Murdock Pemberton

Born in Emporia, Kansas, on April 6, 1888, Murdock Pemberton got an unusually early start in journalism, beginning at the Emporia Gazette as a printer’s devil when he was just 10. He later worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Star, the Philadelphia North American, and the New York Globe, building the brisk, accessible style that would define his writing.

Pemberton is best remembered as The New Yorker’s first art critic, joining the magazine at its founding in 1925. Although he had no formal art-historical training, he became known for sharp opinions and for bringing art criticism to a broad readership. Sources also credit him with helping spark the legendary Algonquin Round Table lunches, and his career ranged well beyond criticism: he served in the Navy during World War I, worked as a press agent, wrote for Esquire, and authored the Broadway musical Sing High, Sing Low.

He continued writing and contributing to books on art, including Modern Art Picture Book, and later returned to The New Yorker in the 1950s after a difficult period professionally. Pemberton died in Valatie, New York, in 1982, leaving behind a career that touched journalism, theater, and American art writing at a moment when all three were rapidly changing.