Christopher Knight, the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the Los Angeles Times, is retiring after a 45-year career in criticism, including 36 years at the newspaper. His final day is Friday. Knight, one of the few remaining full-time art critics in American journalism, was praised by colleagues for his encyclopedic knowledge and razor-sharp assessments. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2020, notably for a series of articles that harshly critiqued the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's (LACMA) proposed redesign by architect Peter Zumthor. He also received a lifetime achievement award from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation in 2020, and the College Art Association's Frank Jewett Mather Award in 1997. Before his journalism career, Knight worked as a curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and consulted for the Lannan Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art.
Knight's retirement marks the end of an era for art criticism in mainstream journalism, as he was among the last full-time critics at a major U.S. newspaper. His departure underscores the shrinking space for dedicated, rigorous art criticism in traditional media, a trend that has diminished public discourse about visual art. His Pulitzer-winning work demonstrated how a critic can serve the public interest by holding powerful institutions accountable, as seen in his influential coverage of LACMA's controversial building plans. His legacy highlights the vital role of the critic as both a cultural interpreter and a watchdog, a role that is increasingly rare in today's media landscape.