Christopher Knight, the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic for the Los Angeles Times, is retiring after more than 40 years in the field, with his final day set for November 28. Knight spent 36 of those years at the Los Angeles Times, becoming one of the last full-time art critics at a major U.S. daily newspaper. He won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2020 for his incisive coverage of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's proposed overhaul, and received a $50,000 Lifetime Achievement Award for Art Journalism from the Dorothea and Leo Rabkin Foundation the same year. Knight also authored two books and appeared on programs like 60 Minutes and PBS NewsHour.
Knight's retirement marks the end of an era for arts journalism, as he was a rare full-time critic at a major newspaper, providing rigorous, community-focused analysis that connected art to broader cultural and civic issues. His departure underscores the ongoing decline of dedicated arts criticism in mainstream media, raising concerns about the future of informed public discourse on visual art. His legacy includes not only his Pulitzer-winning work on LACMA but also his influence on how art criticism can serve the public interest.