Charlie Finch
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Short description|American art critic (1953–2022)}}
{{infobox writer
|name = Charlie Finch
|birth_name = Charles Baker Finch Jr.
|birth_date = {{birth date|1953|4|22}}
|birth_place = New York City, U.S.
|death_date = {{death date and age|2022|8|24|1953|4|22}}
|death_place = New York City, U.S.
|occupation = Art critic
|period = 1992–2012
|education = Yale University (BA)
|spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Mary Truitt||1981|end = divorced}}|{{marriage|Marion Callis|end = divorced}}}}
|children = Charles
}}
Charles Baker Finch Jr. (April 22, 1953 – August 24, 2022) was an American art critic who wrote for Artnet and Coagula.
Early life
Finch was born in Manhattan on April 22, 1953.{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/03/arts/charlie-finch-dead.html|title = Charlie Finch, Caustic Chronicler of New York's Art Scene, Dies at 69|newspaper = The New York Times|date = September 3, 2022|accessdate = September 3, 2022|last = Genzlinger|first = Neil|url-access = limited}} His father was a business executive and his mother was a buyer and homemaker. He attended Phillips Academy, received a bachelor's degree in political science from Yale University in 1974, and enrolled at Union Theological Seminary, but did not graduate.{{cite web |url=https://getaboutcolumbia.com/charlie-finch-art-columnist-who-polarized-new-york-dies-at-68-artnews-com/ |title=Charlie Finch, art columnist who polarized New York, dies at 68 |website=ARTnews.com |date=August 25, 2022 |access-date=September 2, 2022}}
Career
In the 1980s, Finch hosted a radio program called Artbreaking on WBAI and was a one-time culture columnist for the Paris Review online.{{cite web |url=https://www.trace.org/node/161 |title=Charlie Finch |date=September 3, 2014 |access-date=September 2, 2022}} He also operated a short lived art gallery in the East Village which he named Real Art.{{cite web |url=https://www.artforum.com/news/charlie-finch-1954-2022-89005 |title=Charlie Finch (1954–2022) |date=August 29, 2022|work = Artforum |access-date=September 2, 2022}}
In 1992, Finch began writing for Coagula Art Journal, and he became known for his often vitriolic and controversial reviews.{{cite news |url=https://newcriterion.com/blogs/dispatch/charlie-finch-the-insult-comic-of-the-art-world |title=Charlie Finch: The Insult Comic of the Art World|newspaper=The New Criterion }} He then wrote for Artnet from 1996 to 2012.{{cite web | url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/remembering-critic-charlie-finch-2165892 | title=Walter Robinson Remembers Charlie Finch, the Iconoclastic Critic and 'Lifeblood' of Artnet Magazine for 15 Years |work = Artnet|date = August 26, 2022|accessdate = September 3, 2022|last = Robinson|first = Walter}} While his defenders praised him as passionate, his writing was also criticized as overly gossipy or cruel.
Personal life and death
Finch was married twice, first to Mary Truitt, the daughter of sculptor Anne Truitt, and then to Marion Callis; both marriages ended in divorce, with his first marriage dissolving in 1981. With Truitt, he had a son, novelist Charles Finch.{{cite web |url=http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/features/finch/anne-truitt9-3-09.asp |title=Mother-In-Law |first=Charlie |last=Finch |access-date=September 2, 2022}}
On August 24, 2022, Finch, according to his son, either jumped or fell to his death from the window of his East Village apartment in Manhattan.{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/03/arts/charlie-finch-dead.html | title=Charlie Finch, Caustic Chronicler of New York's Art Scene, Dies at 69 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=September 3, 2022 | last1=Genzlinger | first1=Neil }} He had been ill with cancer for about a decade, and a neighbor speculated that he may have been also distressed about his finances, as he lived in his apartment under rent control, and the building had recently been sold.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/charlie-finch-art-critic-dead-1234637369/ Obituary, ArtNews]
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Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:American male non-fiction writers
Category:People from the East Village, Manhattan
Category:Phillips Academy alumni
Category:Radio personalities from New York City
Category:Suicides by jumping in New York City