“Art is Life” is a collection of essays and articles by New York magazine’s current senior art critic Jerry Saltz written over a three-decade career of art criticism. The book is first-rate and essential reading for anybody who has any kind of relationship with art in any way however casual or serious. At its underlying core, like so much great criticism, and like so much great art, Saltz’s writings by default are an examination and explanation of ideas, in this case, through the lens of artists and their works.
Most of the essays are centered around an artist or a specific artist’s artwork or exhibition. Many more artists and artworks are referenced throughout the book. Unfortunately, with the exception of a few images, there are no photos of the exhaustive list of artworks discussed.
As I read “Saltz “Art is Life,” I found myself constantly going to the Internet to look up the artwork or artist he referenced in his articles. This led me to compile a list, mostly organized in the order of the essays as they appear in the book. I then hunted down the relevant web pages with images of the artworks or information about the specific exhibition or artists.
Thus this project – a handy companion web page for anybody reading the book to quickly see the artwork, ideas, places and artists that Saltz is talking about.
“The Raft of the Medusa” by Théodore Géricault (1819)
A painting by the art critic Jerry Saltz from his own previous career as an artist, part of an excellent article he wrote in 2017 for New York Magazine . The artwork is a drawing from an inside panel of his Canto 1 altarpiece, part of his Dante project referenced in “Art Is Life.”
The artist duo known as Gilbert and George in front of one of their artworks.
“Puppy” by artist Jeff Koons as it appeared installed at The Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain. Photo by Jose María Ligero Loarte. Image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
Alice Neel portrait in her studio by ©Lynn Gilbert 1976, New York. Image is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
1989 work titled “Untitled” (“Hujar Dead”) by artist David Wojnarowicz at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
“Michael Jackson and Bubbles” is a 1988 porcelain sculpture by the artist Jeff Koons. (Photo by Van Corsa. All rights reserved.)
Saltz’s reference the late New Yorker magazine writer George W.S. Trow’s and his “Within the Context of No-Context.” It was originally published as an essay in the November 17, 1980 issue of the magazine and was the basis for a book.
Photo of artwork by artist Robert Grober for the United States Pavilion at the 2001 Venice Biennale.
Image from the exhibition catalog “Robert Gober : the United States Pavilion, 49th Venice Biennale, 6/10-11/4/2001 / texts by James Rondeau and Olga M. Viso”, Art Institute of Chicago, 2001
Oil painting titled “After the Prom” (1957) by American painter Norman Rockwell as a cover illustration for the Saturday Evening Post magazine.
Screenshot above of the excellent Phillips Collection webpage dedicated to presented and detailing each individual painting in “The Migration” series of paintings by artist Jacob Lawrence. Go check it out. Saltz says of this artwork that its “A story with real implications for all Americans.”
“Reflecting Absence,” the winning design concept for the World Trade Center 9/11 Memorial by architect Michael Arad of Handel Architects and landscape-architecture firm Peter Walker. It was selected from a shortlist of eight finalists culled from among over 5,000 submitted design proposals. Photo by photographer Paul Sableman. Source: 9/11 Memorial and Museum. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
Above is the 1997 video directed by artist Amar Kanwar titled “A Season Outside.” Saltz writes about this artwork on page 61 of his book “Art is Life,” where he describes the elaborate and intense gate-closing ceremony at the the Wagah-Attari border crossing in the Kashmir area between Pakistan and india. Words can’t quite capture it as well as video.
GLOBAL GRAPHICA 