Exam 3

Clement Greenberg Key Essay: "Modernist Painting" (http://www.sharecom.ca/greenberg/modernism.html) • to be truly modern, an artwork should reflect the unique characteristics of the medium (e.g.: painting should be flat and about form); • form should be asserted; • representational art should be avoided; puts emphasis on the subject and away from form; Harold Rosenberg Key Essay: "The American Action Painters" (http://www.pooter.net/intermedia/readings/06.html) • Supports a unique American approach to making art (apart from European Modernism); • the American artist lacks tradition, so he/she should create meaning through his/her own action; • the artist's encounter with the work of art (the act of making) should be stressed; (the action of the painter, for example, is more important than the final product); about self-expression, individuality; • an artwork should be judged on the above criteria; Big supporter of Action Painting

Key Supporting Critics:

Also called Primary Structures; "ABC Art" Primarily used in reference to sculpture (although it can also refer to painting) and involves strictly geometric, elemental forms;Artists who wanted to reassert the physical reality of the art object over-against meaning and expression (which were the focus of Abstract Expressionism) Characteristics: • reduced form; geometric; • industrial, machine-made aesthetic; • lack of artist's touch; • normally a lack of bases (placed directly on gallery floor) • no content or meaning intended; Logical result of Modern abstraction?

Minimalism