Art questions. Reading Questions. Literature & Language Coursework

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Reading Questions
Greenberg, Clement. “Modernist Painting.” Forum Lectures (Washington, D.C.: Voice of America), 1960.
1.How does Greenberg define modernism?
Greenberg defines modernism as the period in art that ranges from the mid-1850s to the present that was characterized by an aspect of self-criticism in the arts. This period, according to Greenberg, is the time when Immanuel Kant’s method of a discipline criticizing itself came into play.
2.How does art distinguish itself (from entertainment, for example)?
Art distinguishes itself from other forms of representation such as entertainment by focusing on the “unique in the nature of its medium” (Greenberg, 1). Art aims at demonstrating its own account. Therefore, whatever is presented has to be unique in its own ways.
3.What does Greenberg mean by “purity” in art?
Greenberg means self-definition in reference to “purity” in art. In this assertion, he meant that a form of art has to escape from ideas and maintain the specificity of its medium. He argued from a point of view that dissociates artwork from any biological, social and political purpose.
4.How does the author contrast realistic art with modern art?
Greenberg distinguishes realistic art from modern art by stating that realistic art “had dissembled the medium, using art to conceal art; Modernism used art to call attention to art” (2). The statement means that unlike modern art, which is influenced by the medium of practice, traditional art was more natural and stood up for its unique ideals. According to him, the medium serves as a facilitator in modern art, but serves as a limitation in realistic art.
5. What is the primary unique condition in which painting (pictorial art) defines itself?
The primary unique condition for painting lies in its abstractness. Painting is closely related to sculpture and thus to distinguish itself, it has rendered itself abstract in nature through its two dimensional representation. This two dimensional representation allows it to be flat, which is a unique feature in itself.
6. What are Greenberg’s reasons for stating that modern art does not break from the past, but further evolves from it?
One of the reasons Greenberg gives for his statement is that the making of pictures in modern art remains controlled from the time of its debut. He states that even though an engraver can disregard the guidance of the frame and treat the surface in a “literally sculptural way” (Greenberg, 6), his ideas are often made of the images and not pictures and are based on some form of support. That modern artists hinge their work on an aspect of deliberateness.
Nochlin, Linda. “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” 1971.
1 How does Nochlin define art and what does she say is a common misconception of what art is?
Nochlin defines art as a “self-consistent language of form, more or less dependent upon, or free from, given temporally defined conventions, schemate, or systems of notation, which have to be learned or worked out, either through teaching, apprenticeship, or a long period of individual expe...