Milton Esterow, Journalist Who Transformed ARTnews and the Art World, Dies at 97

In a social media post, Robin Cembalest, who served as executive editor of ARTnews under Esterow, wrote, “Milton trained generations of editors and writers, published scoop after scoop that won prize after prize, and was justly proud of the impact of the magazine’s relentless investigative journalism—particularly when it came to the restitution of Holocaust war loot.” But Esterow went about his job with a modesty that did not go unnoticed by outside observers: the critic Ben Davis once wrote that he was “hardly a flashy guy.” Within his newsroom, he was known as both a nurturing presence, with a habit of providing incoming hires with inspiration in the form of a printed packet of articles published by ARTnews. It was central to the New York art world of the 1950s, but its readership had dwindled; Esterow, knowing it needed a new focus, let go of nearly everyone at the magazine and proceeded to bring on a team of fresh hires.

Author: Alex Greenberger

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