOW TO WRITE AN ART BOOK. I VIEWED HIM LIKE I VIEWED THE MANY GRADUATE STUDENTS I HAVE TAUGHT OVER THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. I HAD NO IDEA THAT HE WAS THE MONSTER DESCRIBED IN THE LAWSUIT YOU REFERENCE. BUT IN RETROSPECT I BELIEVE EVERYTHING ALLEGED IN THAT LAWSUIT IS TRUE BASED ON THE WAY IN WHICH XU EVENTUALLY TREATED ME. UNFORTUNATELY I DID NOT WITNESS ANY OF THE MISTREATMENT OF THE WOMEN MYSELF. I SPOKE TO THEIR LAWYER AND WANTED TO HELP THEM IN ANY WAY I COULD BUT I DIDN T WITNESS ANYTHING FIRST-HAND OTHER THAN HIS FRAUDULENT AND THREATENING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS ME. I KNEW NOTHING ABOUT XU S ABUSE OF THE WOMEN IN EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES UNTIL AFTER MY BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN 2015. IF ONLY ONE OF THEM HAD SAID SOMETHING TO ME, I WOULD HAVE REPORTED HIM TO THE UNIVERSITY AND CUT OFF MY WORK WITH HIM IMMEDIATELY. BUT HE WAS VERY CLEVER, SEDUCTIVE AND PERSUASIVE WITH ME, JUST AS HE WAS WITH THE WOMEN AT FIRST. THEN ONCE HE HAD INSINUATED HIMSELF INTO MY LIFE HE STARTED THREATENING ME TO GET WHAT HE WANTED, WHICH SEEMS LIKE THE SAME PATTERN WITH THE WOMEN ALTHOUGH HIS MISTREATMENT OF ME HAD NO SEXUAL MOTIVE.

I RETIRED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN 2011 AND INTENDED TO SPEND A FEW YEARS CATCHING UP ON WRITING BOOKS I HAD STARTED AND NOT FINISHED. I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING A MONOGRAPH ON ROBERT ARNESON AND A BOOK CALLED "MODERN ART AT THE BORDER OF MIND AND BRAIN" BASED ON LECTURES I HAD TO PRESENT IN 2014. I HAD TO FINISH THESE PROJECTS BEFORE STARTING ANYTHING NEW. BUT IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING THOSE TWO BOOKS ZHANG XIAOGANG ASKED ME TO WRITE THE MONOGRAPH ON HIM FOR PHAIDON, WHICH I VERY MUCH WANTED TO DO. I KNEW I WOULD BE SLOW IN GETTING TO THE ZHANG XIAOGANG BOOK BECAUSE OF THE OTHER PROJECTS. I ALSO DO NOT SPEAK CHINESE. GARY XU SAW AN OPPORTUNITY IN THIS SITUATION TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME ALTHOUGH I DID NOT SEE WHAT HE WAS DOING AT THE TIME.

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS BEFORE I RETIRED, I INVITED SEVERAL CHINESE ARTISTS TO COME SPEAK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS. THESE WERE ARTISTS WHOM I HAD MET IN CHINA WHEN I WAS INVITED TO VISIT THE BEIJING FILM ACADEMY IN 2006. BECAUSE MY BOOK ON "ART SINCE 1940" WAS PUBLISHED IN A CHINESE EDITION IN 2006 MANY CHINESE ARTISTS KNEW MY WORK AND REPUTATION WHEN I ARRIVED IN 2006. ZHANG XIAOGANG CAME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS IN 2007 AND GARY XU VOLUNTEERED TO TRANSLATE FOR ME. I DID NOT SEE HIS SCHEMES OR PERSONALITY AT THIS TIME. I INTRODUCED HIM TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE AMONG THE MOST WELL KNOWN ARTISTS IN CHINA (ZHANG XIAOGANG, WANG GUANGYI, FANG LIJUN, YUE MINJUN, CUI XIUWEN, JIANG XING AND OTHERS) AND HE USED MY REPUTATION TO GIVE HIMSELF VISIBILITY AND CREDIBILITY IN THE CHINESE ART WORLD.

