Abstract Expressionism, the first American avant-garde movement emerged in the United States in the 1940s, which encompassed a group of like-minded artists who had shared interest in expressing strong emotions through abstraction. Also referred to as The New York School or action painting, it was the first American art movement that received world-wide recognition, putting New York at the center of the Western art world. The influence of Surrealism was found in the art style of Abstract Expressionists, they were interested in the idea that scouring the unconscious mind and expressing them in the form of art. Furthermore, Abstract Expressionism rose in the midst of The Great Depression and the American Scene Painting movement also helped bridged the gap between abstract art and academic realism, establishing a platform for their development of revolutionarily diverse direction in arts.
Abstract Expressionism encompassed two major groups of painters, the Colour Field Painters who filled their canvases with unified blocks of colours in abstract forms; and the Action Painters, those who vigorously attacked their canvas with expressive brush stokes or splashed paint through the spontaneity of automatic art.
Free Form, 1946 Excavation, 1950 The Conjurer, 1959
Jackson Pollock Willem de Kooning Hans Hofmann
Action Painting
Jackson Pollock, developed a new technique of dripping paint onto raw canvas. Abstract Expressionists are best known for their large scale paintings, moving away from the traditional methods of using conventional materials of drawing on the easel, creating meticulous drawings. Pollock's method emphasized on the physical manifestation of creating the artwork itself, expressively sweeping paints on while standing on the canvas, sometimes even dancing rhythmically dancing across the canvas while splashing paints across the vast surface. Action Painters valued spontaneity, often allowing their subconscious to guide them, letting their inner impulses to assert and manifest itself, therefore their artworks often convey strong emotions displaying pure expressions. Although action painters valued improvisation, control was not completely out of the picture, the idea of chaos was embraced by many with the belief that splashes and drips of paints are more than just layers of built up paint but were meant to be intense and expressive, therefore there was a balance of control and the spontaneity of the unconscious mind. Willem de Kooning and Hans Hoffman were also leading artists who shared Pollock's view and approach to art.
Onement, I, 1948 No.61 (Rust and Blue), 1953 Orange and Yellow, 1956
Barnett Newman Mark Rothko Mark Rothko
Colour Field Painting
The Colour Field Painting movement emerged slightly after Action Painting, pioneered by Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still who depended their constructed composition on mythical and religious themes. The artists expressed themselves with highly articulate representations of colours, creating simplified composition of abstract colours. Unlike the aggressive imagery of the Action Painters, the minimalistic imagery of Colour Field Paintings as well as their reference to nature and spiritual colours appeared to be calming, austere and even nostalgic trigger emotional experiences of viewers as the colours envelops them. Rather than "beautiful", the Colour Field Painters sought to achieve the "sublime", believing it was appropriate for the contemporary era haunted by fear of war and terror as stated in Newman's essay " The Sublime is Now " ( 1948 ). The movement marks a major growth in abstract art, subject and background are one as a field of colours, encouraging the emergence of new generations of Colour Field Paintings in the 1950s. Hans Hofmann (see gallery) and Robert Motherwell, were two of the many practitioners of both forms of Abstract Expressionism.
Abstract Expressionism was highly influential from 1943 to the mid-1950s, marking the start of American reputation in the art world internationally, replacing Europe as the heart of modern art. The movement took a new turn by the 1960s as the younger generations of artists felt little connections with the masculine ways of Abstract Expressionism. The legacy of the movement continued influencing succeeding movement such as Performance art as was written by Allan Kaprow in his article, "What is the legacy of Jackson Pollock?".
Art have evolved radically since the start of European modernism, moving further away from the concepts of the traditional art institutions, expanding the interpretation and perception of art over the centuries.
Reference
Encyclopedia of Art History. ( n.d. ). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/abstract-expressionism.htm
Moffat, C. ( 2008, January ). Abstract Expressionism; In Search of Nothingness. Retrieved from http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/abstractexpressionism/
MoMALearning. ( n.d. ). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_
Paul, S. ( 2004, October ). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/
Tate. ( n.d. ). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abstract-expressionism
The Art Story Contributors. ( 2017 ). Abstract Expressionism Movement Overview and Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/movement/abstract-expressionism/
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. ( n.d. ). Abstract Expressionism. Retrieved from https://www.brit
Wolf, J. ( 2017 ). Color Field Painting Movement Overview and Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.
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