Peter Schjeldahl Cause of Death

Peter Schjeldahl, the New Yorker’s art critic and a half-century-long New York City art scene prose stylist, passed away on October 21, 2022, at the age of 80.

Although the cause of death of Schjeldahl has not been officially determined, he was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 77 in 2019.

Over the course of his long career, Schjeldahl championed living artists working in a wide range of genres and subject matter.

These artists include Faith Ringgold, Richard Serra, Amy Sherald, Bruce Nauman, and countless others while he criticised others, such as Cézanne and KAWS.

Schjeldahl continued to write essays and reviews until his death, including a panegyric on Wolfgang Tillmans’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, which was published just two weeks before his death.

Alas, alas, the great Peter Schjeldahl has died. His final published thoughts, on Wolfgang Tillmans, could equally well have applied to his own work: pic.twitter.com/dQpsXlVxsS

— tad friend (@tadfriend) October 21, 2022

On June 13, 2015, Carleton College bestowed an honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, on Schjeldahl as part of their commencement exercises.

Schjeldahl is survived by his wife, Donnie Brooke Alderson, and their daughter, Ada Calhoun, who published Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me earlier this year.