Barry Schwabsky

Art Critic

Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation.

The Zeitgeist of No Zeitgeist

The Zeitgeist of No Zeitgeist The Zeitgeist of No Zeitgeist

MoMA’s “Forever Now” trumpets art with a shallow sense of tradition.

Jan 26, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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

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