Art Is Life

Icons and Iconoclasts, Visionaries and Vigilantes, and Flashes of Hope in the Night

By: Jerry Saltz

Narrated by: Jerry Saltz, Mark Bramhall

From the Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of How to Be an Artist: a deliciously readable survey of the art world in turbulent times

Jerry Saltz is one of our most-watched writers about art and artists, and a passionate champion of the importance of art in our shared cultural life. Since the 1990s he has been an indispensable cultural voice: witty and provocative, he has attracted contemporary readers to fine art as few critics have. An early champion of forgotten and overlooked women artists, he has also celebrated the pioneering work of African American, LGBTQ+, and other long-marginalized creators. Sotheby's Institute of Art has called him, simply, “the art critic.”

Now, in Art Is Life, Jerry Saltz draws on two decades of work to offer a real-time survey of contemporary art as a barometer of our times. Chronicling a period punctuated by dramatic turning points—from the cultural reset of 9/11 to the rolling social crises of today—Saltz traces how visionary artists have both documented and challenged the culture. Art Is Life offers Saltz’s eye-opening appraisals of trailblazers like Kara Walker, David Wojnarowicz, Hilma af Klint, and Jasper Johns; provocateurs like Jeff Koons, Richard Prince, and Marina Abramović; and visionaries like Jackson Pollock, Bill Traylor, and Willem de Kooning. Saltz celebrates landmarks like the Obama portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald, writes searchingly about disturbing moments such as the Ankara gallery assassination, and offers surprising takes on figures from Thomas Kinkade to Kim Kardashian. And he shares stories of his own haunted childhood, his time as a “failed artist,” and his epiphanies upon beholding work by Botticelli, Delacroix, and the cave painters of Niaux.

With his signature blend of candor and conviction, Jerry Saltz argues in Art Is Life for the importance of the fearless artist—reminding us that art is a kind of channeled voice of human experience, a necessary window onto our times. The result is an openhearted and irresistibly readable appraisal by one of our most important cultural observers.

Critic reviews

Praise for Art is Life:

“From Kara Walker to Georgia O’Keeffe to Andy Warhol, Saltz surveys the contemporary art world with brilliant brush strokes.” —TIME

“Whether considering a poorly understood painter from history or assessing the new and controversial, Saltz manages to impart his belief that art involves story, and storymaking is the stuff of life. His philosophy, like the man himself, is ageless.” —Los Angeles Times

“A love letter to the art that, for Saltz, makes all the wheeling and dealing worth putting up with. . . . Saltz [has a] rare ability to articulate the mysterious alchemy of great art, the ways in which looking at some pigment on canvas can somehow blow open doors within the soul to reveal expansive, unknown places.” —New York Times Book Review

“Art is Life is a near-perfect summary of a singularly critical voice. . . . despite writing about a medium that tends more toward solemn nods than squeals of excitement, Jerry Saltz can be very fun to read.” —Chicago Tribune

“[Saltz] looks at the various crises and New York City’s art scene—the aftermath of 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, the coronavirus pandemic—and depicts an ebullient yet fragile world undergoing perpetual reinvention. He writes formidable portraits of people such as Beauford Delaney and describes the jaw-dropping splendor of Paleolithic cave paintings in Niaux, France. He worships artwork while denouncing the excesses of its business, taking pleasure in ridiculing the frequently obscene industry’s theatrical auctions and overinflated cycle of openings, biennials, and fairs.” —Farah Abdessamad, The Atlantic

“Personal and entertaining.” —Garden & Gun

“Eminently accessible, often humorous (he is a master of the sharp parenthetical aside), and stimulating. The art world is convoluted, but Saltz cuts right through it.” —Publishers Weekly

“Illuminating . . . A sweeping survey and fervent defense of the value of art in modern life.” —Kirkus Reviews

“There's no one quite like Saltz. . . . He's the best art critic working today.” —Shelf Awareness

Praise for Jerry Saltz:

“The world’s most famous and celebrated contemporary art critic.” —GQ

“One of the most powerful art critics today.” —Time Out

“A critic of the people, bringing art to a broader audience.” —Architectural Digest

Saltz did it again!

Is a great book! Made me laugh, learn, think deeply, is great to learn from one of the most popular critics as well as from his artist days! Thank you so much Jerry!

Candid

I cried, I laughed, I disagreed, I agreed ,
I loved it. It captures the complex makeup
Of the art world from a singular soul ..

Must read

I love the honesty and wit he brings to this book. His detail and expertise brings his experience of art alive.

Humane, accessible

Beautifully read by the author himself, an autobiographical guide to appreciating contemporary and modern art.

Why have i just now discovered…

Jerry Saltz!! What a great storyteller and narrator!
Looking forward to reading more.
Thanks Jerry!!

A “Must Listen” for artists and art teachers!

I really enjoyed listening to Jerry talk about ART, his life and the lives of artists.
I laughed. I cried. I learned a lot!
Feeling inspired to get in the studio AND I’m looking forward to sharing some of this information with my painting and art history students.
Thanks Jerry!

My Favorite Critic

It’s hard not to be hyperbolic when discussing Jerry Saltz. His knowledge, erudition and empathy for the art he reviews is a beautiful thing. Add to this the moving autobiographical essays (don’t miss My Appetites) and this is a great book. The only downside is that he doesn’t read many of the essays, but be does read the most important ones.

Criticism as ART

Saltz takes us on a roller coaster tour of galleries, museums, artists studios and experiences - tying cave paintings to modernists and Caravaggio to Johns in a deeply personal, intelligent, and soulful way. He lives and breathes art and translates his devotion to it in an inspired, funny and above all - loving way. I love his voice - as if speaking off the cuff at times. Moving and enlightening.

Art doesn't have any boundaries nor definition.

The author wrote an extremely comprehensive book that reflected views and observations that, for the part, I agreed with or learned about new artists.

Lover of art, the artists that make it, how it’s made & what it (might) mean?

Well, this book is for you.
Jerry is an honest writer and he writes from the heart. The glimpses he provides into the magical world of art, it’s makers and the enterprise surrounding it is fascinating & illuminating. Jer’s voice is a companions’ voice; right alongside of you, getting you to look a little longer & think a little deeper.
I can’t wait for my next museum or gallery visit.