Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jerry Saltz is one of the best museum tour guides I’ve ever encountered. Some years ago I accidentally stumbled into a tour he was giving of the Warhol exhibit at the Whitney (Chanel had apparently hired him to give a tour for their design interns) and not-so-discreetly tagged along. By the end there were maybe a half dozen of us who had recognized him and hitched a ride. It was really eye-opening having a guide who seriously knew their stuff. Not sure if he still does museum tours, but I highly recommend the experience if you get the chance.

+1, he's great

He's on Instagram too! Lots of good insight and commentary.

I misread the title, and read it as 'The Art of Criticism'. First time I ever heard of him. Here's his Wikipedia entry for anyone interested:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Saltz

Drove a truck 'til he was 41. Cool pivot. :-)

I wonder why this is just a photo caption and not a bigger part of the story.

Same, weirdly.

Then I read the comments and was confused, lol.

There’s a Feb 7 published Pivot podcast (Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway) with him as guest.

Here’s a link to the segment: https://overcast.fm/+OwaI1feis/41:38

"we love listening to him talk about art because he also doesn't understand tact" LOL thanks for posting this

galloway then wants reassurance about his first big art purchase,

Saltz pseudo-approves saying well despite all your self-loathing you perfectly bought a painting that represents you

(swisher is dead wrong, this response is masterfully tactful in the most new york way, brilliant)

How much does it cost, 6K?

Gallawoy says to add a zero and laughs nervously... Then he says the artist of the painting is just so stunning and brave and really he bought it to support the artist and all they represent...

So I look up the artist, it's Grayson Perry and I guess that speaks for itself and the state of the arts world....

MDIIAMDIRuined

Ironically, modern art is the one field that I do not think it's wise to 'separate the art from the artist' without losing most of the magic, whereas films, music, books etc the works feel like contained mini-worlds, can be transmitted as complete, stand alone.

Modern paintings don't have the 'density' for that without the story/aura, so getting the right work with the right story to unlock it for you can feel really special. (That ineffable specialness is what you're really buying imo)

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p.s. My favorite easy-to-read book for cynics trying to understand why 'who the artists is' matters so much in the 'aura' of art is The Accidental Masterpiece, by Saltz's competitor, Michael Kimmelman.

The essays capture the essence of different types of minds at work very vividly. Can't remember the names of the artists or their paintings, yet a decade later I'll randomly think of the 'types' of people from the book.

Everyone who makes things probably wonders how other types of people make things, since it feels so impossible to describe.