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Clement Greenberg - On Modernist Painting

Clement's essay is based upon different views of modernism which includes more than just art and literature. According to Clement Modernism includes what is truly alive in our culture. This idea that modernism includes what's in our culture is agreeable according to Plato since for him culture is a part of everything. At the same time Plato was suspicious about art and for him art was a cheap imitation of an idea. But if we think about what he believed that culture is a part of everything leads us to the fact that he would agree with Clements idea of modernism including culture. Clement also believed that realistic and illusionistic art had put off the medium, using art to conceal art, and modernism used art to grab attention. The limitations of all these mediums resulted in flat surfaces, the shapes and the properties of pigments were considered a negative factor that could be appreciated only indirectly or completely. Plato believed that what we should perceive is the knowledge not the cheap imitations. What I believe is that Plato somewhat identifies Clements ideas. Some f the Clements ideas are agreeable about art by Plato especially when he said that modernist painting demonstrates, precisely in its resistance to the sculptural, that is continues the tradition and the themes of tradition. Since Plato believed that culture is in everything in this case the sculptures shows the traditions and culture of the times.

For Plato art is a representation which is a process of realism, copying of something when it begins to resemble, its likeliness and its neutrality. This all refers to Clements idea about Modernism is a continuation of traditions and cultures. Clement believed that Modernist art develops without a break or gap and wherever it ends up, it will never stop being intelligible in terms of the continuity of art. Overall this concept of continuity tends to be agreed by both Plato and Clement. Another agreeable fact by both the authors was that Modernists art belongs to the same historical and cultural tendency as modern science.  Also modernists at has been self-criticized and has never been carried on in any but a spontaneous and subliminal way. Overall I believe that Clements ideas about modernism are agreeable to Plato's but some are not.

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