XU HAS NO TRAINING IN ART OR ART HISTORY AND HAS NEVER PUBLISHED ANYTHING OF IMPORTANCE. HE KEPT INSISTING ON BEING INVOLVED MORE AND MORE IN MY RELATIONSHIPS IN CHINA AND BECAUSE I DID NOT SPEAK THE LANGUAGE I THOUGHT HE COULD BE HELPFUL SO I FOOLISHLY ALLOWED HIM TO DO THAT. THEN I ALLOWED HIM TO TRAVEL WITH ME TO CHINA AND GO WITH ME TO SEE ARTISTS. I STILL DID NOT SEE HIS BAD CHARACTER. I MET HIS STUDENTS AT ILLINOIS ONLY BRIEFLY WHEN HE ASKED ME TO TEACH A CLASS ON CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART WITH HIM BUT HE WAS CAREFUL TO MAKE SURE I HAD NO CONTACT WITH THEM OUTSIDE OF CLASS. THEY NEVER CONFIDED TO ME WHAT HE WAS DOING TO THEM. I LET HIM TRANSLATE ZHANG XIAOGANG S LETTERS FOR MY BOOK AND HE TOLD ME HE COULD DRAFT SOME OF THE BOOK WHILE I WAS BUSY FINISHING THE ARNESON BOOK AND "MODERN ART AT THE BORDER OF MIND AND BRAIN" AS LECTURES FOR NEBRASKA. I SAID THAT IF HE COULD DRAFT USABLE CHAPTERS THAT WOULD HELP GET THE BOOK DONE FASTER FOR ZHANG XIAOGANG AND I WOULD GIVE HIM CREDIT. BUT HE NEVER PRODUCED ANYTHING FOR MORE THAN A YEAR AND BY THEN I FINISHED WITH ARNESON AND THE ART&BRAIN BOOK AND I STARTED WRITNG THE ZHANG XIAOGANG BOOK FULL TIME AND I DID THIS ENTIRELY BY MYSELF. I SENT XU CHAPTERS AS I WROTE AND HE SENT THEM BACK WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS BUT WHEN I SAW WHAT HE SENT ME I REALIZED HE DID NOT HAVE THE TRAINING TO BE HELPFUL; HE SIMPLY DIDN T UNDERSTAND HOW TO WRITE ABOUT ART. XU DID, HOWEVER, SEND ME TRANSLATIONS OF THE LETTERS. BY THE SPRING OF 2014 I BEGAN TO REALIZE THAT XU WAS DEFRAUDING ME. BUT THEN HE BEGAN THREATENING TO SUE ME AND STOP THE PUBLICATION OF THE BOOK WHICH I HAD PROMISED TO MY FRIEND ZHANG XIAOGANG. I NEEDED THE TRANSLATIONS OF THE LETTERS AND XU TOLD ME HE WAS DOING THE TRANSLATION WITH SOME HELP FROM UNNAMED STUDENTS. I HAD NO IDEA THAT THE STUDENTS WERE DOING ALL THE WORK AND THAT HE WAS ALSO ASSAULTING THEM.

