Anyone who is truly engaged with art knows the hunger of the art lover for the best. The experience alone erases any doubt and starts one on the hunt—listening, looking, sorting out.

But I have found that it is a precarious indulgence to judge between masterpieces. Who is the greatest artist? What is the best painting, book, poem, play, piece of music? It doesn’t matter. The loss of any of it would spoil my hoard of beautiful things and make a hole in my life.