Thesis (Ph. D.)--New York University, 1979. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 283-310).

This thesis investigates the reasons for Greenberg???s aesthetic intransigence ??? that is, his adherence to a formalist/purist stance, and his refusal to countenance non-purist twentiethcentury avant-garde trends evident in the art he ignored or denigrated, and in the art he promoted. The most substantial body of work challenged is Cold War revisionism (exemplified by the scholarship of Francis Frascina, Serge Guilbaut, and John O???Brian) which casts Greenberg as a politically expedient party to the imperialist agendas of various CIA-funded organisations. The major conclusions reached are that: Greenberg???s aesthetic intransigence was driven by a similarly intransigent ethico-political position, and that his critical method reflected patterns of argumentation set up in ???Avant-Garde and Kitsch??? (1939). This essay, and Greenberg???s ethico-political position, derived, not least, from his direct encounter with American Nazism and anti-Semitism which led him to realise that America (with what he saw as its decadence, cultural apathy, and low-level mass taste) was as vulnerable to the threat of totalitarianism as Europe and Russia. Reflecting this fear, ???Avant-Garde and Kitsch??? had juxtaposed a stagnant, impure culture with a vigorous avantgarde culture of impeccable vintage ??? in the process infusing politics into a formalist, historical conception of modernism Greenberg first devised in the early 1930s and then augmented, during 1938-9, with Hans Hofmann???s theories and others. Thus established, this rudimentary paradigm for Greenberg???s art writing was elaborated upon and made canonical in ???Towards a Newer Laocoon??? (1940), and entrenched after the war concurrent with the entrenchment of his ethico-political position. In the face of a Stalinist/capitalist war of wills, continuing anti-Semitism, and what Greenberg perceived as increasing decadence, he continued to argue for a serious, professionally-skilled (predominantly abstract) art, which would be resistant to the ersatz, yet not dehumanized by excluding the natural. By promoting this as the only genuine avant-garde art (while ignoring or denigrating playful, humorous and anarchic avant-garde tendencies), and by reiterating in the 1950s his pre-war Marxist sympathies, Greenberg was effectively demonstrating his continued hope for a utopian culture (luxuriant, formal, informed and socialist) first visualised in the late 1930s.

This thesis investigates the reasons for Greenberg???s aesthetic intransigence ??? that is, his adherence to a formalist/purist stance, and his refusal to countenance non-purist twentiethcentury avant-garde trends evident in the art he ignored or denigrated, and in the art he promoted. The most substantial body of work challenged is Cold War revisionism (exemplified by the scholarship of Francis Frascina, Serge Guilbaut, and John O???Brian) which casts Greenberg as a politically expedient party to the imperialist agendas of various CIA-funded organisations. The major conclusions reached are that: Greenberg???s aesthetic intransigence was driven by a similarly intransigent ethico-political position, and that his critical method reflected patterns of argumentation set up in ???Avant-Garde and Kitsch??? (1939). This essay, and Greenberg???s ethico-political position, derived, not least, from his direct encounter with American Nazism and anti-Semitism which led him to realise that America (with what he saw as its decadence, cultural apathy, and low-level mass taste) was as vulnerable to the threat of totalitarianism as Europe and Russia. Reflecting this fear, ???Avant-Garde and Kitsch??? had juxtaposed a stagnant, impure culture with a vigorous avantgarde culture of impeccable vintage ??? in the process infusing politics into a formalist, historical conception of modernism Greenberg first devised in the early 1930s and then augmented, during 1938-9, with Hans Hofmann???s theories and others. Thus established, this rudimentary paradigm for Greenberg???s art writing was elaborated upon and made canonical in ???Towards a Newer Laocoon??? (1940), and entrenched after the war concurrent with the entrenchment of his ethico-political position. In the face of a Stalinist/capitalist war of wills, continuing anti-Semitism, and what Greenberg perceived as increasing decadence, he continued to argue for a serious, professionally-skilled (predominantly abstract) art, which would be resistant to the ersatz, yet not dehumanized by excluding the natural. By promoting this as the only genuine avant-garde art (while ignoring or denigrating playful, humorous and anarchic avant-garde tendencies), and by reiterating in the 1950s his pre-war Marxist sympathies, Greenberg was effectively demonstrating his continued hope for a utopian culture (luxuriant, formal, informed and socialist) first visualised in the late 1930s.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, 2004. / Also available online.

