The Old Master Goes Home

Theodor Adorno said that when it comes to the paintings of Old Masters that their late works are catastrophes. The old works’ maturity, he wrote, “does not resemble the kind one finds in fruit. They are for the most part not round, but furrowed, even ravaged. Devoid of sweetness, bitter and spiny, they do not surrender themselves to mere delectation.” As for Old Masters, so for Old Champions. John Brzenk, the greatest armwrestler to walk the face of the earth, went home on his shield at the King of the Table 6 supermatch series in Dubai last weekend.