Jonathan Jones (journalist)

Jonathan Jones is a British art critic who has written for The Guardian since 1999. He has appeared in the BBC television series Private Life of a Masterpiece and in 2009^[1] was a judge for the Turner Prize. He has also been a judge for the BP Portrait Award.

Early life

Jones was brought up in North Wales. Both his parents were school teachers and the family visited Italy in the summer holidays which kindled his interest in art. He studied history at the University of Cambridge and at one time wanted to be a professional historian. Jones developed an interest in modern art while living in the United States, where his wife was an academic at Brown University. On his return to the United Kingdom he wrote freelance for magazines and art features for The Guardian.^[2]

Journalism

On Mark Leckey

Jones had a public feud with artist Mark Leckey, who won the Turner Prize in 2008. By 2011, Whitehot Magazine referred to "the ongoing 3 year battle" between the two.^[3] Later that year, Jones gave a highly negative review to Leckey's exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, describing it as being "full of lumbering inanities".^[4] The review provoked strong responses in art circles and many comments on The Guardian's webpage, including replies from Jones. Writing in frieze.com, Isobel Harbison called the review part of a "trend in broadsheet art criticism of opinion-mongering and reader-goading."^[5]

On photography

Jones has expressed varying opinions on photography. In January 2013 he wrote that "Photography is the serious art of our time" and the only art that devotes the same "attention to the stuff that matters" as great artists of the past.^[6] In December 2014, however, prompted by the high price paid for a print by the photographer Peter Lik, Jones started a column by declaring that "Photography is not an art", and went on to say that, "this hollow and overblown creation exposes the illusion that lures us all, when we’re having a good day with a good camera – the fantasy that taking a picture is the same thing as making a work of art."^[7]

On Wikipedia

In February 2014, in discussing a Wikipedia project to increase articles on women in the arts, Jones wrote that Wikipedia "is a corrupting force" that is "eroding the world's intellect" through a relativist approach to knowledge.^[8]

On Terry Pratchett

In August 2015, shortly after the death of Terry Pratchett, Jones wrote an article titled "Get real. Terry Pratchett is not a literary genius", criticizing Prathcett's books as "ordinary potboilers" not worth the time to read.^[9] The piece attracted criticism including a response by Sam Jordison on The Guardian's book blog, which defended Pratchett's work and criticized Jones for commenting on books despite admitting that he had not read them.^[10] Jones wrote a follow-up piece after reading Small Gods, in which he referred to his initial column as his "most shameful moment as a critic". He praised some of the book's wit and entertainment value, but still found that its prose and characters fell short of what he considered literary fiction.^[11]

Publications

• The lost battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo and the artistic duel that defined the Renaissance. Knopf, 2012. ISBN 0307594750
• The loves of the artists: Art and passion in the Renaissance. Simon & Schuster, 2013. ISBN 0857203207

References

External links

• Jonathan Jones on art at The Guardian.
• Jonathan Jones talking about his book The Lost Battles.