After receiving his doctorate, Gopnik returned to Canada, where he held minor academic jobs, before switching to journalism. In 1995, he became the editor-in-chief of
Insite, an architecture and design magazine, and was later hired as the fine arts editor at
The Globe and Mail. In 1998, he became the
Globes art critic. From 2000 to 2010, Gopnik worked at
The Washington Post as chief art critic. He wrote more than 500 articles about art, ranging from China's
terracotta warriors to
Andy Warhol's work. In 2011, Gopnik was hired as the art and design critic at
Newsweek magazine and
the Daily Beast website. He is also a contributor to
The New York Times. In 2020, he published a comprehensive biography of Andy Warhol,
Warhol, through
HarperCollins. In 2025, he published a biography of
Albert Barnes. ==Personal life==