What do you think?
Rate this book
Still Looking: Essays on American Art
From a master of American letters and the author of the acclaimed Rabbit series comes a richly illustrated book of eighteen insightful essays about American art, written while he was the art critic at The New York Review of Books.
“Remarkably elegant little essays, dense in thought and perception but offhandedly casual in style. Their brevity makes more acute the sense of regret one feels to see them end.” — Newsday
When, in 1989, a collection of John Updike’s writings on art appeared under the title Just Looking, a reviewer in the San Francisco Chronicle commented, “He refreshes for us the sense of prose opportunity that makes art a sustaining subject to people who write about it.” In the sixteen years since Just Looking was published, he continued to serve as an art critic, mostly for The New York Review of Books, and from fifty or so articles has selected, for this book, eighteen that deal with American art.
After beginning with early American portraits, landscapes, and the transatlantic career of John Singleton Copley, Still Looking then considers the curious case of Martin Johnson Heade and extols two late-nineteenth-century masters, Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Next, it discusses the eccentric pre-moderns James McNeill Whistler and Albert Pinkham Ryder, the competing American Impressionists and Realists in the early twentieth century, and such now-historic avant-garde figures as Alfred Stieglitz, Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove, and Elie Nadelman. Two appreciations of Edward Hopper and appraisals of Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol round out the volume.
America speaks through its artists. As Updike states in his introduction, “The dots can be connected from Copley to the same tense engagement with materials, the same demand for a morality of representation, can be discerned in both.”
“Remarkably elegant little essays, dense in thought and perception but offhandedly casual in style. Their brevity makes more acute the sense of regret one feels to see them end.” — Newsday
When, in 1989, a collection of John Updike’s writings on art appeared under the title Just Looking, a reviewer in the San Francisco Chronicle commented, “He refreshes for us the sense of prose opportunity that makes art a sustaining subject to people who write about it.” In the sixteen years since Just Looking was published, he continued to serve as an art critic, mostly for The New York Review of Books, and from fifty or so articles has selected, for this book, eighteen that deal with American art.
After beginning with early American portraits, landscapes, and the transatlantic career of John Singleton Copley, Still Looking then considers the curious case of Martin Johnson Heade and extols two late-nineteenth-century masters, Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Next, it discusses the eccentric pre-moderns James McNeill Whistler and Albert Pinkham Ryder, the competing American Impressionists and Realists in the early twentieth century, and such now-historic avant-garde figures as Alfred Stieglitz, Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove, and Elie Nadelman. Two appreciations of Edward Hopper and appraisals of Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol round out the volume.
America speaks through its artists. As Updike states in his introduction, “The dots can be connected from Copley to the same tense engagement with materials, the same demand for a morality of representation, can be discerned in both.”
240 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 2005
9 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
John Updike
870 books2,455 followersJohn Hoyer Updike was an American writer. Updike's most famous work is his Rabbit series (Rabbit, Run; Rabbit Redux; Rabbit Is Rich; Rabbit At Rest; and Rabbit Remembered). Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest both won Pulitzer Prizes for Updike. Describing his subject as "the American small town, Protestant middle class," Updike is well known for his careful craftsmanship and prolific writing, having published 22 novels and more than a dozen short story collections as well as poetry, literary criticism and children's books. Hundreds of his stories, reviews, and poems have appeared in The New Yorker since the 1950s. His works often explore sex, faith, and death, and their inter-relationships.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
He died of lung cancer at age 76.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 20, 2020
Quick initial disclaimer: I have never read anything by John Updike. When it comes to art critique, his knowledge is vast and his analyses thorough. I found his two essays on Edward Hopper to be excellent (perhaps because I love Edward Hopper and assuming-ly so does he). Ultimately I think the mediocre rating here is simply mine; I really don’t like reading criticism of any kind (especially, I’ve decided now, criticism of art). Mr. Updike’s opinions are well-developed and eloquent; I just think I’ll stick to visiting galleries to make my own judgments.
August 3, 2010
Excellent essays on exhibits plus beautiful artwork. Exhibits of roughly 18 artists -- my favorites are Albert Pinkham Ryder, Homer, Maurice Prendergost, Hassam, Stieglitz, & Elie Nadelman. Other artists he wrote about: Hudson River School Cole and Church, Johnson Heade, Eakins, Whistler, Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove, Hopper, Pollock and Warhol.
January 9, 2020
Not thrilled. Stieglitz essay made me a little angry to be honest. But it was good. Made me think. Essays on Hopper were excellent
Read
February 5, 2009Published primarily in the New York Review of Books, the collected essays in Still Looking are less art criticism than finely honed art appreciations. Reviewers note Updike's inquisitive tone and earnest interest in his subject matter. The often honored (an American Book Award, an O. Henry Prize, a National Medal for the Humanities) and prolific author once aspired for a career in cartooning and studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford, England. The major complaint, if it can be registered as such, is that Updike is so effective at bringing these works to life that the book, though amply illustrated, provokes frustration that the exhibitions are no longer running.
This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.
August 10, 2007
Very well-written essays. My favorite was "O Beautiful for Spacious Skies," on the sublime landscape and its connection to Abstract Expressionism. I skipped some essays, mainly the ones focused on a particular artist. After reading the review of a Whistler retrospective, I began to suspect that Updike was going to be hard on the individual painters, but he has an excellent grasp on the sweep of American art history.
April 6, 2008
Thought-provoking essays on how to "read" and enjoy some of the masterworks of American painting and photography. My favorite essays were those on Alfred Steiglitz and Edward Hopper, especially having taken in the Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery of Art recently.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2010
Published in "The New York Review of Books" John Updike's keen collection of essays are brought together in this beautiful book. A quibble (though) is that he does not include any women artists. His loss and ours.
November 24, 2009
Frankly, it seems unfair that Updike is both a superb novelist and a fine essayist. I certainly hope that he is incompetent at something but that something is not making thoughtful comments about art keenly observed.
July 4, 2016
What's not to love? Updike's flawless writing and art. Although I there are times I do not agree with his assessment (Warhol) other times he is spot on. Glad he included Marsden Hartley. Interesting ideas about Whistler. We both love Winslow Homer.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews