Clement Greenberg
The combative critic who championed Abstract Expressionism, defining modern art's value through its formal qualities and flat surface.
1909–1994 (age 85)·American essayist and visual art critic·Birthday: January 16·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Clement Greenberg wielded his typewriter like a scalpel, dissecting art with an unwavering belief in formalism—the idea that a painting's value lies in its color, line, and composition, not its subject matter or story. In the post-war years, he became the most powerful voice in American art criticism, anointing Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, and others as the heirs to European modernism. Greenberg argued that the essence of painting was its acknowledgment of the flat canvas, a trajectory he traced from Manet to the Color Field painters he later promoted. His judgments were absolute, his prose razor-sharp, and his influence was such that he could make or break careers. While later criticized for being dogmatic and for the overwhelming authority he held, Greenberg fundamentally shaped the understanding of 20th-century art. He insisted that art must advance on its own terms, a thesis that both created the canon of American abstraction and sparked decades of debate about the role of the critic.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Clement was born in 1909, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Clement Was Born
The biggest hits of 1909
Clement's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1909Born
Robert Peary claims to reach the North Pole
President: William Howard Taft
1914Started school
World War I begins
President: Woodrow Wilson
1922Became a teenager
King Tut's tomb discovered in Egypt
President: Warren G. Harding"April Showers" — Al Jolson
1925Could drive
The Scopes Trial debates evolution in schools
Home: $4,366President: Calvin Coolidge"Sweet Georgia Brown" — Ben Bernie
1927Could vote
Lindbergh flies solo across the Atlantic; The Jazz Singer premieres
President: Calvin Coolidge"My Blue Heaven" — Gene Austin
1930Turned 21
Pluto discovered
Gas: $0.20/galHome: $3,510President: Herbert Hoover"Body and Soul" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: All Quiet on the Western Front
1939Turned 30
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1949Turned 40
NATO founded; Mao proclaims the People's Republic of China
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $7,450Min wage: $0.40/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Riders in the Sky" — Vaughn MonroeBest Picture: All the King's Men
1959Turned 50
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1969Turned 60
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1979Turned 70
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1989Turned 80
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1994Died at 85
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
Key Achievements
- Was the primary critical champion of the Abstract Expressionist movement, particularly Jackson Pollock.
- Articulated the theory of formalism in essays like 'Avant-Garde and Kitsch' and 'Towards a Newer Laocoon'.
- His concept of 'flatness' became a central tenet in the analysis and defense of modernist painting.
- Curated influential exhibitions that promoted the artists he supported, shaping the post-war art market.
Did You Know?
He occasionally published art criticism under the pseudonym K. Hardesh.
Before focusing on art, he worked for the U.S. Customs Service and as a literary editor for 'Partisan Review'.
He had a famous and public falling out with the artist David Smith, whose work he had previously championed.
He amassed a significant personal collection of Abstract Expressionist and Color Field painting, often acquired directly from the artists.
““The essence of Modernism lies, as I see it, in the use of characteristic methods of a discipline to criticize the discipline itself.””
