Edward J. Sozanski

Edward J. Sozanski, a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and Columbia University, has been an art critic for 30 years, first at the Providence Journal-Bulletin and since 1982 at the Inquirer. He has also has written on cultural topics for The Economist newspaper of London.

Besides contemporary art, his particular interests are photography, American art of the 19th Century and crafted art of all periods and cultures. Before becoming a critic, he taught college-level writing and worked as a graphic designer.

Email Edward at esozanski@phillynews.com

Figure of the Maize God in Shell. Royal Maya Tomb II

‘Maya 2012’ at Penn Museum shows pre-Columbian sophistication

Ed Sozanski

Posted 05/10/2012

When I was in high school, students were almost entirely ignorant of the fact that the Americas were already densely populated when Columbus bumped into the island of Hispaniola in 1492. Some of these civilizations, particularly the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca, were as sophisticated as any pre-Columbian European cultures, in some instances more so.

Gallery: Barnes Collection: Paintings- and more
The Barnes collection mirrors the collector

Galleries shine at Barnes - 05/03/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, CONTRIBUTING ART CRITIC

Edward J. Sozanski: Transformation of the Barnes Foundation from a school with an art collection to a museum with art classes is finally complete.
Uffizi Gallery treasures at Michener Museum in Doylestown - 04/28/2012: Ed Sozanski

Since it opened in 1988, the James A. Michener Art Museum has assiduously promoted the art of Bucks County, particularly the New Hope colony, and American art in general. It’s a bit of a jolt, then, to walk into the museum’s special exhibitions space and encounter a display of European Old Master art, most of it Italian and all of it religious.
Barnes at the Pennsylvania Academy: A scandal in 1923 - 04/15/2012: Ed Sozanski

Eighty-nine years ago this month, Albert Coombs Barnes and his ideas about art were rejected by the city of Philadelphia more rudely and forcefully than he deserved, or could have reasonably expected. That rejection contributed significantly to the collector’s estrangement from the city’s cultural and educational community, and also to the public perception of Barnes as a crotchety, egotistical, and vindictive misanthrope.
An artist's life with joyful, sensual color - 04/06/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

By emphasizing color and light, the impressionists invented a way of painting that conveyed pure sensation. This is why critics of their time, startled by the sketchiness and chromatic intensity of their pictures, denounced them.
Thinking big at Fabric Workshop - 04/02/2012: When the Fabric Workshop and Museum moved to Arch Street to make way for the expansion of the Convention Center, it gained some cavernous, loftlike spaces on the upper floors of its building that lend themselves to monumental installation projects. In the current art climate, there seem to be many artists who like to work this way. But how many can effectively fill a shoebox-proportioned room that's 130 feet long? Pae White can and does, with a mesmerizing construction of red yarn called Summer XX.
Art: - 03/25/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

"Art" by Edward J. Sozanski does not appear this week. Read his recent work at http://go.philly.com/ edwardsozanski
He made the Michener what it is - 03/16/2012: After two decades, director Bruce Katsiff is returning to his calling: Photography

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Bruce Katsiff remembers being asked, sometime around 1990, by the board president of the James A. Michener Art Center if he would be interested in running the organization, which had recently opened on the site of the former Bucks County prison in Doylestown.
Inspired shift of context, perception - 03/11/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Andy Warhol died on George Washington's birthday 25 years ago from complications of gallbladder surgery. Having survived a near-fatal shooting 19 years before that, he had by then become a legendary figure in the international art world, as famous as Picasso, if not more so.
Elaine Kurtz's explorations of nature - 03/02/2012: Woodmere pairs a wel- come retrospective of the artist with a com- panion abstract show.

By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Elaine Kurtz came to William R. Valerio's attention about a year ago when he saw one of her paintings in the home of Nancy Posel, a longtime friend of the artist's and a supporter of Woodmere Art Museum.
Rock photo exhibition rolls into museum - 02/26/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic

Rock-and-roll music embodies the spirit of several generations, which is to say raucous and sometimes transgressive behavior by both musicians and their fans, idol worship and mass hysteria.

MORE STORIES

Training a light on 'women's work' - 02/17/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
Tanner paintings humanize the holy - 02/11/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
The glory of van Gogh - 02/03/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
Spring Arts Preview - 01/27/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
Under 95 to quite a bit higher for Strauss - 01/20/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
Fiber sculpture with the verve of dance - 01/13/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
'Ocean Without a Shore' addresses the mystery of existence through video - 01/06/2012: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic
Art: Brandywine's leader saying farewell - 12/16/2011: By Edward J. Sozanski, Contributing Art Critic