Let's See: Writings on Art from The New Yorker

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
Seventy-five of Peter Schjeldahl's engaging pieces on art from The New Yorker, published together for the first time.

Distinguished critic at The New Yorker since 1998, Peter Schjeldahl has been described as America's most influential writer on art. Blessed with an unerring eye, he tackles a myriad of subjects with wit, poetry, and perspicacity, examining and questioning the art before him while reveling in the power and beauty of language. His writing springs from a desire to be understood by all readers, and a determination to help them engage with art of every kind.

Covering subjects drawn from a broad canvas of the history of art—from ancient Greece, Mexico, and Byzantium, through Raphael, Rubens, and Rembrandt, to Bruce Nauman, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and John Currin—the writings collected here seek out with precision and economy the essence of the individual artist or work under discussion, but they never lose sight of the bigger picture: What is beauty? What does it mean to be an American artist? What can the art we produce and admire tell us about ourselves?

With an imaginative introduction—twenty questions, each one posed to Schjeldahl by a different artist or writer—this collection will appeal to anyone who considers the experience of art, and of writing on art, an invitation to a voyage.

Coverage includes:
• large-scale exhibitions at leading institutions around the world
• shows at private galleries
• profiles of prominent members of the art world
• personal accounts of time spent with artists
• the influences of museum spaces on our experience of art

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars

The New Yorker art critic July 31, 2008
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

Schjeldahl's accumulation of reviews from the renaissance to recent contemporary art is a fun read once you get past the author's rather pedantic writing style. I don't think I have ever encountered "insouciance" more frequently in my life. His interview with gallerist Marian Goodman was better than some of the art reviews. He has strong opinions when it comes to contemporary art--and probably the experience to back them up.

5 out of 5 stars

Schjeldahl's Let's See September 14, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Peter Schjeldahl was just awarded the 2008 Clark Prize for Excellence in Arts Writing, which recognizes one writer each year who promotes the public appreciation of the visual arts in a way that "is grounded in scholarship yet appeals to a wide audience."

'Let's See,' Schjeldahl's new collection of his essays from the New Yorker, shows why he won this prestigious award and also shows how far he has come as an art critic.

Years ago, when I used to live in Manhattan (in a studio big enough for me, my cat, and a hot-plate), I used to read Schjeldahl, who then wrote for the Village Voice, which even at that time was a pretty second-rate rag. I never really liked Schjeldahl's writing back then. He was really snarky, a kind of a hipster-poser smartypants type. But in reading 'Let's See,' or his New Yorker essays in general, you'll notice immediately that he has matured both in his attitude towards his job and in his writing style, which is consistently straightforward, to the point, and memorable. (Schjeldahl is also an award-winning poet, and his love of language shows in his criticism as well.)

I can't say that I always agree with Schjeldahl's taste in art. John Currin seems to be one of his favorites (the cover image is a Currin painting) and despite Schjeldahl's frequent praise, I just can't see why this guy is good, much less great. But you don't need to agree with all of Schjeldahl's opinions to see that they are carefully reasoned and based on a deep love and understanding of art built up over a lifetime.

Of course, some of the artists that Schjeldahl praises here are basically no-brainers: Velazquez, Vermeer, El Greco. Who doesn't like those painters? But Scheldahl brings a level of depth and insight to his discussion of their works that makes you see them in new and interesting ways.

I also really like the fact that Schjeldahl, the former hipster-dude, had the courage to put in a good word (actually a really strong defense) of Norman Rockwell, an artist he probably would have dissed big time back in the Village Voice days.

This is a really good book for people interested in art in all of its complexity. Schjeldahl makes you use all of your brain cells, but if you can follow his arguments, they're very rewarding. I enjoyed this book a lot.

3 out of 5 stars

Take a Look? August 27, 2008
3 out of 9 found this review helpful

A repackaged set of articles from The New Yorker. I liked the short form for each chapter of this book and many of the descriptive or explanatory insights, but think the individual articles probably had more impact when read closer to the event being described, normally a special art exhibit at some museum.

The author, Peter Schjeldahl, certainly knows a lot about art and artists but comes across in this book as more interested in showing his erudition through a prose style that seems to be always in search of the obscure word or phrase towards the destination of a sweeping judgement.

The back cover of the dust jacket shows a man who is as close to the "look" (beat up, buttoned-up rain coat with woolen scarf carelessly wrapped around a neck crowned by a head with wind-swept gray hair) of the stereotypical New York City intellectual as you might ever want to find. I also found the twenty questions (of course adoringly posed by famous art-world friends) format of the introduction annoying. My final minor annoyance is the fact that a one-paragraph only description of the author (located on the inside flap of the dust jacket) manages to shoehorn in the fact that he "has taught at Harvard University." How nice.

5 out of 5 stars

Simply the Best September 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

Peter Schjeldahl is simply the best. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable on art from A to Z but he is an inventive, creative thinker and writer with the gifts to make his essays works of art in themselves.

This is to say that his readers come away inspired, educated and entertained, much like seeing art but with the best of all docents.

As brilliant as Schjeldahl's essays are, they do not compete for attention with the subject at hand. They illuminate and provoke and add to one's understanding of particular artists and their works.

Own this book. See art through a different and clear lens. Enjoy the inspiring journey essay to essay. Bravo Maestro.

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