WITH NO WARNING, JUST AS THE BOOK WAS READY FOR PRESS, XU STARTED TO THREATEN TO SUE ME AGAIN, HE BEGAN CLAIMING HE WAS A CO-AUTHOR, AND DEMANDED I PUT HIS NAME ON THE COVER. HE NEVER WROTE ANY PART OF THE TEXT OF THAT BOOK AND NOW THAT I SEE THAT THE STUDENTS SAY HE FORCED THEM TO DO THE TRANSLATIONS I REALIZE THAT THERE WAS NO BASIS TO TREAT HIM AS A CO-AUTHOR. I WAS BY THIS TIME RETIRED FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, ARRANGING TO SELL MY HOUSE AND LEAVE FOR ANOTHER JOB SO I HAD NO TIME TO SPARE AND AT MY AGE I DIDN T WANT TO BE INVOLVED IN A LAW SUIT. I AM 74 YEARS OLD NOW AND THE TIME I HAVE TO WRITE IS VERY PRECIOUS. I ALSO FELT PHYSICALLY THREATENED BY XU WHO IS MUCH YOUNGER AND TOLD ME HE WAS A MARTIAL ARTIST. XU CAME TO MY HOME SEVERAL TIMES AND I WAS AFRAID OF HIM. AFTER THE AO WANG ARTICLE CAME OUT I WAS CONTACTED BY THE LAWYERS WHO FILED THE LAWSUIT YOU REFERENCE AND IT WAS THEN THAT I BEGAN TO SEE THAT HE HAD INTIMIDATED THOSE WOMEN IN THE SAME WAY HE INTIMIDATED ME, ALTHOUGH WHAT HE DID TO THEM WAS OBVIOUSLY MUCH WORSE. IN THE FALL OF 2012 I ACCEPTED A ONE YEAR PROFESSORSHIP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA TO WRITE MY BOOK ON ART AND THE BRAIN, WHICH ALSO HAD TO BE FINISHED ON A DEADLINE BEFORE I STARTED ON WRITING THE ZHANG XIAOGANG BOOK (I HAD DONE THE RESEARCH ON ZHANG XIAOGANG EARLIER). THEN IN 2014 I ACCEPTED A DISTINGUISHED PROFESSORSHIP AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA FOR A 5 YEAR TERM AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT I WAS OFFERED A JOB AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS IN PHILADELPHIA TO CREATE A PHD PROGRAM, WHICH I AM NOW DIRECTING. I HAVE PUBLISHED ABOUT 30 BOOKS AND EXHIBITION CATALOGUES AND AM A LEADING PROFESSOR IN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART SO I THOUGHT IT DIDN T MATTER VERY MUCH TO ME IF XU TOOK CREDIT HE DIDN T DESERVE FOR MY BOOK ON ZHANG AS A PRICE FOR MY GETTING AWAY FROM HIM AND NOT GETTING INTO A TIME CONSUMING LAWSUIT. BESIDES ANYONE WHO READS ANY OF MY OTHER BOOKS WOULD IMMEDIATELY RECOGNIZE THAT I WROTE THE ZHANG XIAOGANG BOOK. MY STYLE OF WRITING AND MY METHODS ARE UNIQUE TO ME AND FURTHERMORE XU HAS NO ABILITY TO WRITE SUCH A BOOK. HE MADE HIS OWN CONTRACT WITH PHAIDON BECAUSE I TOLD THEM I DIDN T WANT TO TALK TO HIM MYSELF AND THAT I WOULD AGREE TO HAVING THEM PUT HIS NAME ON THE COVER OF MY BOOK TO AVOID FURTHER CONTACT AND CONFLICT WITH HIM. NOW I WISH I HAD NOT AGREED TO THIS. BUT I JUST WANTED HIM OUT OF MY LIFE. AT THAT TIME I STILL DID NOT KNOW OF THE ASSAULTS AGAINST THE WOMEN.

Melanie Wang：According to page 39 of the COMPLAINT, it seems that you were the author of the book project and Gary Gang Xu was only in charge of the translation work.

“114. Xu also required Zhao to translate dozens and dozens of letters by the Chinese artist Zhang Xiaogang for a book project co-authored by Xu and another professor at UIUC, Jonathan Fineberg. The book, Zhang Xiaogang: Disquieting Memories, was published by Phaidon in 2015. All told, Zhao translated several hundred pages of letters between August 2012 and March 2013, devoting many hundreds of hours to the project, all without pay. Because Zhao’s English was not very good at the time, Xu used her translations in order to get the basic text correct, and then had another student (again without pay) review the work for grammar and spelling. Xu’s work on the translations was, at best, minimal, though Professor Fineberg later told Zhao that Xu claimed the work as his own.”

Jonathan Fineberg：I WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH A NEW EDITION WITHOUT GARY XU S NAME ON IT, GIVING CREDIT TO THE WOMEN WHO DID THE TRANSLATIONS BUT I CAN T AFFORD THE LAWYERS TO FIGHT THIS AND PHAIDON WILL NOT TAKE THIS ON. I DID ASK PHAIDON IF THEY WOULD HELP AND THEY SAID THEY WERE NOW OBLIGATED BY THE CONTRACT WITH HIM.

Melanie Wang：During August 2012 and March 2013 when Ms. Xing Zhao did translation work, did she also work with Zhang Xiaogang for some check-work, for example the title of an exhibition, the name of Zhang’s work units in 1980’s etc?

Jonathan Fineberg： I HAD NO KNOWLEDGE OF THIS AND WOULD LIKE TO HAVE GIVEN HER CREDIT FOR HER WORK.

