Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light, 100 Art Writings 1988-2018

The essays in "Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light" are mostly short, mostly written for New Yorker, with some pieces from the Village Voice and 7 Days as well. Schjeldahl's background as a poet shows in his turns of metaphor, his concise and vivid descriptions, and his ability to put his own aesthetic ecstasy into just the right words.Part I of the book contain the Hot and Cold sections; Part II the Heavy and Light. Sometimes essays on different shows by the same artist are included (Anselm Kiefer takes a bow in both the Hot and Cold sections; Matisse and Cindy Sherman get back-to-back essays in Hot and Heavy, respectively). Most of the pieces address specific shows at museums or galleries, though at the end Schjeldahl presents the text of a lecture titled "Credo: The Artist As Critic", a particularly thoughtful, funny, lighthearted piece invoking the spirit of Oscar Wilde.Schjeldahl's great strengths as a critic lie in his generosity of spirit, his willingness to let art speak to his heart as well as to his eye, and his ability to convey his ideas and feelings in effervescent prose. Get this book, read it, enjoy it. It will make you happy.

I writing this after reading of the author's passing at 80.One day, I hope to be as gifted as the author, whom I met once at a book signing. He had such joy and enthusiasm for gallery openings and art, and his work beams with this cheeriness. The writing is dense at times but never dull, and since the book contains 100 essays, you can move on to another if you don't like the one you're on. A wonderful collection from a wonderful man who wrote wonderfully. RIP Peter.

With regard to the title and organization of this book, Jarrett Earnest assumes full responsibility: To accommodate "the full spectrum of tone and attitude, I've scrambled the hundred items chronologically, as befits a critic who defines 'contemporary art' as 'every work of art that exists in the present moment -- five thousand years or five minutes old.' The groupings are based on affinities among the topics discussed or the tenors of the response they elicit. For instance, the catalogue essay 'Concrete and Scott Burton' belongs in the 'Heavy' section because it's about gravity...All of which is to say that these categories are meant to be playful, evocative, and not taken too seriously."After reading or re-reading any of Peter Schjeldahl's essays about a painter with which I am already familiar, I recall a passage in T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets" in Chapter 2 ("Little Gidding"):"We shall not cease from explorationAnd the end of all of our exploringWill be to arrive at where we startedAnd know the place for the first time."Many of these artists whom he helps me to see anew are discussed in the hundred essays reprinted in this anthology.  For example, Andy Warhol. I now plan to check out Blake Gopnik's new biography of him.According to Earnest, "Schjeldahl has enriched the sensibilities of several generations by narrating his own process of looking, thinking, and feeling -- making it seem like something that anyone with a pair of eyes and an open heart can do." More often than not, that has certainly been his impact on me.Moreover, although I did not recognize about a third of the artists discussed in this volume, much less know anything about them, I was fascinated by Schjeldahl's use of that "process" when discussing them and their work. He seems to say, "Here's what caught my eye..." or "Here's what I was thinking about when I looked at..." It could be Van Gogh's portrait of Joseph Roulin or Warhol's grave or Picasso's sculpture or the Van Eyck altarpiece in the Villa Chapel of the St. Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium. He's quite a dancer. Sometimes his eloquent as as well as ]ively narrative seems to prance.In the final chapter, "Credo: The Critic as Artist," offers to his reader a companionship "in imagination. A relationship conducted with a full view on the world but a step away from it, as an exclusive compact of mutual devotion."  I shall continue to cherish the pleasure of his company.My frequent trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art ended with the arrival of COVID-19. Soon, I hope, I will be able to resume my visits which are certain to be  even more interesting because of what Peter Schjeldahl has helped me to see or to see more clearly. As soon as possible, I also plan to re-read Hot, Cold, Heavy, Light. It is as a special gift from someone from whom there is yet so much more to learn.

I read one or two of these pieces every night before bed, a lovely way to end a day in the company of a wise, articulate, mind.

A terrific writer, even when i disagree, because there are some great insights. Not an easy read and some articles not of general interest.

This man’s relationship to art is exciting and most accessible. I love his open acknowledgment of prejudices and loves. His knowledge is deep yet he writes without the affectation of an academic. It’s like listening to a good friend.

Peter Schjeldahl's writing on art engages you in his experience of seeing it. His sharp wit, humor, grace and lyricism insist on rereading, reliving the event captured in his essays. His words offer cultural context, with teaching moments, subtly reshaping and enhancing your thoughts on favorite artists and new personalities. Art critic? Yes. Art lover? Undeniably.

The word "critic" seems misplaced to describe Peter Schjeldahl. He is an unabashed enthusiast. He is possessed of an enviable gift for looking and seeing and is able to convey it to us in deft, economical and beautiful strokes of prose-a literary canvas. With the miracle of the internet one is able to summon decent images of exhibitions long past while one reads, never failing to smile at his ineffable knack for finding special things that most of us wouldn't otherwise see. Each of these short essays is an art lesson, and whets the appetite. I put this collection on par with John Updike's oeuvre of wonderful art columns.

Peter Scheldahl!!!! The late art critic of The New Yorker wrote prose that sparkled with the silvering, riverine lustre of flowing water. He may not have been the most intellectual of art critics with their lugubrious elistist twaddle, but Scheldahl's love of zesty new English sentences made him a joy to read. Best for me were his reconsiderations of the great ones. His fresh take on Picasso and especially Andy Warhohl made me look again at master works. I just finished reading this collection of Scheldahl's best recent columns in The New Yorker and his older masterpieces in The Village Voice and its predecessor. I am now going to reread this book again.

A pleasure to dip in and out of.

This book offers a lively course of instruction in art history and modern art history especially. Schjeldahl, long a reviewer (notably at The New Yorker), writes wonderfully about much that is dear to him in art, and amusingly too about what is not so dear to him. I admire the curiosity, skill, and understanding on display, but what he does with words no small part of the pleasure.