Clement Greenberg papers
name: label: Creator
content: Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994
label: Names
content: Caro, Anthony, 1924-
label: Names
content: Emmerich, André
label: Names
content: Noland, Kenneth, 1924-
label: Names
content: Olitski, Jules, 1922-2007
label: Names
content: Smith, David, 1906-1965
topic: label: Occupation
content: Art critics -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Occupation
content: Authors -- New York (State) -- New York
label: Topic
content: Abstract expressionism
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Clement Greenberg initially lent material for microfilming in 1968-1969. He donated most of this material to the Archives of American Art with additional papers in several accretions between 1984 to 1991.
creator: label: Creator
content: Greenberg, Clement, 1909-1994
setName: label: See more items in
content: Clement Greenberg papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of influential New York author and art critic Clement Greenberg measure 8.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1983. The bulk of the papers consists of letters from art critics, artists, family, friends, curators, collectors, publishers, galleries, and museums, with scattered letters from Greenberg. Also found are Greenberg's business and financial records along with small amounts of biographical material, printed material, and writings consisting of two reports.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: New York City author Clement Greenberg, was one of the most influential art critics of the twentieth century, primarily from the 1940s-1960s. He was an advocate of modern art, particularly the Abstract Expressionist movement, and was one of the first critics to recognize the significance of Jackson Pollock's work.

Greenberg was born in 1909 to Russian immigrants in Bronx, New York. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1930, he married and had a child, David. He settled in New York City while working at the United States Customs Department as an appraiser.

In the late 1930s, Clement Greenberg attended a meeting of the U.S. Works Progress Administration and heard Hans Hofmann speak of avant-garde art. In 1939, he wrote one of his first important critical pieces "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" for the Partisan Review. Greenberg argued that the avant-garde art movement rose out of the need to defend and maintain high art standards against the decline in taste brought about by America's consumerist and capitalist culture. 

In 1940 Greenberg joined Partisan Review as an editor. He became art critic for the Nation in 1942 and was associate editor of Commentary from 1945 until 1957. In December 1950, he joined the CIA-fronted American Committee for Cultural Freedom.

Throughout the 1940s through the 1960s Greenberg continued to write essays and articles in which he promoted the work of the abstract expressionists, among them Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Hans Hofmann, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still. He particularly championed Jackson Pollock. Greenberg wrote several seminal essays that defined his views on art history in the twentieth century, with "Greenberg on Collage" being one of his most important. 

Greenberg's views on pop art were mixed. He also became less enamored with the second generation of abstract expressionists over time, while developing an interest in the Color-Field and Hard-Edge painters. 

Through the 1960s Greenberg's views informed a younger generation of art critics including Michael Fried and Rosalind E. Krauss. Some writers maintain that Greenberg's views were so well-respected that he held too much of an influence in the art world. In time, Greenberg's antagonism to postmodernist theories and other modern art movements caused him to lose much of his credibility among both artists and art critics.

Greenberg was a long-time champion of sculptor David Smith's work and he became an executor of Smith's estate when the artist died suddenly in 1965. Greenberg resigned as executor in 1979 following controversy over his decision to strip white paint from five of Smith's outdoor sculptures, insisting that Smith had never intended to leave them white. 

Greenberg died at the age of eighty-five in 1994. Since his death, letters edited by Greenberg's widow, Janice Van Horne, and a re-evaluation of his writings have helped to restore his reputation in the art world.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 8.6 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1937-1983
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.greeclep
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as 7 series:

Series 1: Biographical Information, circa 1968-1983 (Box 1; 2 folders)

Series 2: Business and Financial Records, 1939-1983 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 3: Correspondence, 1937-1983 (Boxes 1-8, 11; 7 linear feet)

Series 4: Artwork, 1973 (Box 8; 1 folder)

Series 5: Writings and Notes, 1967-1983 (Box 8; 3 folders)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1950-1982 (Box 8; 2 folders)

Series 7: David Smith Estate Materials, 1965-1982 (Boxes 9-11; 1.1 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: All accretions, including earlier microfilmed materials, were merged and processed by Jayna Hanson in 2009 with funding provided by the Terra Foundation for American Art. The collection was prepared for digitization in 2022 by Stephanie Ashley and was digitized in 2023 with funding from The Walton Family Foundation.
altformavail: label: Alternative Forms Available
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2023 and is available on the Archives of American Art website. Materials which have not been digitized include blank pages, blank versos of photographs, duplicates, and access restricted records.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The papers of influential New York author and art critic Clement Greenberg measure 8.6 linear feet and date from 1937 to 1983. The bulk of the papers consists of letters from art critics, artists, family, friends, curators, collectors, publishers, galleries, and museums, with scattered letters from Greenberg. Also found are Greenberg's business and financial records along with small amounts of biographical material, printed material, and writings consisting of two reports. 

Correspondence includes letters to Greenberg, often documenting the lives and careers of many of the correspondents in significant detail, and scattered copies of Greenberg's replies. Much of the correspondence is rich and substantive, and is indicative of Greenberg's influence in the art world. Correspondents include Darby Bannard, Ethel Baziotes, Anthony Caro, Richard Diebenkorn, Piero Dorazio, Andre Emmerich, Paul Feeley, Sam Francis, Helen Frankenthaler, Robert Goodnough, Adolf Gottleib, Hans Hofmann, Philippe Hosiasson, Jacob Kainen, Rosalind Krauss, Robert Motherwell, Ken Moffett, Barnett Newman, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Beverly Pepper, Ludwig Sander, David Smith, Kimber Smith, Clyfford Still, Anne Truitt, Leslie Waddington and many others. 

Biographical material includes notes from an interview with Greenberg conducted by Deborah Solomon in 1983. Greenberg's personal business and financial records include correspondence  and other documentation related to Greenberg's appearances, such as for lectures and on television, and documents relating to Greenberg's testimony at the Mark Rothko Trial in 1974.

Artwork consists of one etching by Kurt Wisenski. Although the papers contain very few of Greenberg's writings about art, there are lists of artists and reports written by Greenberg on the state of art in Japan and India in 1967 which are probably related to his membership in the American Committee for Cultural Freedom. Printed material includes scattered clippings concerning art and exhibition announcements.

One series of access restricted papers contains documents relating to Greenberg's role as executor for the David Smith estate.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Material
content: The Portland Art Museum holds Clement Greenberg's private art collection as well as a library of exhibition catalogs.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Material
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of material lent for microfilming (reels N69-91, N70-7, and N737). Most, but not all, of these papers were later donated by Greenberg. Loaned materials not donated at a later date are not described in the container listing of this finding aid.