An obituary "Peter Schjeldahl, New York Art Critic With a Poet's Voice, Dies at 80" by William Grimes shares glimpses of Schjeldahl's generous, positive attitude, including:

"I have no patience for bitterness of any kind," he told Interview magazine in 2014. "Even to be involved with art is to inhabit such a level of privilege in life."

... so wise, to recognize one's own blessings! And others celebrated Peter Schjeldahl as a person, including film critic Richard Brody [1]:

Saddened beyond words by the passing of Peter Schjeldahl, whom I looked up to with astonishment, for the power of his observations, the vitality of his writing, and the ever-youthfulness of his enthusiasm; he was also the most invigorating of colleagues, stopping by my desk and in a couple of quick, incisive sentences, setting off a veritable pinball machine of surprising and far-reaching ideas. Also, big Mets fan, as we long commiserated.

... and Ben Brantley [2]:

I never knew anyone who was so consistently alert to, and thrilled by, big ideas and the surprises of new perspectives. To go through a gallery or museum with him was to see with the unjaded eyes of an incredibly learned child. The brilliant Peter Schjeldahl has died.

(cf "A Look Back at Peter Schjeldahl's Visionary Criticism" in The New Yorker, and Art Newspaper (2001-08-04), Artistic Bequests (2004-05-26), Undressed Art (2005-02-01), Jerk on One End (2009-12-24), Seeking Negative Space (2016-04-21), ...) - ^z - 2022-10-22