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The towering Jewish critic who taught me to grok art and hate Picasso

JL;DR SUMMARY In a reflective piece, Jessica Seigel recounts her connections to the influential Marxist art critic Max Kozloff, whose recent memorial in April 2025 unveiled his significant contributions to art criticism and its intersection with Jewish identity. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Jewish IdentityPhotographyArt CriticismNew York Art SceneWomen In ArtMax KozloffJessica SeigelMarxist Criticism1970s Art ScenePicasso Critique

Places mentioned

New York, United States
"After he moved to New York in 1959 for doctoral studies at New York Universitys Institute of Fine Arts, he wrote increasingly influential essays for The Nation, Art International and elsewhere, exposing the hidden political, moral and capitalist dimensions that he saw as inseparable from the painted canvases."
Greenwich Village, New York, United States
"Since the Hershs lived near me in Greenwich Village, I was able to walk home just fine on my own."
Soho, New York, United States
"Back then, though, the stretch between my Village home and the Kozloff loft in pre-gentrified Soho was a dark, empty no mans land."

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Cairo Item ID 51676
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Retrieved 2025-05-15 05:30:57 UTC
Curated 2025-05-15 08:31:37 UTC