The Passing of Art Critic Peter Schjeldal

Legendary art critic Peter Schjeldal died last month at the age of 80. For readers of The New Yorker and followers of the contemporary art scene, his writing and criticism will almost surely be familiar. To those outside this demi-monde, perhaps not. 

In my own life, as I've started making art over the past two years and trying to keep a closer I on the art world, Schjeldal has served as one of a very small handful of my first tour guides. Mostly I experienced his writing in The New Yorker where he wrote about major gallery and exhibit openings. I even on occasion got to take his suggestions, visiting NYC a couple times over the past few years and seeing some of the exhibits he wrote about. Over the last couple years his articles became the first thing I would look for every month when I opened The New Yorker. 

Even if the exhibits he wrote about were not of interest and even if, at times, his writing was a bit over my head (art writing can get a bit convoluted and difficult to decipher at times, and Schjeldal's writing was no exception), I viewed his articles as a priceless chance to get a glimpse at masterworks and new openings through the eyes of someone with a lifetimes worth of experience and the art world vocabulary I seek to learn and understand.