What Is Artforum's Publishing History and Archive?

Updated

Artforum is a modern and contemporary art publication established in 1962 that today publishes both in print and online, with a website that provides a Current Issue section and an Archive for accessing issues. If you want to read current criticism or look back at past coverage, those two sections are the main entry points; the site also carries a Subscribe option, so not everything should be assumed to be freely accessible.

Publishing history at a glance

  • Founded: 1962, per the publication's own description.
  • Scope: Informed and inspired criticism and analyses concerning the latest developments in modern and contemporary art and culture.
  • Formats: Both print and online, described as running in parallel.
  • Ownership: The site footer identifies Artforum as part of PMX Global, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation, with copyright held by Artforum Media, LLC.

What the archive contains

The site's navigation lists an Archive alongside Current Issue, indicating that back issues are a first-class part of the site rather than an afterthought. The archive sits within a broader content structure that includes:

Section What it holds
News Timely art-world reporting, with dated items
Columns Recurring critical formats such as Editor's Letter, Diary, On Site, Field Notes, Passages, Books, Slant, Top Ten, The Checklist
Features Longer pieces: Spotlights, Close-Ups, Interviews, 1000 Words, Portfolios, Artists' Projects, Dossier
Reviews Critical assessments, with Previews as a related category
Video Moving-image content
Current Issue / Archive The magazine's present and past issues
artguide Listings-oriented content
艺术论坛 Chinese-language section

How the content is produced

Articles are written by editors and named contributors, and carry bylines. Examples visible on the site include Thomas Patier on Mira M. Yang, Barry Schwabsky on Rafael Ferrer, and Katherine Rochester on Bettina's 1975 computer animation. This byline structure is what lets you judge a piece by its author and check whether a critic's interests match yours.

Practical notes for readers

  • Access: The site offers Login/Account functions and a Subscribe option, so some content may sit behind an account or subscription. The available material does not specify which articles are gated or what a subscription costs.
  • Recency: News items carry timestamps (for example, October 9, 2026), which helps when you need to date a report.
  • Language: The main site is English (en-US), with a separate 艺术论坛 section for Chinese-language content.
  • Staying current: The site offers alerts and newsletters via an email sign-up, plus Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube channels.

If your goal is to check Artforum's authority on a specific artist or movement, start with the Archive for historical coverage and the Reviews and Features sections for critical writing, then confirm access requirements before relying on a particular article.