This subject focuses on the theory and criticism of 20th-century Western art, through a close analysis of the American art critic Clement Greenberg. Greenberg was the most influential art writer in the United States, active from the late 1930s until his death in 1994. His career thus spanned most of the 20th century, claiming dominance for abstraction, and achieving the global success of American abstract painting (in part due to his own proselytizing efforts) for much of that time. Primary source materials will be the critical texts of Greenberg, but we will be also looking at his sources (avowed and unacknowledged), as well as artworks, artists, curators, and art historians affected by his work. One major research paper on a topic of the student’s choice; class presentations, looking assignments, no exam.