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

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.

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.

Each critique is a jewel and window into how to see and appreciate genius

Loved the book. Learned new words, laughed, felt empathy, got a sense of the author-down to earth.Since each chapter is a review it was easy to put down & pick up the next day - like a complete story in each.Found myself looking up the artists & their work on the net. Author's style is unique.

There are no pictures. An book on art, without any pictures so you know what the author is talking about. Maybe it's me, but I am unfamiliar with all the painting he's writing about. So, I can just read the book, or stop, every few pages, and look up a work of art. Not fun. I do love his writing and I wold give the book 5 stars, if there were any pictures in it.

Wonderful to have all of these essays in one volume. Always enjoy PS NewYorker columns. He will be greatly missed!

Fine book of myriad personal views on art and artists. Such a good writer expressing such honesty. A treasure, both book and writer.

I love this book. Peter Schjeldahl's writing has to be one of the most pleasurable things I've read. It's a collection of short pieces he's written over the years. I've enjoyed reading one while I eat my breakfast before I head into my studio to work.

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.