New York Times art critic Karen Rosenberg has jumped ship after seven years and taken up a post as deputy editor at art sales company Artspace, the New York Observer reports.
Rosenberg will report to editor-in-chief Andrew Goldstein, who has run the site’s magazine section since it launched three years ago and is known for smart and timely interviews with art-world newsmakers like Stefan Simchowitz. Rosenberg’s hire brings the number of Artspace editorial staff to three.
“Over her seven years with the Times, Karen has covered art and the world surrounding it with penetrating insight, cool authority, and equal comfort with the latest work coming out of today’s studios and the achievements of earlier eras,” Goldstein told artnet News in an email.
Artspace was snapped up last year by art publisher Phaidon (see Leon Black’s Phaidon Confirms Purchase of Artspace). artnet News’s own Ben Genocchio is skeptical about whether the deal benefits anyone, but that’s another story. (See Artspace Sale Augurs Inevitable Shake-Out in Online Art Sales.)
We note that Rosenberg follows by a month the exit of seasoned arts reporter Carol Vogel (see Veteran Arts Writer Carol Vogel Resigns from the New York Times).
It’s the second time in just a few days that a pedigreed writer for a major New York publication has made the leap to a small online competitor. Sasha Frere-Jones, music critic for the New Yorker for 11 years, is headed for Genius.com, where staff writers and contributors annotate web pages on subjects ranging from rap lyrics to the law. (See Christopher Glazek Annotates His NYT Stefan Simchowitz Story.) Funny enough, reports of that job change were the first time many observers learned that Frere-Jones is a white man, not a black woman.
Rosenberg is a white woman.