How I Started with Greenberg
Okay, so I kept seeing this name “Clement Greenberg” popping up everywhere when I looked into art criticism, especially modern art stuff. Felt like I couldn’t get around him if I wanted to understand what the heck happened in 20th-century art. Everyone talked about him like he was the big boss, so I figured, “Fine, guess I gotta read him.” Felt totally overwhelmed though – where do you even start?
Hunting Down the Books
First thing I did? Just typed “Clement Greenberg best books” into the search bar. Saw tons of lists, way too many recommendations. My eyes kinda glazed over. Everyone seemed to agree on a couple must-reads, so I jotted down the titles I saw repeated again and again:
- Art and Culture: Critical Essays – Kept seeing this title screaming at me from every list.
- Homemade Esthetics: Observations on Art and Taste – Sounded important, popped up a lot.
- His collected essays – People kept saying stuff like “find the collected writings” or specific editions.
Figured these three were probably the core. Hit up my usual spots – the local bookstore and the big online ones (you know which ones I mean). Ordered Art and Culture used because the new copies felt pricey. Felt good to finally have it in my hands.
The Actual Reading Struggle
Cracking open Art and Culture felt… daunting. The guy writes dense. Seriously, dense like concrete sometimes. Started with the intro, then jumped into the essays. Felt like I needed a translator for art jargon every other paragraph. Kept a notebook next to me, scribbling down words I didn’t know: “flatness,” “medium-specificity,” “kitsch.” Had to constantly stop and look things up.
Started making connections slowly. Like, oh, THAT’S why he was obsessed with Abstract Expressionism! He saw it as the purest form, freeing painting from having to tell stories or copy reality. Blew my mind a bit.
Then tackled Homemade Esthetics. This one felt a bit more… philosophical maybe? Talking about why we value art, what makes “good” taste. Still tough going, but getting slightly easier as I got used to his way of thinking. Could see why some artists loved him (he championed them!) and others totally hated his guts (he could be brutal dismissing stuff he thought wasn’t “advanced” enough).
Figuring Out What Stuck
After banging my head against these books for weeks, here’s what actually managed to stick in my thick skull:
- Flatness is Everything (to Greenberg): He kept banging on about painting needing to acknowledge it’s basically just paint on a flat surface. That was revolutionary to him. Sculpture stayed 3D, but painting had to own its flatness.
- Purify the Medium: He wanted artists to strip away anything not essential to painting itself – no stories, no deep meaning borrowed from literature or religion. Just paint doing what paint does best.
- Kitsch is the Enemy: Oh man, he HATED what he called “kitsch” – basically mass-produced, easy-to-digest, fake art. Saw it as the opposite of true, challenging modern art.
- He Basically Shaped the Canon: Realized how much influence this one critic had! Galleries, museums, collectors – they listened to him big time. Reading him helped me see why certain artists became mega-famous.
Who Should Bother?
Look, if you’re an art student messing around with paint or sculpture, especially interested in stuff from the 40s to 60s, you kinda HAVE to read Greenberg. You won’t like him sometimes (he’s totally opinionated and dismissive), but you need to know his arguments. He shaped the whole conversation. It’s like doing push-ups for your art brain – hard, sometimes painful, but builds muscle. Be ready for a slog, take notes, and don’t expect to agree with him. That’s kinda the point.
