The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019-2022

by Peter Schjeldahl, T. Ryder Smith (Narrator), Steve Martin - foreword by

When Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker’s art critic and the leading art writer of his generation, published his eye-opening autobiographical essay, “The Art of Dying,” in December 2019, he reported that he had lung cancer and had been given six months of life. Fortunately, his treatment was showing some improvement, and so, he wrote, “These extra months are a luxury that I hope to have put to good use.”

And he did. The Art of Dying begins with that essay and collects all forty-six pieces that he subsequently published in the magazine before his death in October 2022.

These last works explore the meanings and purposes of art, not only in relation to the writer’s own condition, but also under the stress of an intensely anxious period spanning the pandemic, the Black Lives Matter protests, the 2020 presidential election, and the war in Ukraine. Reviewing exhibitions and, occasionally, books, Schjeldahl probed the art world’s answers to the questions—esthetic, moral, political—posed by these tempestuous three years, in writing inflected with generosity and openness.

Comedian and author Steve Martin contributes a foreword, and writer and curator Jarrett Earnest contributes an introduction.

Genres: Art, Essays, Nonfiction, Biography

Audible Audio

Published May 14, 2024

Reviews

[Lelia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Art of Dying is one of my all-time favorite essays, one I have reread at regular intervals since The New Yorker first published it in 2019. I bought this book primarily so I could have a copy of that essay and it’s worth it if only for that reason. The rest of the essays in the book are in keeping with Schjeldahl’s work as an art critic. I learned a ton from them, especially if I took the time to look up the specific artists and works of art Schjeldahl refers to in each essay. There are numerous lines that made me pause and ponder - an art in itself. (“Offense doesn’t spur debate; it replaces it.” “Enough of too much induces apathy.”) And I loved his thoughts on the artists I’m actually familiar with, such as Alice Neel (“bohemian demiurge”) and Oscar Howe (“a channeling of sheer visionary imagination.”).

I found the introduction by Jarrett Earnest one of the most interesting parts of the book. It made me curious to know more about Schjeldhal himself and his Cloud-of-Unknowing-inspired technique for contemplating art, a technique he hints at occasionally in these essays: “an unprejudiced eye should apply as much to one’s hundredth encounter with a compelling art work as it does to one’s first.”

[bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

so smart. i wish it had pictures

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Snappy, hospitable criticism from a generous soul. The titular essay is a great introduction to Schjeldahl's spirit, even though unrelated, topically, from the rest of the book, which collects his final essays for the New Yorker leading up to his death in 2022. Love his pronouncements, his humor, his lack of self-seriousness or snobbishness.

[Bryan Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoy art, but I lack the vocabulary to talk about it in an intelligent way. This collection of essays, written at the end of a long, storied career as an art writer/critic, was both eye-opening and humbling. Schjeldahl was possessing of a keen eye and an expansive vocabulary, and wrote as elegantly and eloquently about exhibits he liked as he did about ones he lampooned. I found myself googling many of the pieces and artists he described in these essays, because devoid of the images, it's somewhat harder to appreciate the critiques.

I'm giving this collection 5 stars not because it is a joy to read, but because it is a truly impressive body of art criticism made all the more so because the author was writing these pieces in the final months and weeks of his life, before his death from lung cancer in 2022.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such fantastic, smart, clever, fascinating writing on subjects that I know a little to nothing about. Makes me want to plan a NYC art-viewing trip. I didn't even know most of the artists reviewed but after reading the article, I felt like I could see the art in my head. Sometimes I just enjoyed that and didn't even look up the pieces. Such a great loss to the New Yorker and art lovers everywhere.

[Gab · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read on the subway to and from work; wish pictures were included with the articles because I had to do a lot of frantic Googling.

My favorite parts are when he’d go into art history and discuss the lives of artists like Goya and Mondrian. I hope to one day see these works of art, reflect on them from my perspective, and reread these articles once more.

[Madhusree · Rating 5 out of 5]

No bad sentence here. It made me search out his articles and web sources to check out all the artists that he mentioned that I was unaware of...this is an excellent read on mortality, art and the sort of memoir that I love.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The late writings of the late art critic for the New Yorker magazine, Peter Schjeldahl, were collected in a book entitled The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019-2022. Schjeldahl died in October 2022. The book covers Schjeldahl's late writings for the New Yorker magazine, from December 2019 until his last piece, published in October 2022. The title of the collection comes from an essay that Schjeldahl wrote when he publicly disclosed that he had “lung cancer, rampant” (Schjeldahl 1). In the essay entitled “The Art of Dying” (Schjeldahl 1-28), Schjeldahl examines his life because he is dying. The other essays in the collection are art criticism and book reviews written by Schjeldahl that were published in the New Yorker magazine between February 2020 and October 2022. The second essay is on the art exhibit of the paintings of Paul Saul at the New Museum in New York City, which was published in February 2020 (Schjeldahl 29-32). The last essay was on the exhibit of the work of Wolfgang Tillmans at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which was published in October 2022 (Schjeldahl 265-270). The book covers Schjeldahl's thoughts on the art world in response to the turmoil of events between December 2019 and October 2022, including COVID, Black Lives Matter Movement, the American presidential election of 2020, the war in Ukraine, and other events. The foreword to the collection is by the Comedian Steve Martin, who enjoys art and was a good friend of Peter Schjeldahl. The artist and writer Jarrett Earnest, who was also a friend of Schjeldahl, wrote the introduction to the collection. This collection of pieces of later writings by Schjeldahl shows how skilled a writer Schjeldahl was.
Works Cited:
Braver, Rita. 2024, March 23. “From the archives: Steve Martin's love of art.” Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) Sunday Morning. YouTube. 8:11 minutes.
Earnest, Jarrett. 2024. In The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019-2022 by Peter Schjeldahl. New York: Abrams Press. Pages XIII-XX.
Martin, Steve. 2024. “Forward: Peter Schjeldahl.” In The Art of Dying: Writings, 2019-2022 by Peter Schjeldahl. New York: Abrams Press. Pages VII-XII.

[Mai H.]

Non-fiction November TBR

📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams Press