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Throughout the English-speaking world, art criticism is in a permanent state of crisis because of the opportunities that it offers for waffle. In this regard, London is in less benighted condition than most other cities. With such a swathe of periodicals and serious newspapers, it has more outlets for critical comment, so there is still a chance that a few critics might stand out by writing with less opacity than the rest. Among the younger critics, Laura Cumming of the Observer combines clarity of style with a wide range of taste. Sedulously haunting the galleries and attending all the smaller exhibitions, she knows real quality when she sees it and has the background to put it in context. The accumulating result, week by week, is a comprehensive survey in which individual works of art stand out in greater particularity, rather than being submerged in trends. Her book about self portraiture, A Face to the World, published in July 2009, was eagerly awaited and has been greeted with wide and deserved acclaim. Meanwhile, all aspiring critics of any art form should take a look at how much she can say in a short space about this most intractable of subjects.

Laura Cumming's A Face to the World reviewed by John Carey in the SundayTimes, July 12, 2009