Art in America

History

1913–1940 Founding and early history

Art in America was founded in 1913 in New York City as a quarterly magazine by Frederic Fairchild Sherman, who named Renaissance scholar Wilhelm Valentiner the first editor of the publication. The magazine began publishing one month before the 1913 Armory Show took place in New York, one of the first significant exhibitions of modernist and avant-garde artists in the United States, including both European and American artists. The magazine primarily focused on more traditional European art early in its history. Sherman took over from Valentiner as editor in 1917. He eventually hired Jean Lipman as assistant editor in the early 1930s. Between 1921 and 1939 the magazine was published under the title Art in America and Elsewhere.

1940–1957: Jean Lipman ownership

Sherman died in 1940 after 27 years as Art in Americas publisher. At the time of his death, the magazine's circulation had fallen to less than 200. Lipman became editor and owner of the publication in 1940, with her husband serving as its business manager. The magazine was published from their home in Cannondale, Connecticut.

1957–1984: Lee A. Ault ownership, sale to Whitney Communications

Publisher Lee A. Ault purchased the magazine along with several other investors in 1957. In the late 1950s, the magazine began expanding its breadth of criticism and reviews, after having generally avoided covering recent artistic movements like abstract expressionism. Ault's investment also allowed the magazine to grow, publishing in hardcover, and circulation reached 18,000 in 1962. Ault served as Art in Americas president and publisher until 1969, when the magazine was purchased by Whitney Communications Corporation, owned by venture capitalist and philanthropist John Hay Whitney.

Lipman left the magazine in 1970 to lead the Whitney Museum's publications department. Brian O'Doherty, a former critic at The New York Times, was named editor after Lipman. O'Doherty became known for publishing criticism under pseudonyms, sometimes of a different gender. Elizabeth C. Baker, known as Betsy, was appointed editor in 1974. Art in America increased its output from six issues a year to ten a year in 1979; the publication claimed a circulation of 45,000 at the time.

1984–2018: Sale to Peter Brant, merger with ''ARTnews''

Whitney Communications sold the magazine in 1984 to Brant Publications, a new company started by businessman Peter Brant.

In January 2008, Brant purchased his ex-wife's 50 percent stake in Brant Publications, becoming the sole owner of the company. Baker stepped down as editor in June 2008 after 30 years to become an editor-at-large, having increased the circulation to 75,000; staff senior editor Marcia E. Vetrocq was named the new editor of the magazine. Art market blogger and Bloomberg News reporter Lindsay Pollock was named editor in 2011; critic Charlie Finch reported that Vetrocq learned she had been fired via an article in The New York Times announcing Pollock's hiring.

In 2015, Brant Publications sold Art in America and several other magazine brands to ARTnews SA, the parent company of ARTnews magazine, one of *A.i.A.*s primary historical competitors. As part of the sale, Brant Publications became the new majority owner of ARTnews SA and the two magazines formally merged, with the Art in America website absorbed into the ARTnews website. The following year, Brant Publications finalized transactions to repurchase both Art in America and ARTnews from ARTnews SA under the new entity Art Media Holdings. Pollock announced that she was leaving as editor in 2017. Writer William S. Smith, a co-founder of the online magazine Triple Canopy, was named the new editor the same year.

2018–present: Penske ownership

In 2018, Penske Media Corporation, the parent company of Variety and Rolling Stone magazines, acquired Art in America and ARTnews from Brant Publications. Smith resigned as editor in 2021 to join the Hong Kong contemporary art museum M+. Sarah Douglas, editor of ARTnews, became the co-editor of both publications. Some time after the acquisition by Penske, Art in America scaled back to six issues a year and then four issues a year.

