Filmmaker Alison Chernick's documentary *House of Criticism* offers an intimate double portrait of legendary New York art critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith, focusing on their domestic routines, writing anxieties, and decades-long partnership. The film follows Saltz's well-known social-media persona and coffee rituals, but builds toward Smith's 2024 retirement from the *New York Times*, where she served as co-chief art critic for two decades. Through verité footage and archival material, Chernick traces their Midwestern roots, 1992 marriage, and divergent critical approaches, with Smith's early mentorship under Donald Judd and her eventual departure from daily criticism giving the film its emotional arc.
The documentary matters because it captures the end of an era for New York art criticism, as two of its most influential voices—Saltz at *New York* magazine and Smith at the *Times*—face the twilight of their careers. By foregrounding the relentless anxiety of writing on deadline and the personal sacrifices behind their public personas, the film humanizes figures who have shaped contemporary art discourse for decades. It also raises broader questions about the future of criticism in an age of social media and shrinking institutional support for long-form arts journalism.