Abstract Expressionism

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Abstract Expressionism The first truly American
visual art form that helped put New York as a
cultural capital (perhaps even above
Paris). Drawing from Surrealism, they developed
the NEW YORK SCHOOL, which comprised action
painting, Jazz, abstract expressionism and
improvisional theatre. This period of art was
special because it was the first to recognize art
with NO identifiable subject matter!
Jackson Pollock, No. 5, 1948, 1948.
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Two Categories for Abstract Expressionism
Color-Field Painting
Action Painting
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Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock Affected by surrealism and also
by Picasso, he moved toward a highly abstract art
in order to express, rather than illustrate,
feeling. His experimentations led to the
development of his famous "drip" technique, in
which he energetically drew or "dripped"
complicated linear rhythms onto big canvases,
which were often placed flat on the floor.
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Jackson Pollock
He sometimes applied paint directly from the
tube, and at times also used aluminum paint to
achieve a glittery effect. His vigorous attack on
the canvas and intense devotion to the very act
of painting led to the term "action painting."
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Jackson Pollock
On the floor I am more at ease, I feel nearer,
more a part of the painting, since this way I can
walk around in it, work from the four sides and
be literally in' the painting. Jackson
Pollock, 1947. Died in a drunk driving accident
in 1956
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Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock, Blue Poles Number 11, 1952.
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Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist Number 1, 1950.
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Jackson Pollock, Autumn Rhythm Number 30, 1950.
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Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning(1904-1997) Dutch-born American
Action painter Attempted to combine the
expressiveness of Abstract Expressionism with
recognizable objects
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Willem de Kooning, Asheville, 1948.
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Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning,Woman V, 1952-53.
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Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning,Woman I, 1952.
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Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko(1903-1997) Emigrated to the United
States fromRussia in 1913 Part of the New York
School Used bands of color as the only truemeans
of capturing feeling
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Mark Rothko
Rothko paintings on display
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Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, No.10, 1950.
By 1950 Rothko had reduced the number of floating
rectangles to two, three, or four and aligned
them vertically against a colored ground,
arriving at his signature style.
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Mark Rothko
From that time on he would work almost invariably
within this format, suggesting in numerous
variations of color and tone an astonishing range
of atmospheres and moods.
Mark Rothko, White Center, 1950.
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Mark Rothko
In 1954 he asked that his largest pictures be
installed "so that they must be first encountered
at close quarters, so that the first experience
is to be within the picture."
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Mark Rothko
Rothko after completing his painting, Black
Square.
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Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler (1928-) Frankenthaler was a
Post-Painterly Abstract Expressionist whose
transparent, bare brushstrokes were influenced by
Pollock
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Helen Frankenthaler
Post-painterly Abstraction was a new movement in
painting which derived from the Abstract
Expressionism of the 1940s and 1950s but "favored
openness or clarity" as opposed to the dense
painterly surfaces of that painting style.
Helen Frankenthaler, Other Generations,1957.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
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Helen Frankenthaler
The first Jackson Pollock show Frankenthaler saw
was in 1951. She had this to say about seeing
Pollock's paintings Autumn Rhythm, Number 30,
1950 (1950), Number One (1950), and Lavender
Mist "It was all there. I wanted to live in
this land. I had to live there, and master the
language."
Helen FrankenthalerSeeing the Moon on a Hot
Summer Day1987ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM
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Helen Frankenthaler
Helen Frankenthaler, Mountains and Sea,1952.
ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM