[.ca] Clement Greenberg: A Life (ISBN 0816644357)

superb biography of brand-name critic:
Best biography in years about manufacture of American culture.As recently as 1951,you could not give away examples of abstract American art.With the assistance of powerful art collectors such as Ben Sonnenberg,( who revolutionized the public relations industry) an obscure,hard-drinking,cocaine-loving New York journalist named Clement Greenberg-- almost single-handed--hoisted American art to the commanding heights.This is romantic stuff.But no other book is so honest about the creation of value in Abstract Expressionism,Color Field painting,Pop Art and Minimalism.This is like reading the honest recollections of people who created the computer-driven stock markets.It is the book of the year. And maybe the book of the decade.Do not miss this smog-clearing gem!

Lets hope the next biographer does better:
The usefulness of this biography of the greatest art critic of the 20th Century is fatally compromised by its unfortunate tendency to use rumor, innuendo and the undependable testimony of disgruntled art world second-raters to cast Greenberg as an nasty, abusive all-around bad character. I knew him for 35 years. He was sometimes cranky and disputatious, but he was also gentle, civil and always helpful, and he went out of his way to crit my paintings and listen to and tolerate my bitching and complaining about the art world. I do not recognize the man I knew in this book. Lets hope the next biographer does better

A Fascinating Look at Clem Greenberg and Post-war art:
Florence Rubenfeld tells a magnificent story about a topic that might otherwise be rather dull: art criticism. She does, however, have great material to work with. Greenberg is intelligent, insightful, and had a difficult personality. The latter should not be seen as a drawback, however. A strong personality was needed to convince Americans and Europeans of the value of abstract expressionism and color field painting. Rubenfeld provides a thorough story. I have written one book, Art in the Courtroom, and am busy on another one. Therefore, I consider myself fairly well-read with respect to art. I learned a tremendous amount. Nothing can be better than an informative book that is written well. Thank you F Rubenfeld.