Published April 19, 2011

Sebastian Smee, an art critic for the Boston Globe, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for criticism yesterday.

In announcing the award, the Pulitzer board called Smee’s writing “vivid and exuberant” and praised his ability to bring “great works to life with love and appreciation.” Smee, a relative newcomer to Boston, came to the Globe by way of Sydney, Australia, where he served as the national art critic for The Australian.

Sebastian Smee (AP)

Smee told WBUR’s All Things Considered yesterday that he was particularly proud of a series he started called “Frame by Frame,” in which he highlights an individual work from a permanent collection in New England.

“The reason I like it, I guess, is since I moved here to New England three years ago I’ve just been so impressed by the quality and the range of the museums,” Smee said. “And not just the big, obvious ones like the MFA and the ICA and Harvard, but so many great, smaller college museums which have wonderful permanent collections.”

In 2010, Smee covered the MFA’s new Art of the Americas wing with the Globe as well as with WBUR’s Radio Boston. We learned about Smee’s love for illustrations in the The New Yorker from his piece on the Norman Rockwell Museum’s William Steig exhibit. Smee even ventured out to western Massachusetts to explore the art scene there. The art critic doesn’t just do art, either. Books sometimes fall into his repertoire.

Boston also features another local Pulitzer-winner. The Pulitzer Prize for music was awarded to “Madame White Snake” by Zhou Long. “Madame White Snake,” Long’s first opera, premiered in Boston at the Cutler Majestic Theater and was produced by the city’s very own Opera Boston.