Jerry Saltz is the senior art critic at New York magazine and its entertainment site Vulture. He is the winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in Criticism and a 2019 National Magazine Award. Before joining New York in 2007, Saltz had been art critic for The Village Voice since 1998, and was twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize during his tenure there. A frequent guest lecturer, he has spoken at the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, and many others, and has appeared at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Art Institute of Chicago, and elsewhere.

“Inspiration leaps off the pages from Jerry Saltz’s new book on creativity. One wants to say he’s revealing secrets, but really, he’s revealing intuition—intuition formed from decades of thinking about art. This book is for the artist or non-artist, for the person who gets plain English, for the person who understands that practical talk can coax out the mystical messages that lie underneath.” 
 —Steve Martin

“How to Be an Artist has relevance way beyond the art world. With his typical clarity and compassion, Jerry Saltz outlines a path for anyone who wants to dedicate their lives to chasing something they believe in. Even as a chef, I have Jerry’s advice ringing through my brain at all times.”
—David Chang 
 
“I am so blown away by How to Be an Artist, because it takes the tools of the literal masters and offers them to whoever wants them. Any reader would be lucky to escape their self-doubt to indulge in this straightforward, funny, and delightful guide.”
—Jill Soloway

Art has the power to change our lives. For many, becoming an artist is a lifelong dream. But how to make it happen? In How to Be an Artist, Jerry Saltz, one of the art world’s most celebrated and passionate voices, offers an indispensable handbook for creative people of all kinds.

From the first sparks of inspiration–and how to pursue them without giving in to self-doubt–Saltz offers invaluable insight into what really matters to emerging artists: originality, persistence, a balance between knowledge and intuition, and that most precious of qualities, self-belief. Brimming with rules, prompts, and practical tips, How to Be an Artist gives artists new ways to break through creative blocks, get the most from materials, navigate career challenges, and above all find joy in the work.

Packed into this dazzling handbook are more than sixty tips, prompts, and insights, including: Embrace Genre Own Your Guilty Pleasures Look Hard, Look Openly Make Art for Now, Not the Future Make an Enemy of Envy Get Lost! and more–along with full-color artwork from visionaries ancient and modern, from Navajo sand artists to Rembrandt and Matisse, Vivian Maier and Hilma af Klint, Andy Warhol, Bill Traylor, and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith. This beautiful and useful book will help artists of all kinds–painters, photographers, writers, performers–realize their dreams.

 

Jerry Saltz photo credit: Celeste Slowman