On Wednesday Bob and I went to the Portland Art Museum to see the Clement Greenberg collection. I've been referring him as Stanley Greenberg (does anyone know who Stanley Greenberg is?) and Bob just corrected me this morning so don't look here for accuracy on this report.

Greenberg was an art critic in the US for years and collected modern art. Generally, I'd characterize my appreciation for modern art as being difficult to locate. We went to that modern art museum in Paris - the Pompadeau(?) and it was about 8 floors of waffles surrounded by chicken wire and pieces of rope taped to the wall and I was a bit underwhelmed by the whole thing.

This collection is interesting because it's one man's vision and I viewed it as a challenge to figure out why it was art. The museum displayed a number of quotes from Greenberg's writings and I was impressed by the strength of his conviction. He knew exactly what he liked and why he liked it. And I liked a lot of the pieces and I'd be a better blogger if I could tell you the artists' names.

Another plus, the museum was quiet so we could wander around in almost complete privacy.