ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM

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ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONISM c. 1945 - 1965 AVI 4M1
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Modernism is an umbrella term for many different
styles
Surrealism
Colour Field
Dadaism
Abstract Expressionism
Futurism
Modernism
Constructivism
Expressionism
Cubism
Various Expressionist movements
DeStijl
Bauhaus
International Style
All of these styles, and more, are referred to as
Modernism.
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The rise of Fascism in Europe in the 1930s caused
many Avant Garde artists to flee and move to New
York City.
Rudolph Schlichter, Blind Power 1937
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Europe was the Old World, the land of old ideas
the land of Fascism and totalitarianism.
America was the land of freedom and new ideas!
The land of be-bop!
The Modern World had arrived!
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Many refugee artists got jobs teaching in new art
schools that embraced Avant Garde ideas.
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They encouraged an interest in using exploring
the power of juxtapositions
employing chance in art-making
and exploring the unconscious through art.
Jackson Pollock, She Wolf, 1943
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The resulting work became known as Abstract
Expressionism.
Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943
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Jackson Pollock, Moby Dick, 1943
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Action Painting
The act of painting was as important as the
finished product the action should be felt by
the viewer.
Jackson Pollock painting
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Cult of the Genius
Shock of the NEW!
Abstraction is essential
Honesty of materials
High Modernism
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1950
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Lee Krasner
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Lee Krasner, Noon, 1947
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Willem de Kooning, Woman 1, 1950
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Mark Rothko
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Mark Rothko, Orange and Yellow,
1957
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Mark Rothko Chapel
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Later Abstract Expressionism became less
expressive and more concerned with geometry or
paint effects
Called Colour Field Painting
Josef Albers, Study for Homage to the Square
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Helen Frakenthaler
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Helen Frakenthaler, Green Thought in a Green
Shade, 1981
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Helen Frankenthaler, The Bay, 1963
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Morris Louis, The Point of Tranquility, 1958
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Abstract Expressionism became all the rage in
post-war America where new meant improved!
It became the Cold War symbol of the freedom of
democracy, contrasting with the Socialist Realism
of Communism.
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1950
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Abstract Expressionism Key Dates Key
Artists
c.1945 1960
Jackson Pollock
Lee Krasner
Willem de Kooning
Mark Rothko
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Abstract Expressionism Influenced by
- The personal expressiveness of Expressionism
- The psychoanalytical, chance techniques of the
Surrealists (automatic painting in particular)
- The freedom and new possibilities of post-war
America.
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Abstract Expressionism Characteristics

• Large-scale big is better

• The use of chance in the creative process
  (splattering, automatic painting, etc.)

• Action Painting the act of making the art, not
  just the product, is central to its essence