Between Parlors and Oceans
Edward Hopper’s ‘Rooms by the Sea’ captures the psychic tension resulting from conflicting states of mind. The visible ambivalence of the painting is particularly relatable during Covid.
What Does Platonic Form Have to Do with Art?
Photographs stage a confrontation between the idea of an object and its representation, and demonstrate how Form overwhelms aesthetic pursuit.
Goodbye, 2020!
As this most unusual year draws to a close, let’s look back at what we accomplished.
Greenhouse in the Desert
If you revisit the things that once interested you, you can return to that period of your life. It’s part of time’s relativity—how its span depends on the way you spend it—something the pandemic has made visible. Lockdown turns a day into an elevator ride, a walk to the store into months, the house still with dust on your return.
Explore The Latest Stories
Art Across America
Winnowing The Wynn
A critic surveys the Wynn Las Vegas art holdings and asks, "What can compete with a hanging parasol...
When the Shows Stopped
In 2020 actor Kait Russell got her big break - her first audition for a Broadway musical. But while...
Have Skateboard. Dive Deep.
Poet Anders Carlson-Wee on the skateboarding aesthetic, the benefits of dumpster diving, and the...
Art Is Essential
In March 2020 Critical Read began the Art Is Essential flash nonfiction project. We asked writers to describe the art that they are turning to during these uncertain times. Since then, we’ve heard from over 300 writers across the country.
– Adam Zucker on Mierle Laderman Ukeles’s Touch Sanitation
How can art be inessential? It's right there, the same as always, and yet, incredibly different. #ArtIsEssential
My children will see plenty of movies as they grow up, but I know these silent ones will stay with them. They are works of art, artifacts from a different age, and reminders that art can transcend time and give us a glimpse of the eternal.
Langston Hughes has been staying up with me on nights when I can't sleep, and on days when I can't work. #ArtIsEssential
Art sometimes creates unexpected opportunities for daily joy: kitchen tables make me smile, and that in itself is a quiet pleasure.
Hidden Histories + Criticism
Art In-Depth
Agnes Martin in Coenties Slip
“The work is so far from perfection because we ourselves are so far from perfection … That is why art work is so very hard. It is a working through of disappointments and a growing recognition of failure to the point of defeat. But still one wakes in the morning and there is the inspiration and one goes on.”
Art has history
Online since 2016, Critical Read is a nonprofit, non-partisan publisher dedicated to making American art and art history more inclusive and discoverable.
We tell the true stories of the fine, literary, and performing arts. Browse our Artwork Biography e-books, available in MOBI, EPUB, and PDF files.
Memoir + Essay + Travel
First Person Stories
Graphite Insomnia
“A deep black square can be an object or an opening. Sometimes you can get a surface so deep,...
Walls Covered in Basquiat
"What might be if he lived? What does it mean that his image is defined and further commoditized...
The Lewis Chessmen, Deer Antler, and a French Bulldog
"What could I make with antler?" I recalled the Lewis Chessmen and figured I could attempt to carve...
An Itch for Things Remote
From ‘Moby Dick’ to Frank Stella, a writer looks to art of the sea for inspiration....
Grass Grew on the Sidewalks
The dream of visiting Harper Lee’s world leads to reconnecting with a grandmother....
Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico
Lessons from a master in living with beauty: Georgia O’Keeffe’s home beckons for a 15-hour...
Trending
Seventeen Ways of Looking at the Mona Lisa May 2, 2019 We asked writers and artists to show us what the…
Georgia O’Keeffe in New Mexico December 23, 2019 Lessons from a master in living with beauty: Georgia O’Keeffe’s…
The Lewis Chessmen, Deer Antler, and a French Bulldog June 23, 2020 "What could I make with antler?" I recalled the Lewis…
How to Tell a Dance on Film July 8, 2020 Elliot Caplan and Mirra Bank watch dance with eyes and…
Winnowing The Wynn December 4, 2020 A critic surveys the Wynn Las Vegas art holdings and…
Walls Covered in Basquiat August 31, 2020 "What might be if he lived? What does it mean…
Drop Out. Tune In. Start a Revolution. May 12, 2020 Mario Torero on leaving art school, his place in the…
When the Shows Stopped November 12, 2020 In 2020 actor Kait Russell got her big break -…
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How a 19th-Century Idea Could Rescue 21st-Century Art
October 20, 2020• Commentary, Reported, Visual Art
The American Art-Union offers a model for supporting artists with direct engagement from the...
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