Contents.Key ideas Greenberg believed that the avant-garde arose in order to defend standards from the decline of perpetuated by the mass-production of consumer society, and saw kitsch and art as opposites.One of his more controversial claims was that kitsch was equivalent to: 'All kitsch is academic, and conversely, all that is academic is kitsch.' He argued this based on the fact that Academic art, such as that in the 19th century, was heavily centered in rules and formulations that were taught and tried to make art into something learnable and easily expressible. He later came to withdraw from his position of equating the two, as it became heavily criticized.Sources. Greenberg, Clement. Art and Culture., 1961. Greenberg, Clement. Homemade Esthetics: Observations on Art and Taste., 1999.
Avant-Garde and Kitsch Clement Greenberg Summary of the Argument Monday, February 27, 2012. He makes his case based on social, historical, and political assumptions and empirical observations. Georges Braque, Glass on a Table, 1909-10. Norman Rockwell, Football Hero, 1938 Introduction.
Clement Greenberg Kitsch
Rubenfeld, Florence. Clement Greenberg: A Life., 1997.References.