THE STORY – Set against the ever-shifting landscape of New York City, the film follows legendary art critics—and husband and wife—Roberta Smith and Jerry Saltz as they navigate the blurred line between personal and professional: shaping cultural discourse by day, and returning home to a relationship built on humor, routine, and deep mutual respect. While their opinions can influence careers and define movements, their private world is grounded in something far more ordinary—and far more revealing.
THE CAST – Jerry Saltz & Roberta Smith
THE TEAM – Alison Chernick (Director)
THE RUNNING TIME – 83 Minutes
Find yourself a man who looks at you the way Jerry Saltz looks at Roberta Smith. Married for over thirty years, Jerry still gazes on his wife with the adoring eyes of a man who just found his soulmate. He beams with pride whenever he looks at her, not in the way of someone showing off a prized possession, but of someone barely able to contain their joy at watching a loved one do what they’re meant to do. In the case of Roberta, the first woman to hold the position of (co-)Chief Art Critic at the New York Times, that’s writing and talking about art. And wouldn’t you know it, Saltz just so happens to be the Senior Art Critic at New York Magazine. Yes, theirs is a match made in heaven, at least if Alison Chernick’s sweet, intimate documentary “House of Criticism” is any indication. For decades, the couple has been a fixture in New York’s art scene, attending anywhere from 25-30 shows a week before writing them up in separate rooms in their book-lined Manhattan apartment. Their approaches to writing are as different as their approaches to art, but their love for each other seems as strong now as ever.
Thankfully, neither Saltz nor Smith seems to have any interest in editing their thoughts for the film. Right from the start, they’re incredibly candid with both the camera and each other; Roberta openly calls out the fact that when they first got together, she was under the impression that she would be the center of the relationship, as Jerry wasn’t known in the art world yet. “I did not sign up for that!” she says of him becoming a critic. And yet, listening to them talk throughout the film’s unhurried 83-minute runtime, it feels like it couldn’t have happened any other way for either of them. These are two people who were simply meant for each other. It’s clear not just in how they look at and treat each other, but in how they talk to and about each other. Their banter is so good it almost feels scripted, and their differing approaches to art make for some fascinating conversations when they walk through some shows together.
Smartly, Chernick probes her subjects for stories of how the art world has changed over the decades they’ve been together. They’ve seen it all, and hearing them put various contemporary artists in their historical context is inspiring; your next trip to a museum will feel different after hearing Jerry’s condensed version of art history and Roberta’s up-close inspection of brush strokes. Thanks to their different ways of approaching art, audiences gain both a broader perspective of the art world and a closer connection with the one whose views most speak to you. Whether you care about form, technique, historical context, or emotional impact, either Jerry or Roberta will have something to say that will stick with you, as well as challenge your own views on art and what it can be and do.
Perhaps surprisingly, “House of Criticism” is wholly unpretentious. As much as Jerry and Roberta pontificate about art, they never come across as blowhards or know-it-alls. They sound passionate and knowledgeable, and their years of writing have honed their communication skills to a fine point. Chernick also structures the film quite cannily, letting us get to know them as people before we learn who they are as critics. This way, when deeper discussions of art come, they feel like windows into these people’s souls, an extension of how they see and move through the world. This makes the film even more intimate a character study than it already is, and one that’s incredibly niche, but Chernick’s light touch ensures that it’s a pleasant watch no matter how deep in the weeds her subjects get. Art lovers and writers will get much more out of the film than anyone else, but even if you couldn’t care less about the art world, “House of Criticism” is still an incredibly endearing introduction to it.
