ABSTRACT
Clement Greenberg, one of the foremost and formidable art critics of his time, enthusiastically endorsed the abstract expressionist movement in New York during the 1950s and 1960s. He was, thus, in large measure responsible for the acclaim it received, making him an appropriate subject for the study of unconscious determinants of formal aesthetic appreciation. Greenberg was inspired by the writing of Immanuel Kant, chose words carefully, and made extensive revisions in his essays before publication. In 1950, he began a five-year relationship with Helen Frankenthaler, who was twenty years younger. When she left him, he became severely depressed and entered psychotherapy for six years with a psychiatrist who was also Jackson Pollock's therapist. The standards by which Clement Greenberg judged works of art were heavily influenced by unresolved intrapsychic conflict, primarily insatiable oral strivings and separation anxiety, the frustration of which fostered relentless sibling competition and recurrent vindictive behavior.
