The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl has his ten best shows from last year starting with Courbet and working his way down through Morandi, Sherman, Eliasson, Peyton, Eggleston and Koons. He praises After Nature and the Action/Abstraction show; he pans Murakami but praises its “quiddity.”

New York’s Jerry Saltz shares only Cindy Sherman with Schjeldahl which should reassure us that critics are earning their keep. Saltz starts with Tino Sehgal, Wang Hui, Pipilotti Rist, Klara Linden, Jeffrey Wells, Fia Backstrom, Caroll Dunham, the Olympic ceremonies and “Who’s Afraid of Jasper Johns?”

In addition, Saltz picks the “best,” including Urs Fischer’s excavation at Gavin Brown.

Peter Schjeldahl: The Ten Best Art Shows of 2008 (New Yorker)

The Top Nine Shows (and One Event) (New York)