A Form of Reporting From Within

richard brody defends the traditional arts and culture review.Raoul Hausmann, The Art Critic, 1919-20.

The heart of the review is emotion, the stirrings of the soul, receptiveness to the life-changing power of art (even commercial art); personality-centered formats rooted in reporting or in talk are art from the ego, more like homework or social capital. And, though criticism is obviously subjective, at another level it is resolutely objective—a form of reporting from within.

— Richard Brody, “In Defense of the Traditional Review,” New Yorker, 24 July 2025