Holland Cotter

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Holland Cotter is the co-chief art critic at The New York Times and a graduate of the Master’s in Art History program at Hunter College. After earning his BA from Harvard College in 1970, Cotter moved to downtown Manhattan and found work as a freelance writer and eventually as a contributing editor at Art in America. In the late 1980s he was hired to be editor-in-chief for the computing and informational services center at the City University of New York, a job that allowed him to take graduate courses at Hunter College for free. At Hunter Cotter studied American Modernism and earned his MA in 1988.

Cotter is best known for his work at The New York Times, where he has been a staff art critic since 1998. Over the years he has won numerous awards for his writing, including the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism in 2009. His critical writing is known for thoughtful analysis and nuanced perspective, and he has been praised for his ability to connect contemporary art to larger social and cultural issues. Cotter has also been an advocate for underrepresented artists and vocal about the need for greater diversity and inclusivity in the art world. In 2014, he was given an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters from Hunter College, and has returned to the school as a visiting professor.

Cotter has written several books, including The Invisible Dragon: Four Essays on Beauty (1993) and City Art: New York’s Percent for Art Program (2005). In addition to his work at The New York Times, he became a regular contributor to Art News, and wrote for a variety of publications, including The Village Voice and Artforum.