Week Fifteen - Video Review Blog

1.     For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Greenberg on Art Criticism: An Interview by T. J. Clark- This film documents the conversation, spotlighting Clement Greenberg’s reflections on his career and its place in the wider arenas of art theory, art journalism, and the philosophy of aesthetics. While he frequently deflates the seriousness of many of his earlier pronouncements, Greenberg shares a number of insights on the relationship between art and history, the nature of value judgments in criticism, and what he calls America’s post-WWII “culture boom.”

An Introduction to the Italian Renaissance -Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists has been the basis of art criticism since the 16th century. This film cleverly illustrates how each great master developed techniques by building upon the work of his predecessors. The lively discussion between Master Vasari and his apprentice reveals the innovations of Giotto, Ghiberti, Donatello, Uccello, Masaccio, della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo, Raffaello, and Michelangelo. Images of selected masterpieces illustrate the Roman influence on Renaissance art and reinforce the concepts of perspective, balance, chiaroscuro, composition, and realism. This film helps people get an understanding on how artists and their artwork are different.

2.     Do the videos relate to the creation of your Art Criticism project? If yes, explain how. If no, explain why not.

             I do not believe that these two videos reflect the creation of my Art Criticism project because they are dealing with topics that are irrelevant to my project. My project had to do with Chinese and North American landscapes and Clemet Greenberg live and interpretations did not touch on my topic. Also, although the Italian Renaissance video was interesting to see it did not really have anything to do with landscape artwork in general.

3.     What is your opinion of the films? Do they add depth to understanding of art criticism?

The films taught me interesting information about the Italian Renaissance, like it was the earliest manifestation of the general European Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement that began in Italy during the 14th century and lasted until the 16th century, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Although I gained knowledge about the Renaissance in general it did not help add depth to my understanding about criticism. The other video with Clemet Greenberg talks about how he was the greatest art critic of the second half of the 20th century, Clement Greenberg was arguably the greatest art critic of all time. The video definitely helped add depth to my criticism because he talks about the right approach for critique, and where to start looking when critiquing artwork or an exhibition for this project.