Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-210) and index.

Clement Greenberg, the father of modern American art criticism, has always been a controversial figure among art critics and historians. Although the American artists of the 1940s that he singled out for attention have since achieved international recognition as the first generation of abstract expressionists, the "modernist" theory of criticism by which Greenberg justified his taste and specified the significance of such artists has often provoked hostile comment. Donald Kuspit's book is the first to examine the totality of Greenberg's position, showing both its value and its incompleteness.--Book jacket.

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