Reducing the range of reference has always been the appointed task of formalist thought . Its attempt was to discipline art criticism in the manner of scientific experiment,through theisolation of a singlevariable .One graver objectionconcerns Greenberg's management of pre-modern art,and this needs discussion because Greenberg's Modernism defines itself in opposition to the Old Masters . If the opposition becomes unstable,Modernism may have to be redefined by other criteria .