Stop the presses: Art critic wins Pulitzer

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Finally, the curse is over.

New York Times art critic Holland Cotter today won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for criticism. He’s the first art critic to get the nod in 35 years, since the late Emily Genauer of Newsday won in 1974.

The Pulitzers have sideswiped art criticism a few times since then, giving the prize to writers who have either included visual art as one element among others -- performing arts, movies, etc. -- and one year it went to a writer in the specialized field of photography. But Cotter is the first since Genauer to claim art critic as a full-time occupation.

As an added bonus, Sebastian Smee, whose lively art criticism was added to the Boston Globe last May, was a finalist.

-- Christopher Knight

Photo: Holland Cotter. Credit: pulitzer.org