In a 1939 essay, Clement Greenberg argued that avant-garde art, as opposed to kitsch, is serious, high modernist, and nonobjective, requiring the viewer's active, reflective, and educated engagement. A number of works complicate simple distinctions, however, between what is art and what is kitsch. Which of the following makes these two categories seem less clear while rejecting elitist notions of the avant-garde?
A) Koons, Puppy, a sculpture of a massive dog made entirely of flowering plants (1992)
B) David Teniers the Younger, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in His Picture Gallery in Brussels (c. 1650-51)
C) Edvard Munch, The Scream (1895)
D) Paul Gauguin, Nafea faa ipoipo (When Will You Marry?) (1892)

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Koons' sculpture, while clearly visually accessible and perhaps even "kitschy" in its appeal, also requires a certain level of craftsmanship and technical skill to create. Additionally, the use of live plants adds an element of impermanence and ephemerality that challenges traditional notions of what "serious" art should be. This blurs the lines between art and kitsch while also rejecting the elitist belief that the avant-garde should be inaccessible to the masses.

In a 1939 Essay, Clement Greenberg Argued That Avant-Garde Art