Editors-in-chief

• Wilhelm Valentiner (1913–1917)
• Frederic Fairchild Sherman (1917–1940; founder)
• Jean Lipman (first joined in 1934, editor-in-chief 1941–1970)
• Brian O'Doherty (1971–1974)
• Elizabeth C. Baker (1974–2008)
• Marcia Vetrocq (2008–2011)
• Lindsay Pollock (2011–2017)
• William S. Smith (2017–2021)
• Sarah Douglas (2021–)

Managing editors

• Joan Simon (1974–1983)
• Nancy Marmer (1983–1997)
• Richard Vine (1998–2008, 2013–)
• David Ebony (2008–2013)

Notable contributors

A number of well-known artists have been commissioned to design special covers for the magazine. Edward Steichen did one for its 50th birthday; Alexander Calder, Robert Rauschenberg, Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Indiana also created covers. For its 100th birthday the magazine planned special covers by Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman, and Urs Fischer.

Notable writers

• Maurice Berger
• Mark Staff Brandl
• Alfred Corn
• Carol Diehl
• Franklin Einspruch
• Hal Foster
• Suzi Gablik
• Jamey Gambrell
• Eleanor Heartney
• Dave Hickey
• Henry T. Hopkins
• Travis Jeppesen
• Joe Lewis
• Nancy Marmer
• Ted Mooney
• Linda Nochlin
• Craig Owens
• Peter Plagens
• Nancy Princenthal
• Carter Ratcliff
• Walter Robinson
• Harold Rosenberg
• Peter Schjeldahl
• Stephen Westfall
• Akiko Ichikawa

References

References

1. (2 February 1979). "Art People; Picasso show is still alive". [[The New York Times]].
2. (2 February 1913). "What Is Happening of Importance in the World of Art To-Day". [[The New York Times]].
3. (2003). "Art periodicals in the Americas". [[Oxford University Press]].
4. Tebbel, John. (13 October 1962). "Cinderella Magazine: 'Art in America'".
5. (25 October 1940). "Frederic F. Sherman; Art Collector". [[New York Daily News.
6. (1991). "Early Days at Art in America". [[Archives of American Art]] / [[University of Chicago Press]].
7. (11 April 1996). "Lee A. Ault, 80, An Art Publisher, Dealer and Collector". [[The New York Times]].
8. (15 December 1968). "Whitney Group Buys an Art Publication". [[The New York Times]].
9. (24 August 1986). "Art; Lipman Largesse on Display". [[The New York Times]].
10. (29 October 1970). "Brian O'Doherty Named To Edit Art in America". [[The New York Times]].
11. (9 November 2022). "Brian O'Doherty, Paradigm-Shifting Artist and Writer, Dies at 94".
12. (25 June 2008). "Longtime Art in America Editor Steps Down". [[The New York Times]].
13. (27 March 1984). "Advertising; Brant Publications Buys Art in America". [[The New York Times]].
14. (24 June 2008). "Artnet News - June 24, 2008".
15. (4 January 2011). "Art in America Names New Editor in Chief". [[The New York Times]].
16. (5 January 2011). "Scheherazde".
17. (29 July 2015). "Art in America Sold to ARTnews Owner". [[The New York Times]].
18. (29 July 2015). "'ARTnews' and 'Art in America' Merge as Print Market Continues to Decline".
19. Cascone, Sarah. (9 October 2015). "'ARTnews' Magazine Ceases Monthly Print Publication After 113 Years".
20. (27 May 2016). "Peter Brant 'Assumes Full Control' of All His Magazines".
21. (16 June 2016). "Artnews SA Files for Bankruptcy".
22. (25 April 2017). "Lindsay Pollock Steps Down as Editor-in-Chief of 'Art in America' Magazine".
23. (29 January 2021). "''Art in America'' Editor William S. Smith Departs for Hong Kong's M+ Museum".
24. (13 November 2018). "'ARTnews' and 'Art in America' Are Bought by Penske Media, Owner of 'Rolling Stone' and 'Variety'".
25. (7 December 2022). "'Artforum' Has Been Acquired by Penske Media in a Major Shakeup for the Art-Publishing Industry".
26. Vogel, Carol. (22 November 2012). "Christie's Selling Art With the Rockefeller Name Attached". New York Times.
27. Munk, Shilo. (2009-09-28). "Henry T. Hopkins: Retired art department chair, Hammer director".