Jerry Saltz

Early-twentieth-century abstraction is arts version of Einsteins Theory of Relativity. Its the idea that changed everything everywhere: quickly, decisively, for good. – Jerry Saltz

Ive always said that an art critic can put aside politics around art. – Jerry Saltz

Abstract Expressionism – the first American movement to have a worldwide influence – was remarkably short-lived: It heated up after World War II and was all but done for by 1960 (although visit any art school today and youll find a would-be Willem de Kooning). – Jerry Saltz

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is unsurpassed at presenting more than 50 centuries of work. I go there constantly, seeing things over and over, better than Ive ever seen them before. – Jerry Saltz

I like that the art world isnt regulated. – Jerry Saltz

Appropriation is the idea that ate the art world. Go to any Chelsea gallery or international biennial and youll find it. Its there in paintings of photographs, photographs of advertising, sculpture with ready-made objects, videos using already-existing film. – Jerry Saltz

Art is for anyone. It just isnt for everyone. Still, over the past decade, its audience has hugely grown, and thats irked those outside the art world, who get irritated at things like incomprehensibility or money. – Jerry Saltz

Money is something that can be measured art is not. Its all subjective. – Jerry Saltz

After its hothouse incubation in the seventies, appropriation breathed important new life into art. This life flowered spectacularly over the decades – even if its now close to aesthetic kudzu. – Jerry Saltz

A metaphysical tour de force of untethered meaning and involuting interlocking contrapuntal rhythms, The Clock is more than a movie or even a work of art. It is so strange and other-ish that it becomes a stream-of-consciousness algorithm unto itself – something almost inhuman. – Jerry Saltz

Contrary to popular opinion, things dont go stale particularly fast in the art world. – Jerry Saltz

The New York art world readily proves people wrong. Just when folks say that things stink and flibbertigibbet critics wish the worst on us all because were not pure enough, good omens appear. – Jerry Saltz

I dont know much about auctions. I sometimes go to previews and see art sardined into ugly rooms. Ive gawked at the gaudy prices, and gaped at well-clad crowds of happy white people conspicuously spending hundreds of millions of dollars. – Jerry Saltz

To me, nothing in the art world is neutral. The idea of disinterest strikes me as boring, dishonest, dubious, and uninteresting. – Jerry Saltz

Its great that New York has large spaces for art. But the enormous immaculate box has become a dated, even oppressive place. Many of these spaces were designed for sprawling installations, large paintings, and the Relational Aesthetics work of the past fifteen years. – Jerry Saltz

I love art dealers. In some ways, theyre my favorite people in the art world. Really. I love that they put their money where their taste is, create their own aesthetic universes, support artists, employ people, and do all of this while letting us see art for free. Many are visionaries. – Jerry Saltz

The art world is an all-volunteer force. No one has to be here if he or she doesnt want to be, and we should be associating with anyone we want to. – Jerry Saltz

The giant white cube is now impeding rather than enhancing the rhythms of art. It preprograms a viewers journey, shifts the emphasis from process to product, and lacks individuality and openness. Its not that art should be seen only in rutty bombed-out environments, but it should seem alive. – Jerry Saltz

I see 30 to 40 gallery shows a week, and no matter what kind of mood Im in, no matter how bad the art is, I almost always feel better afterward. I can learn as much from bad art as from good. – Jerry Saltz

Wolfgang Tillmans stunning large-scale pictures, being shown for the first time, were so offhand I failed to see them as art. – Jerry Saltz