Barry Schwabsky

Art Critic

Barry Schwabsky is the art critic of The Nation.

Can an Unfinished Piece of Art Also Be Complete?

Can an Unfinished Piece of Art Also Be Complete? Can an Unfinished Piece of Art Also Be Complete?

An exhibit at the Met Breuer explores the differences between completing and finishing an artwork.

Apr 14, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

A Critic’s Job of Work

A Critic’s Job of Work A Critic’s Job of Work

I don’t see my job as making or breaking an artist. I have other responsibilities toward art.

Mar 9, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

A photography class in a cabbage patch at Black Mountain College.

The Weirdness and Joy of Black Mountain College The Weirdness and Joy of Black Mountain College

Can the art of teaching art be exhibited? No, but people keep trying.

Feb 24, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Lawrence Alloway at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, autumn 1965.

In Praise of Lawrence Alloway In Praise of Lawrence Alloway

The former Nation art critic was a great intellectual resource among art writers in the 1960s and ’70s, and a revival of his work is under way.

Feb 4, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Point First, Shoot Later

Point First, Shoot Later Point First, Shoot Later

Two museum exhibitions emphasize possible approaches to how an artist can navigate the oceans of photography around us.

Jan 21, 2016 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Burnt Umber & Ultramarine (1993), by Yun Hyong-keun.

It’s Time To Stop Ignoring South Korean Abstract Art It’s Time To Stop Ignoring South Korean Abstract Art

Korean monochrome painting, or tansaekhwa, originated in a deep ambivalence about painting.

Dec 17, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Maureen Gallace, Ice Storm, Easton (With Robert), 2015.

Is Serious Landscape Painting Still Possible? Is Serious Landscape Painting Still Possible?

Maureen Gallace’s fresh and enigmatic work indicates that it is.

Nov 25, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Letters Icon

Letters From the November 9, 2015, Issue Letters From the November 9, 2015, Issue

Inside out and outside in… Gates’s gilded gospel… obstacle illusions…

Oct 22, 2015 / Barry Schwabsky, Michael Sorkin, and Our Readers

Detail from Pablo Picasso’s Guitar (1924).

The Noisy Silence of Picasso’s Guitars The Noisy Silence of Picasso’s Guitars

His sculptures reveal the artist’s secret affinities with nascent anti-colonialist movements.

Oct 22, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

Sculpture/fountain by Naum Gabo at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, London, UK

The Politics of Bad Art The Politics of Bad Art

In whose service does a painter paint, or a critic criticize?

Sep 24, 2015 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

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