Melanie Wang： From your CV, long and impressive, you have spent most of your academic work at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign(UIUC), almost 40 years. According to the COMPLAINT, Gary Gang Xu was an associate professor at UIUC from early 2000s until he resigned in 2018. In 2012, UIUC made Xu department head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Culture(EALC). According Bazaar Art’s interview with Xu, in December 2011, you asked Xu to work together on book project Zhang Xiaogang: Disquieting Memories.

You and Xu have worked at UIUC and been colleagues for almost 20 years. Have you ever heard that Xu raped his students and asked his students to work for him for free?

Jonathan Fineberg：NO. I WISH THE STUDENTS HAD TOLD ME WHAT WAS HAPPENING SO I COULD HAVE HELPED THEM.

Melanie Wang： During the book project from Dec 2011 to Mar 2015, did you only work with Xu or you also work with Xing Zhao and other students of Xu for the translation work of Zhang Xiaogang’s letters?

Jonathan Fineberg：I HAD NO CONTACT WITH ANYONE BUT XU, HE MADE CERTAIN OF THAT.

Melanie Wang: Please refer to page 39-40 of COMPLAINT “115. Professor Fineberg also told Zhao, several years later, that because Xu’s work was so minimal—largely limited to translations which were included as an appendix—that the publisher felt that Xu’s name should not be listed alongside Professor Fineberg’s as author and that Xu instead be listed as “translator.” This enraged Xu, who angrily threatened Professor Fineberg with a lawsuit if Xu did not get his name on the cover. Xu then began calling the Finebergs’ home repeatedly, intimidating his wife as well. Eventually, Professor Fineberg, frightened and overwhelmed, acquiesced to Xu’s demands, and the publisher agreed to let Xu on the cover as a co-author.”

Jonathan Fineberg: THIS IS TRUE, IN FACT HE CAME TO MY HOME SEVERAL TIMES TO THREATEN ME

Melanie Wang: Gary Gang Xu threatened you and your wife. My questions are: Did Xu also threaten Phaidon with a lawsuit if Xu did not get his name on the cover?

Jonathan Fineberg: I DON T KNOW BUT I DOUBT HE WOULD HAVE THREATENED THEM BECAUSE HE STILL WANTED SOMETHING FROM THEM AND THEY HAVE LAWYERS.

Melanie Wang: Did the artist Zhang Xiaogang know anything about Xu’s demands or threats?

Jonathan Fineberg: NO. I WAS EMBARRASSED TO TELL HIM HOW I HAD BEEN TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF AND I FELT THAT I WAS DELIVERING A GOOD BOOK SO I WANTED HIM TO ENJOY THAT.

Melanie Wang: What made Phaidon agree to let Xu on the cover as a co-author?

Jonathan Fineberg: AFTER HE STARTED THREATENING ME I TOLD THEM TO LET HIM HAVE HIS NAME ON THE COVER TO APPEASE HIM.

Melanie Wang: Did Phaidon sign contract with both you and Xu or only with you?

Jonathan Fineberg: THE BOOK CONTRACT IS ONLY WITH ME, THE CONTRACT WITH PACE GALLERY WHICH UNDERWROTE THE BOOK IS ONLY WITH ME. I HOLD THE COPYRIGHT AND XU SIGNED A "WORK FOR HIRE" AGREEMENT WHICH MEANS THAT ANY WORK HE DID WAS PAID FOR AND OWNED BY PACE GALLERY AND ME. BUT HE INTIMIDATED ME INTO ASKING PHAIDON TO MAKE THEIR OWN SEPARATE CONTRACT WITH HIM TO PUT HIS NAME ON THE COVER.

Melanie Wang: How could an American art professor like you with such strong academic background be “frightened and overwhelmed, acquiesced” to demands from Xu, a Chinese American art professor in his 50’s?

Jonathan Fineberg: I M 74 YEARS OLD AND HAVE ONLY SO MANY YEARS LEFT IN MY LIFE TO WRITE THE THINGS I WANT TO WRITE. I DON T WANT TO SPEND LOTS OF TIME IN COURT FIGHTING WITH A CRAZY PERSON WHO HAS NOTHING ELSE TO DO. I ALSO FELT HE MIGHT PHYSICALLY ASSAULT ME OR MY FAMILY. SO I WANTED TO APPEASE HIM AND GET AWAY FROM ANY CONTACT WITH HIM.