This week's Critic's Table column highlights three New York gallery and museum shows. Painter Sam McKinniss praises Helene Schjerfbeck's first major U.S. institutional survey, "Seeing Silence: The Paintings of Helene Schjerfbeck," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, calling the Finnish modernist more fascinating than Edvard Munch. Critic Johanna Fateman argues that Joan Semmel's career-spanning exhibition "In the Flesh" at the Jewish Museum proves her recent icon status is well-deserved and long overdue. Artist Ajay Kurian reviews Marguerite Humeau's mythic ecosystems at White Cube.
The column matters because it brings attention to an undersung Finnish painter, Helene Schjerfbeck, whose work is little-known in the U.S., and contextualizes her within a broader Nordic and American modernist tradition. It also underscores the ongoing reevaluation of Joan Semmel's feminist contributions to painting, highlighting how institutional surveys can correct historical neglect. The piece demonstrates how critics and artists can guide audiences through concurrent exhibitions, fostering deeper engagement with both historical and contemporary art.