From not knowing journalism, to the Pulitzer

Published December 20th, 2021

Along with Calle San Francisco, there is a section with banks, hotels, and restaurants, and you might think that no one lives there anymore. But there is a door, where if you knock, someone will open it. Christopher (Chris) Knight is an art critic for the “Los Angeles Times,” who lives behind one of those giant doors on San Francisco Street. He is the recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Best Art Criticism.

The first time Knight came to San Miguel de Allende was in the 80s. He remembers how in the Jardin Principal there was a row of young men, and another row of young women—each walking in opposite directions, and flirting. Today the city is different but still glamorous, from his perspective. A classic that never changes is the Correo Restaurant “It is food that tastes like it’s homemade, classic, delicious, and conveniently located.” What he is seeing now is that there is more national tourism. “From Guadalajara, Mexico City, and Monterrey. I like that. This has been happening since we received recognition as a World Heritage City.”

In 1991, along with his life partner and three other friends, Knight decided to buy a house in the City Center. When he is not in Los Angeles and traveling to Australia, London, or Russia, he spends time here writing what he knows—art. Knight has been in journalism for the past 40 years, but his beginnings were bumpy. In conversation, he indicated, “I was 30 when I started. Before that, I was the curator of a contemporary art museum in San Diego.” He had always planned to work in a museum and study Art History, Renaissance, and Modern History. “I was finishing my PHD in 1976, and writing my dissertation. A friend called me in March 1976, there was an open position in San Diego. She believed that it was perfect for me. I applied, I went to an interview, they offered me the position. I took it, and I stayed. I never finished my dissertation,” commented Knight.

Later, he realized that guardianship was not what he wanted. He moved to Los Angeles and worked in the press department at the Los Angeles County Museum. One day he received a call from the editor of the “Los Angeles Herald Examiner” offering that he writes for them. “I don’t know anything about journalism, I replied. The editor told me — okay, we don’t know anything about art. I stayed there for nine years. Until I took a vacation. I was in Oaxaca in 1999 for Día de Muertos. I found out on CNN that the Examiner was closing. It always had its financial ups and downs, but it was active for almost 100 years. The next day, the editor of the “Los Angeles Times” spoke to me, and I’ve been there ever since. “

After 30 years traveling the world, detailing the arts with his words, Knight recognizes that the new art centers are Los Angeles, Berlin, Beijing, and in fact Mexico City is on the rise in that arena.

On his Pulitzer Prize, which he came to celebrate in San Miguel, Knight said “It is a wonderful document and an interesting check.” He explained that newspapers nominate writers “or you can nominate yourself. I was not nominated once but I thought I had done a magnificent job, I self-nominated and ended up as a finalist,” he said. After the finalists are selected, they go through a panel of journalists of all kinds. He was a finalist in 1991, 2001, and 2007. After three times, he thought recognition would never come.

“Those who win the Pulitzer in journalism are in New York, Boston, or Chicago. Not in the west where it’s all about Hollywood,” he said. But everything changed when he got the call in 2020.

Knight has already entered the small number of writers who receive the award for criticism. Among them are Golland Cotter (2009), Philip Kennicott (2013), Jerry Saltz, (2018).

The award committee said in a statement that Knight’s work “demonstrates extraordinary community service through criticism as he applies his experience and craft to analyzing the Los Angeles County Museum of Art proposal and its effect on the mission of the said institution.”