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Grenoble III, 1977. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 501-521) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p>The aim of this essay is to debate the narrow contextualization of the works of Swedish artist Maria Friberg, in which she is interpreted as a female, feminist artist engaged in masculinity studies. Art reviews and exhibition catalogues regarding a great part of Friberg’s work have formed the core body of information in this study, selecting the more recent works entitled Still lives (2003- ) as the main focus. These show a change in Friberg’s artistic expression.</p><p>Subjects concerning group belonging, identity and existential questions have always been present in Maria Friberg’s art, but they are more clearly expressed in her latest works. Art critics have acknowledged the change of motifs in Still lives as a negative development and have expressed disappointment in the absence of Friberg’s renown portrayals of men in business suits. This attire and the gendered motif man have ascribed Friberg to an agenda surrounding masculinity and feminism, leaving little room for other interpretations.</p><p>The subordinate aim of the study is to suggest alternative readings of Friberg’s art in general and of the Still lives-series in particular. The great majority of art critics are accentuating Friberg’s interest in men, overlooking reasons for her supposed fascination of them. This creates a need for further examination of the depths of Friberg’s photographs. Hence, the last chapter presents a theory of the artists’ use of men as carriers of non-gender related meanings in which the human being is a small part of the impressive machinery composed of nature, culture and the industrialised world which absolutely devours humans.</p>

The aim of this essay is to debate the narrow contextualization of the works of Swedish artist Maria Friberg, in which she is interpreted as a female, feminist artist engaged in masculinity studies. Art reviews and exhibition catalogues regarding a great part of Friberg’s work have formed the core body of information in this study, selecting the more recent works entitled Still lives (2003- ) as the main focus. These show a change in Friberg’s artistic expression. Subjects concerning group belonging, identity and existential questions have always been present in Maria Friberg’s art, but they are more clearly expressed in her latest works. Art critics have acknowledged the change of motifs in Still lives as a negative development and have expressed disappointment in the absence of Friberg’s renown portrayals of men in business suits. This attire and the gendered motif man have ascribed Friberg to an agenda surrounding masculinity and feminism, leaving little room for other interpretations. The subordinate aim of the study is to suggest alternative readings of Friberg’s art in general and of the Still lives-series in particular. The great majority of art critics are accentuating Friberg’s interest in men, overlooking reasons for her supposed fascination of them. This creates a need for further examination of the depths of Friberg’s photographs. Hence, the last chapter presents a theory of the artists’ use of men as carriers of non-gender related meanings in which the human being is a small part of the impressive machinery composed of nature, culture and the industrialised world which absolutely devours humans.

Zugl.: Berlin, Freie Univ., Diss., 2006

Le « clair-obscur », tirant son origine du terme italien « chiaroscuro », est considéré comme l’un des plus importants éléments dans l’art et la littérature. En examinant dans les tableaux la lumière et les ombres, deux composants opposés, les peintres ainsi que les critiques d’art du XVIIe et du XVIIIe siècles font preuve d’un grand enthousiasme de dévoiler leurs secrets. L’instauration de l’Académie, le grand débat sur le colorisme et la naissance de la critique d’art en France sont des occasions particulières pour approfondir leurs études du clair-obscur.Parmi les critiques d’art du XVIIIe siècle, c’est Diderot qui souligne les effets du clair-obscur dans ses Salons. Par rapport à d’autres salonniers contemporains, seul Diderot philosophe-écrivain expose ses propres idées esthétiques concernant le clair-obscur et transmet ses effets poétiques aux lecteurs, en suscitant de fortes « émotions ». Cette originalité littéraire des Salons contribue donc à l’évolution de la critique d’art des siècles suivants. / The « clair-obscur », from the Italian term « chiaroscuro », is considered one of the most important elements in art and literature. By examining the two opposing components of light and shadow in paintings, the painters and art critics in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries show great enthusiasm about revealing their secrets. The establishment of “Academy”, the great discussion on coloration and the birth of art criticism in France are special opportunities for further study of chiaroscuro.Among the art critics of the eighteenth century, it is Diderot who emphasizes the effects of chiaroscuro in his Salons. Compared with other contemporary « salonniers », only Diderot as a philosopher and writer, exposes his own aesthetic ideas regarding chiaroscuro and passes on the poetic effects of this to his readers, arousing strong « emotions ». This literary originality of the Salons contributes thus to the development of art criticism in the following centuries.