By Matt Chaban 10/12/11 2:27pm

Kimmelmania

More than meets the eye—the building and the architecture critic. (NYT)

Is Michael Kimmelman’s Second Column Better Than His First?

Perhaps the only thing more eagerly awaited in the city’s architectural firmament than Michael Kimmelman’s first column as The Times’s new architecture critic was his second. We knew he would come out keyboard blazing, but could he keep up the act as heir to Ada Louise Huxtables throne? The answer is an assured yes, which may finally put to rest all the angst about Mr. Kimmelman’s appointment and his lack of formal architectural training. We get not a dissection of a particular building, or even architecture in general but, as a fellow Timesman once put it, The Way We Live Now. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/26/11 10:16am

Critical Mass

kimmelman_homepage

How Michael Kimmelman's First Architecture Review Made the Front Page of The Times

This morning, The Observer awakened to something many in the architecture community have been waiting months, if not years for. By the time you read this, the moment may have already passed online. But even if readers missed that frisson of joy in finding Michael Kimmelman’s first proper architecture review on the The New York Times‘ homepage, as much, or even more excitement can be had with an actual hard copy of the paper, where the review managed to sneak its way onto the front page. Read More

By Staff 5/19/06 2:59pm

Weekend Reading


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This weekend’s New York Times magazine is all about architecture. It’s definitely thinner than the big real estate special issue (although there are still plenty of ads, including a seven-page spread for the Frank Gehry jewelry collection).

All the big guns were pulled out for this Read More

By Choire Sicha 12:00am

A Gentle Times Critic Goes On a Grand Tour

There are few things more humiliating than crying in Chicago. (One of them is crying in Detroit, which I have also done.)

Not long ago, I spent the optimal amount of time in Chicago, which is five hours. As a matter of habit, I spent those hours at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1997, Read More

By Mario Naves 9/13/04 12:00am

Currently Hanging

Art Criticism in Crisis?

James Elkins Studies the Evidence

It’s a bit daunting to sit down and review What Happened to Art Criticism? , a slim book by James Elkins that has recently undergone a second printing by Prickly Paradigm Press. Not because Mr. Elkins considers art criticism “very nearly dead” as a literary Read More

By Mario Naves 9/13/04 12:00am

Art Criticism in Crisis? James Elkins Studies the Evidence

It’s a bit daunting to sit down and review What Happened to Art Criticism? , a slim book by James Elkins that has recently undergone a second printing by Prickly Paradigm Press. Not because Mr. Elkins considers art criticism “very nearly dead” as a literary discipline. (There isn’t a critic alive who hasn’t, at one Read More

By Hilton Kramer 5/12/03 12:00am

Remember Painting?

If you’ve ever wondered what a large cross-section exhibition of contemporary American art would look like if it were selected entirely by professional artists, rather than by dealers, curators, critics or collectors, the show not to miss at the moment is the 178th Annual Exhibition at the National Academy of Design. Be warned, however-or should Read More