Art Is Life

Praise for Art is Life:

“From Kara Walker to Georgia O’Keeffe to Andy Warhol, Saltz surveys the contemporary art world with brilliant brush strokes.” —TIME

“Whether considering a poorly understood painter from history or assessing the new and controversial, Saltz manages to impart his belief that art involves story, and storymaking is the stuff of life. His philosophy, like the man himself, is ageless.” —Los Angeles Times

“A love letter to the art that, for Saltz, makes all the wheeling and dealing worth putting up with. . . . Saltz [has a] rare ability to articulate the mysterious alchemy of great art, the ways in which looking at some pigment on canvas can somehow blow open doors within the soul to reveal expansive, unknown places.” —New York Times Book Review

“Art is Life is a near-perfect summary of a singularly critical voice. . . . despite writing about a medium that tends more toward solemn nods than squeals of excitement, Jerry Saltz can be very fun to read.” —Chicago Tribune

“[Saltz] looks at the various crises and New York City’s art scene—the aftermath of 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic—and depicts an ebullient yet fragile world undergoing perpetual reinvention. He writes formidable portraits of people such as Beauford Delaney and describes the jaw-dropping splendor of Paleolithic cave paintings in Niaux, France. He worships artwork while denouncing the excesses of its business, taking pleasure in ridiculing the frequently obscene industry’s theatrical auctions and overinflated cycle of openings, biennials, and fairs.” —Farah  Abdessamad, The Atlantic

“Personal and entertaining.” —Garden & Gun

“Eminently accessible, often humorous (he is a master of the sharp parenthetical aside), and stimulating. The art world is convoluted, but Saltz cuts right through it.” —Publishers Weekly

“Illuminating . . . A sweeping survey and fervent defense of the value of art in modern life.” —Kirkus Reviews

“There’s no one quite like Saltz. . . . He’s the best art critic working today.” —Shelf Awareness

Praise for Jerry Saltz:
 
“The world’s most famous and celebrated contemporary art critic.” —GQ
 
“One of the most powerful art critics today.” —Time Out

“A critic of the people, bringing art to a broader audience.” —Architectural Digest