Hilton Kramer
Encyclopedia
Hilton Kramer is a U.S. art critic
and cultural commentator.
Kramer was educated at Syracuse University
, Columbia University
, Harvard University
, Indiana University
and the New School for Social Research. He worked as the editor of Arts Magazine, art critic
for The Nation, and from 1965 to 1982, as an art critic for The New York Times
. He has also published in the Art and Antiques Magazine
and The New York Observer.
Over the course of his career, Kramer came to disagree with leftwing political views and what he perceived as the aesthetic nihilism
characterizing a large majority of 20th century working artists and art critics. This change of position led to his resignation from The New York Times
in 1982 to found The New Criterion
, now a prominent conservative magazine for which Kramer is, with Roger Kimball
, co-editor and publisher. Kramer took a strongly anti-Stalinist
stance in his 2003 review of Anne Applebaum's Gulag: A History
. In his 1999 The Twilight of the Intellectuals, he defended the anti-Stalinist views of art critic Clement Greenberg
.
Kramer resides chiefly in the small coastal town of Damariscotta, Maine
.
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and cultural commentator.
Kramer was educated at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Indiana University
Indiana University Bloomington
Indiana University Bloomington is a public research university located in Bloomington, Indiana, in the United States. IU Bloomington is the flagship campus of the Indiana University system. Being the flagship campus, IU Bloomington is often referred to simply as IU or Indiana...
and the New School for Social Research. He worked as the editor of Arts Magazine, art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
for The Nation, and from 1965 to 1982, as an art critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
. He has also published in the Art and Antiques Magazine
Art and Antiques Magazine
Art & Antiques is an American arts magazine.-1984 launch:Art & Antiques began with the March, 1984, issue, also called the "Premier Issue." While the magazine disclaimed any connection to a previous publication of the same name, the company had in fact bought the rights from a previous magazine...
and The New York Observer.
Over the course of his career, Kramer came to disagree with leftwing political views and what he perceived as the aesthetic nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
characterizing a large majority of 20th century working artists and art critics. This change of position led to his resignation from The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in 1982 to found The New Criterion
The New Criterion
The New Criterion is a New York-based monthly literary magazine and journal of artistic and cultural criticism, edited by Hilton Kramer and Roger Kimball. It has sections for criticism of poetry, theater, art, music, the media, and books...
, now a prominent conservative magazine for which Kramer is, with Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball
Roger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
, co-editor and publisher. Kramer took a strongly anti-Stalinist
Stalinism
Stalinism refers to the ideology that Joseph Stalin conceived and implemented in the Soviet Union, and is generally considered a branch of Marxist–Leninist ideology but considered by some historians to be a significant deviation from this philosophy...
stance in his 2003 review of Anne Applebaum's Gulag: A History
Gulag: A History
Gulag: A History, also published as Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps, is a non-fiction book covering the history of the Soviet Gulag system. It was written by American author Anne Applebaum and published in 2003 by Doubleday. Gulag won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction and the...
. In his 1999 The Twilight of the Intellectuals, he defended the anti-Stalinist views of art critic Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg
Clement Greenberg was an American essayist known mainly as an influential visual art critic closely associated with American Modern art of the mid-20th century...
.
Kramer resides chiefly in the small coastal town of Damariscotta, Maine
Damariscotta, Maine
Damariscotta is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,041 at the 2000 census. A popular tourist resort area, the towns of Damariscotta and Newcastle are linked by the Main Street bridge over the Damariscotta River, forming the "Twin Villages." The name Damariscotta is...
.
Works
- 1973. The Age of the Avant-Garde. (ISBN 0-374-10238-4).
- 1985. The Revenge of the Philistines. (ISBN 0-02-918470-3).
- 1997 (coedited with Roger KimballRoger KimballRoger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
). The Future of the European Past. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. - 1999. The Twilight of the Intellectuals: Culture and Politics in the Era of the Cold War. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee. {ISBN 1-56663-222-6
- 2002 (coedited with Roger KimballRoger KimballRoger Kimball is a conservative U.S. art critic and social commentator. He was educated at Cheverus High School, a Jesuit institution in South Portland, Maine, and then at Bennington College, where he took a BA in philosophy and classical Greek, and Yale University...
). The Survival of Culture: Permanent Values in a Virtual Age. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee (ISBN 1-56663-465-2). - 2003, "Remembering the Gulag" (review of Anne ApplebaumAnne ApplebaumAnne Elizabeth Applebaum is a journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author who has written extensively about communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has been an editor at The Economist, and a member of the editorial board of The Washington Post...
, 2003. Gulag: A History, Doubleday), The New Criterion 21 (9): - 2006 The Triumph of Modernism: The Art World, 1985-2005 (ISBN 1566637082)
External links
- New Criterion bio
- NNDB
- On The Paintings of Bert Carpenter
- New York Sun biographical article
- New York Observer articles