ABSTRACT

EXPRESSIONISM

c. 1945 - 1965
AVI 4M1

Modernism is an umbrella term for many different styles

Surrealism
Colour Field

Dadaism

Abstract
Expressionism

Futurism
Modernism
Constructivism
Cubism

DeStijl

Bauhaus

Expressionism

International
Style

Various Expressionist
movements

All of these styles, and more, are referred to as Modernism.

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

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!

Many refugee
artists got jobs
teaching in new art
schools that
embraced Avant
Garde ideas.

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

The resulting work became known as

Abstract Expressionism.

Jackson Pollock, Mural, 1943

Jackson Pollock, Moby Dick, 1943

Action Painting
The act of
painting was
as important
as the finished
product; the
action should
be felt by the
viewer.
Jackson Pollock painting

Cult of the Genius

Shock of the NEW!
Abstraction is essential
Honesty of materials

High Modernism
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist, 1950

Lee Krasner

Lee Krasner, Noon, 1947

Willem de
Kooning,
Woman 1,
1950

Mark Rothko

Mark Rothko,
Orange and
Yellow,
1957

Mark Rothko Chapel

Called Colour Field Painting

Later
Abstract
Expressionis
m became
less
expressive
and more
concerned
with
geometry or
paint
effects;
Josef Albers,
Study for Homage
to the Square

Helen Frakenthaler

Helen Frakenthaler, Green Thought in a Green Shade, 1981

Helen Frankenthaler, The Bay, 1963

Morris Louis, The Point of Tranquility, 1958

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

Abstract
Expressionism

:
c.1945 1960

Key Dates: Jackson Pollock

Key Artists:Lee Krasner
Willem de Kooning
Mark Rothko

Abstract
Expressionism

- The personal
expressiveness of
Influenced
by:
Expressionism;

- The psychoanalytical, chance

techniques of the Surrealists (automatic
painting in particular);;
- The freedom and new possibilities of
post-war America.

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;