Barry Schwabsky

Art Critic

Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation.

Letters Letters

Mutualize Uber?… what a mensch!… too broad a brush… make ’em care!… nobody does it better…

Jan 13, 2015 / Our Readers and Barry Schwabsky

The Picasso Variations

The Picasso Variations The Picasso Variations

Why the painter’s late work veers from the sloppy to the sublime.

Jan 7, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Artists Keeping Secrets

Artists Keeping Secrets Artists Keeping Secrets

The eloquent silences of Albert York and Judith Scott.

Dec 9, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

From the Dirty Silences

From the Dirty Silences From the Dirty Silences

Must art confront ugly realities with an ugliness of its own?

Nov 11, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Pictures of Icarus

Pictures of Icarus Pictures of Icarus

With his cutouts, Henri Matisse tried to free himself from gravity.

Oct 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Under Pressure

Under Pressure Under Pressure

How much of the pressure of reality can a work of art bear before it ceases to be art?

Sep 23, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Hope Against Hope

Hope Against Hope Hope Against Hope

Jeff Koons and the art of blissful idiocy; Kara Walker’s art of subtlety.

Aug 27, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Shelf Life

Shelf Life Shelf Life

Trevor Winkfield is a connoisseur of the original, spare and strange.

Aug 12, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

The Birth of Bad Taste

The Birth of Bad Taste The Birth of Bad Taste

Why Italian Mannerists like Rosso Fiorentino were painting’s first avant-garde.

Jul 2, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Favorite Hallucinations

Favorite Hallucinations Favorite Hallucinations

Did Chris Marker think history to be not only an infinite book but a sacred one?

May 21, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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