Homemade Esthetics: Observations On Art And Taste: Observations On Art And Taste

Thanks to his unsurpassed eye and his fearless willingness to take a stand, Clement Greenberg (1909 1994) became one of the giants of 20th century art criticism a writer who set the terms of critical discourse from the moment he burst onto the scene with his seminal essays Avant Garde and Kitsch (1939) and Towards a Newer Laocoon (1940). In this work, which gathers previously uncollected essays and a series of seminars delivered at Bennington in 1971, Greenberg provides his most expansive statement of his views on taste and quality in art, arguing for an esthetic that flies in the face of current art world fashions. Greenberg insists despite the attempts from Marcel Duchamp onwards to escape the jurisdiction of taste by producing an art so disjunctive that it cannot be judged that taste is inexorable. He argues that standards of quality in art, the artist's responsibility to seek out the hardest demands of a medium, and the critic's responsibility to discriminate, are essential conditions for great art. The obsession with innovation the epidemic of newness leads, in Greenbergs view, to the boringness of so much avant garde art. He discusses the interplay of expectation and surprise in aesthetic experience, and the exalted consciousness produced by great art. Homemade Esthetics allows us particularly in the transcribed seminar sessions, never before published to watch the critics mind at work, defending (and at times reconsidering) his theories. His views, often controversial, are the record of a lifetime of looking at and thinking about art as intensely as anyone ever has.

A giant of 20th century art criticism, Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) set the terms of critical discourse from the moment he burst onto the scene with his seminal essays "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" (1939) and "Towards a Newer Laocoon" (1940). In this work, which gathers previously uncollected essays and a series of seminars delivered at Bennington College in 1971, Greenberg provides his most expansive statement of his views on taste and quality in art. He insists that despite the attempts of modern artists to escape the jurisdiction of taste by producing an art so disjunctive that it cannot be judged, taste is inexorable. He maintains that standards of quality in art, ohe artist's responsibility to seek out the hardest demands of a medium, and the critic's responsibility to discriminate, are essential conditions for great art. He discusses the interplay of expectation and surprise in aesthetic experience, and the exalted consciousness produced by great art. Homemade Esthetics allows us to watch the critic's mind at work, defending (and at times reconsidering) his controversial and influential theories. Charles Harrison's introduction to this volume places Homemade Esthetics in the context of Greenberg's work and the evolution of 20th century criticism.

From the Mayor's Doorstep - Piri Halasz

Homemade Esthetics, by Clement Greenberg (Oxford University Press, 1999), was prepared posthumously by Janice Van Horne Greenberg, widow of the eminent but still controversial critic who in the 1940s first brought Jackson Pollock and Abstract Expressionism as a movement to public attention. This book combines an edited transcript of nine seminar meetings he held at Bennington College in April, 1971, with nine essays based on them, of which most were published between 1973 and 1979. An appendix gives a draft of the first chapter of a projected book by Greenberg, which was to be titled Homemade Esthetics, and explicate his mature artistic philosophy, as outlined in the seminars and articles based on them. Anybody with a real interest in 20th century art will want to buy Homemade Esthetics, whether or not they share Greenberg's taste in his later years, because this book, more than any of his other writings, spells out the theoretical basis for his criticism that he'd arrived at after decades of trying and discarding other bases. It lets one admire the clarity of his writing, but also, in the transcript, hear how he sounded in person, which was much more colloquial and understandable, even if sometimes so acid that if you didn't share his taste, you could get awfully angry.....his idealism is manifest in this book, and his serene Neo-Kantian conviction that there is indeed greater and lesser art, that these priorities are determined by a consensus of enlightened viewers over the centuries, and that his own taste would be proven objective by the verdicts of the future. As for the present, Greenberg argues that the only consistent thing about the best new art is "the inconsistency of these things---that's just it. Then you get surprised, and you find out you can't make any safe generalizations. That's part of the fun of art....

In This Work, Which Gathers Previously Uncollected Essays And A Series Of Seminars Delivered At Bennington In 1971, Greenberg Provides His Most Expansive Statement Of His Views On Taste And Quality In Art, Arguing For An Esthetic That Flies In The Face Of Current Art World Fashions. Greenberg Maintains - Despite The Attempts Of Some Artists From Marcel Duchamp Onwards To Escape The Jurisdiction Of Taste By Producing An Art So Disjunctive That It Cannot Be Judgedthat Taste Is Inexorable. He Argues That Standards Of Quality In Art, The Artist's Responsibility To Seek Out The Hardest Demands Of A Medium, And The Critic's Responsibility To Discriminate, Are Essential Conditions For Great Art. The Obsession With Innovation And The Epidemic Of Newness Leads, In Greenberg's View, To The Boringness Of So Much Avant Garde Art. He Discusses The Interplay Of Expectation And Surprise In Aesthetic Experience, And The Exalted Consciousness Produced By Great Art. Homemade Esthetics Allows Us, Particularly In The Transcribed Seminar Sessions, Never Before Published, To Watch The Critic's Mind At Work, Defending (and At Times Reconsidering) His Theories.--jacket. Introduction : The Judgment Of Art / Charles Harrison -- Pt. 1. The Essays. Intuition And The Esthetic Experience -- Esthetic Judgment -- Can Taste Be Objective? -- The Factor Of Surprise -- Judgment And The Esthetic Object -- Convention And Innovation -- The Experience Of Value -- The Language Of Esthetic Discourse -- Observations On Esthetic Distance -- Pt. 2. The Bennington College Seminars, April 6-22, 1971 -- Appendix : A Draft Of Chapter One. Clement Greenberg. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [204]-207) And Index. Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 12 Introduction......Page 14 PART I: The Essays......Page 32 Intuition and the Esthetic Experience......Page 34 Esthetic Judgment......Page 41 Can Taste Be Objective?......Page 54 The Factor of Surprise......Page 62 Judgment and the Esthetic Object......Page 71 Convention and Innovation......Page 78 The Experience of Value......Page 90 The Language of Esthetic Discourse......Page 96 Observations on Esthetic Distance......Page 103 PART II: The Bennington College Seminars, April 6–22, 1971......Page 108 Night One......Page 110 Night Two......Page 120 Night Three......Page 134 Night Four......Page 147 Night Five......Page 161 Night Six......Page 175 Night Seven......Page 187 Night Eight......Page 201 Night Nine......Page 214 Appendix......Page 227 Further Reading......Page 235 A......Page 240 C......Page 241 D......Page 242 E......Page 243 G......Page 244 J......Page 245 M......Page 246 O......Page 247 R......Page 248 S......Page 249 W......Page 250 Y......Page 251 One of this century's most important critics sets forth his thinking on the fundamental questions about the experience of art. Greenberg argues that the standards of quality in art, the artist's responsibility to seek out the hardest demands of a medium, and the critic's responsibility to discriminate are essential conditions for great art. He also discusses the interplay of expectation and surprise in aesthetic experience and the exalted consciousness produced by great art. With sparkle, wisdom and energy Greenberg speaks to the present situation in art more pertinently and persuasively than any contemporary theorist. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title