Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete. By itself, WP:COI is not a sufficient basis for deletion if the article meets required standards in basic policies and guidelines such as WP:V and WP:N. However, the consensus here is against keeping the article. I have considered some the suggested sources. One of them appears to be a dead link, while the "DIA works appraisal paints a complicated picture" article only mentions the subject by citing his statement. The Macomb Daily article is more substantially about Spoutz, but the usual precedent is that an interview in a local paper is not always a sufficient basis for notability by itself. Sjakkalle (Check!)  19:53, 16 February 2014 (UTC)

Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz

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There is no reason to believe that this person is notable. Any claim to fame must come from being the nephew of Ian Hornak, whose work he's placing all over the place but without any of it raising any dust. Note that Hornak's article, which I've pruned considerably, was little more--unfortunately--than a promo piece, in part to advertise a traveling exhibition (see this edit) and with a significant amount of namedropping for the subject of this article (note the kind of fluff I removed here).

It is worthwhile noticing that User:Jhf44 has been responsible for the fluffing of both articles, with more interest in the reputation of both artist and representative than in Wikipedia's guidelines in regard to sourcing and neutrality. For the Eric Ian Hornak Spoutz, the sourcing and the relevance is not there to make this pass notability guidelines. Drmies (talk) 15:33, 21 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete (Though shifting; please see comment below). This does look like a resume. The most credible Google hits are short promotional mentions in local newspapers tracking speaking engagements on behalf of his uncle. JNW (talk) 16:07, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of United States of America-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:30, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Visual arts-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:30, 21 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of People-related deletion discussions. • Gene93k (talk) 18:31, 21 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete. Not substantially different from the article that was previously deleted by AfD. Still fails to meet WP:BIO.—Jeremy (talk) 16:05, 22 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Keep. My name is Eric I. Hornak Spoutz. While I see that contributors to this thread are under the impression that my career primarily relates to my uncle, Ian Hornak and his legacy, I wish to make a statement for the record. Currently, as can be seen on the International Foundation For Fine Art Research's website, in my capacity as an Art Historian, I am the lead scholar for founding Abstract Expressionist artist, Franz Kline. Additionally, I have been responsible for placing works of art in the permanent collections of many of America's largest museums by many of America's foremost artists including Franz Kline, Robert Indiana, Alex Katz, Claes Oldenburg, Fairfield Porter, Joan Mitchell, Jane Freilicher, George Rickey, Hilo Chen, Tom Blackwell, Richard Mclean, Howard Kanovitz, Charles Bell, Lowell Nesbitt, Josef Levi, John Kacere, Julian Stanczak, Heinz Edelmann, Yaacov Agam, Jean-Pierre Yvaral and Victor Vasarely. Most of these inductions that I have initiated and overseen have been very significant first time inductions to these institutions for these artists, marking them as significant acquisitions in each of the museums histories as well as in American history. Among the museums that I have been under contract with and have assisted with the acquisition of artwork for their permanent collections are Smithsonian Institution's American Art Museum, the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History, the Library of Congress, Rare Books and Special Collections Division, the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum (Library and Archives), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, The George Washington University, the Children's Hospital Boston, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, the Detroit Historical Museum, the Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, the National Hellenic Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library, Florida State Capital and the Flint Institute of Arts. While in 2007, I was contracted to assemble my uncle, Ian Hornak's repository at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, I was also contracted by Dartmouth College in 2012 to assemble the repository of papers for the Assistant Director of Edith Halpert's Downtown Gallery from the 1950s, Jay Wolf, for the Rauner Special Collections Library. In conclusion, despite the assumptions of the contributors to this thread, my career has had little focus on my uncle, Ian Hornak's work or legacy and rather has been related to many of the foremost American artists and institutions of the 20th and 21st centuries. While I understand the points that are being made regarding "fluff" in the article, the core facts for my contributions to the art world stand for themselves and are each entirely verifiable. It may be reasonable to entirely restructure the article, to delete it would be excessive.Eric-spoutz (talk) 20:41, 23 January 2014 (UTC)
 * There are a number of issues here, Eric, the first of which is WP:COI; it looks as if you or several accounts related to you are involved with the article. The resume you entered above echoes content already in the article. Nobody is arguing here that this isn't interesting--the issue is whether the achievements have received substantial coverage in multiple objective, reliable sources, per WP:NOTABILITY and WP:RELIABLE. JNW (talk) 00:37, 24 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Here, I will address the issues that you have raised. This account is my account and the other is used by my assistant. The article has now been substantially edited and you will see now that additional references have been added to the article. There will be additional primary references that will be added, once time allows in the coming week, in order to further substantiate the credibility of the article and its subject.Eric-spoutz (talk) 22:06, 26 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you for elaborating; that the article has been largely written by an assistant does confirm the conflict of interest concerns. This appears to be yet another account with knowledge of your personal life. The additional cites include several in which you've been referenced as a scholar in your field, and one article that is apparently about you, though some sort of live link that would allow viewing of the article would be helpful. JNW (talk) 23:05, 26 January 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep - seems a little better now...Modernist (talk) 11:27, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
 * note see remarks below, re - reliable sources...Modernist (talk) 16:22, 2 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Relisted to generate a more thorough discussion so a clearer consensus may be reached.


 * Please add new comments below this notice. Thanks, Northamerica1000(talk) 19:20, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

   Over the next week, additional references will be posted including a feature biographical article that is being published by a USA Today publication on Friday, February, 7, 2014.Eric-spoutz (talk) 02:37, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete again Not seeing enough significant third-party RS coverage. OhNo itsJamie Talk 22:09, 31 January 2014 (UTC)
 * Per the request of the administrator above, I am providing here, live links to a few of the articles that are used as references.
 * These are helpful...Modernist (talk) 16:45, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Additionally, these are a couple of links confirming that I acted as the author of a book for the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Eric-spoutz (talk) 03:21, 1 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Eric, I'm not an administrator, but I do appreciate the link you provided to the Macomb Daily article, which is helpful. My inclination is moving from delete to neutral, and may be further reassessed after viewing the forthcoming USA Today publication. Thank you, JNW (talk) 16:03, 2 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Thank you. The article actually ended up appearing in The News-Press which is a Gannett Company owned periodical. There will be other articles appearing in the next month. Eric-spoutz (talk) 15:22, 7 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Delete Surprised that WP:COI isn't as prevalent here... even if it was written by an assistant, it isn't reliable. The coverage isn't easily verifiable, either. Even with what the subject has provided above, if it isn't enough for us to keep the article.  I wouldn't go anywhere near a keep, let alone a weak delete, because of WP:COI.  It clearly states that this isn't allowed!  Sorry.  SayItRight1 (talk) 20:10, 9 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep The article has been greatly improved and now relies on suitable articles.Slaenterprises (talk) 03:56, 11 February 2014 (UTC)


 * Keep Originally this article was a disaster and didn't cite references that supported the content. It's now correctly cited and the subject appears to be within the scope of notability as recognized by Wikipedia. Rcs1898 (talk) 19:31, 12 February 2014 (UTC)
 * Delete This is actually very simple. This is a clear case of WP:COI even admited by Eric that this article was writen by his assistant and by that nothing says Eric himself didnt ad a line or two thru his assistants acount. I do sound harsh and I apologyze. I am only pointing out a possible possibility.Stepojevac (talk) 20:06, 15 February 2014 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.